We, at ibentos, aim at giving unique ideas to our customers and that’s what we did when we met the Collabera team for executing Unconference 2021.
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Requirement
The project was to develop a unique, creative, and trendsetting internal annual conference for the sales team of Collabera that hadn’t met for quite some time. After hours of deliberation, we decided that while the world’s business magnates such as Jeff Bezos and Ellon Musk were expressing their desire to travel to space, Collaberans shouldn’t be left behind. So, we finally landed upon the space themed event. (pun intended!).
Why ibentos?
The execution of this project required a platform that could
- be customised to host a themed event
- enable deep one-on-one interactions
- allow various app integrations and
- use AI to pre-program the workflow.
Execution
The virtual event was made to start in a unique manner- with e-boarding passes sent to the team, inviting them to mark their calendars for their journey to space. The theme was slowly unveiled through various emailers and teasers
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On the D-day, the event opened with the virtual building of Collabera’s head office in New Jersey (that the team longed to see during the pandemic), from where the CEO’s avatar led the way to Collabera’s space station. The avatar warmly welcomed each participant to the virtual Conference (or “Unconference) and set the context of the 2-day gathering, finally leading them to the virtual event venue in space. Day 1 started with attendees joining from all over the US and the leaders touching upon critical areas of discussion as speakers. Everybody, including the CEO, Karthik Krishnamurthy, contributed significantly by enthusiastically participating in the chat interactions
Day 2 was all about in-depth discussions on selected topics. But unlike a regular conference where everything is pre-defined, here the topics were decided by the attendees who had to eventually drive these discussions! The platform asked the audience to vote for topics that interested them the most. This was an endeavour to give them the power to plan the event in their own way, to excite them to participate in their full capacity and discuss challenges & opportunities that mattered the most to them.
The virtual platform was pre-programmed to divide all 300 people into smaller groups of 20 each, pick the top 3 most voted topics and distribute these to each team in a way that it became mandatory for them to attend all topics one-by-one. To further promote meaningful discussions, the platform was integrated with Miro that enabled brainstorming sessions on collaborative whiteboards. Teams could see each other, discuss topics and add their thoughts on the common whiteboard. Each session was led by a pre-trained moderator who recorded the final outcome of their sessions in a PDF format. These PDFs contained the views of each team member on three different topics; it listed their challenges, solutions and ideas that were further discussed in the conclusive session with the entire sales team, headed by the CEO.
Day 2 was all about in-depth discussions on selected topics. But unlike a regular conference where everything is pre-defined, here the topics were decided by the attendees who had to eventually drive these discussions! The platform asked the audience to vote for topics that interested them the most. This was an endeavour to give them the power to plan the event in their own way, to excite them to participate in their full capacity and discuss challenges & opportunities that mattered the most to them.
The virtual platform was pre-programmed to divide all 300 people into smaller groups of 20 each, pick the top 3 most voted topics and distribute these to each team in a way that it became mandatory for them to attend all topics one-by-one. To further promote meaningful discussions, the platform was integrated with Miro that enabled brainstorming sessions on collaborative whiteboards. Teams could see each other, discuss topics and add their thoughts on the common whiteboard. Each session was led by a pre-trained moderator who recorded the final outcome of their sessions in a PDF format. These PDFs contained the views of each team member on three different topics; it listed their challenges, solutions and ideas that were further discussed in the conclusive session with the entire sales team, headed by the CEO.
Results
It is simple to assess the success of an event using figures, but we recognise that there are various additional aspects to consider while determining the success of this event. A few aspects to consider when reflecting on this event’s output are
- Did the event draw the intended amount of participants?
- Were we able to meet or exceed their expectations in terms of themes, ideas, and design?
- Was the event as interactive and engaging as we wanted it to be?
- Was the primary purpose of this event met?
Collabera’s Unconference 2021 was an event of the people, by the people and for the people. Firstly, we were successful in creating enough excitement before the event which led to 100% of invitees joining the conference, the total being more than 1500 team members. Secondly, ibentos could create something futuristic and out-of-the-box, something that could amaze the team, make them feel connected, give them a sense of belonging and make them feel proud of being Collaberans. This was achieved through storytelling via virtual metaverse where the team felt that they were actually coming out of their office building and were led by their CEO to a space station for the event. They were given the power to change scenes, like launching the rocket into space by clicking “Launch Now”, and this further involved them in the journey. Thirdly, the event was high on interaction, with 1500+ attendees divided into multiple smaller teams of a few members in each. Each member attended 3 mandatory sessions of 45 min each. Every time they became a part of a different team automatically. This helped them meet and interact closely with different team members every time. Chat functionality, live polls & quizzes added to the fun. Miro integration made two-way communication possible and helped the team connect with each other better. The fact that the CEO himself was participating enthusiastically, increased the participants’ interest in discussions. Lastly, and very importantly, the goal was to enable high participation in important topics related to the future opportunities for the company, industry trends and so on. And this was achieved beautifully, with each participant getting an opportunity of putting forward their thoughts while they were learning from their peers and leaders.
Thus, it is safe to infer that the event’s output was nothing short of remarkable. The result was an unforgettable event that not only bridged the gap Covid had created but also made way for future innovation.
Testimonial
Dawn Serpe
Senior Vice President & Member of Executive Management Committee
Dawn Serpe
Senior Vice President & Member of Executive Management Committee