Planning a Three-Day Global Tech Conference: VOICE 2018
Image Courtesy of Dreamplay
About the Client:
VOICE was the brainchild of Modev founder Pete Erickson, and strategic partners such as Amazon and Audible. Modev is, at its core, a community developers, engineers, designers, product leaders and executives, and the firm produces events that bring the community together for educational and networking opportunities to advance as individuals and organizations.
Modev began in 2008 as a meetup group, and has grown to become an internationally-recognized name in high quality programming and community building—with over 25,000 members. Modev believes that human connection is vital in the era of digital transformation, and seeks to help organizations build community in the form of events, workshops, hackathons, recruitment and more.
About the Project:
Beth initially contacted Modev regarding a posting for a marketing associate to help with the firm’s many events. After speaking with the CEO, it was clear that event project management was a better fit. The conversation ended with the knowledge that, although there was not an immediate need for an event professional, there would be in the future, and the two would keep in touch.
The CEO of Modev reached out to Beth in early June (8 weeks prior to the event), in need of project management for the overall event logistics and attendee experience for the Inaugural VOICE summit. Beth was on a train to Newark the following Monday for an all-day site visit and to meet with strategic partners and key stakeholders for the event.
Primary: Event Logistics & Attendee Experience
Secondary: Event Technology Management, Project Management, Marketing, Strategic Partnerships
Processes:
Initially, Beth worked with Modev’s all-remote team—including two other consultants tasked with planning and executing the event—to develop the room assignments, schedule, audio visual, food and beverage, and local marketing strategy for the event. At the initial walkthrough, Beth and the team discussed placement of each breakout session, the setup of the plenary and expo, and which rooms in the campus’ multiple buildings would be utilized for show office space, a speaker’s lounge, sponsor meeting rooms, and recruitment sessions.
After fleshing out the schedule and the rooms that were being used for the overall event, it was time to reengage local partners and plan the experiences in and around this up and coming city. Working with the Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Newark Economic Development Council, New Jersey Institute of Technology, local government and more, Beth made sure that the onsite presence in Newark leading up to the event generated buzz and excitement as to the global stage that the city was about to take. Beth worked to create signage in key points within the travel routes of the delegates, speakers, sponsors and VIPs; and to include key partners of the tour and travel industry in ancillary events, such as the conference bar crawl.
Beth researched and selected technology vendors for the event, ensuring that the onsite needs were met in terms of registration, wayfinding, and making connections. Choosing Boomset, EventBrite and Socio, Beth developed and updated VOICE’s branded app and rolled it out to attendees three weeks prior to the event. Beth also made sure that all speaker, sponsor, and event information was kept up-to-date throughout all of the last-minute changes that occurred.
One of the largest tasks was onsite signage, as the event was held on a vast campus, with multiple buildings, a number of unused spaces, and several construction projects happening simultaneously. Over $25,000 in signage was installed for the event, including window clings, wall clings, floor clings, digital signage, banners, expo signage, ancillary event signage, and foam core boards. Beth worked with the graphic designer and the Modev marketing team to create and execute the vision for the event signage, including key sponsors and partners on prominent signs throughout the campus.
Beth also worked closely with the teams at NJIT and GMS Media to create and finalize the stage design and setup for the plenary and all breakout sessions, audio visual and technological needs for all spaces, and food and beverage needs for general attendees, speakers, sponsors and VIPs. She designed the show offices for the Modev team and sponsors, as well as the speaker’s lounge and sponsor recruitment spaces.
Furthermore, Beth worked with local artists and community organizations to bring the culture and spirit of Newark to life in the conference’s promotional items, creating a completely unique, branded tote that featured local art installation, the Animodules™.
When it came time to execute the event, Beth and her counterparts worked to supervise installation, vendor load-in and setup, pre-event logistics, volunteer coordination, and more. Onsite, Beth managed execution and served as liaison between the vendors, venue operations, and the Modev team. Additionally, Beth worked to ensure that all onsite changes were communicated and updated through the branded event app.
Post-event, Beth served as project manager, collecting and closing any unpaid invoices and delineating post-event data collected through surveys and partner feedback.
Results:
2500 attendees, 3 days, over 200 speakers, 12 tracks, 4 ancillary events
Event app was used by over 1700 attendees.
Event was covered in Forbes and more
Over $25,000 in signage was installed in (4) Buildings, including the brand new WEC Building.
Campus executives toured the signage and used it as an example for the campus moving forward.
Image courtesy of Dreamplay Media
Working with Beth on VOICE Summit was a pleasure. She is deeply talented, a go-getter and a get-it-done rolled into one. Her ability to think big picture and keep track of the tiny details has made our event a success. She has the marketing know-how and the logistics prowess needed to take any cutting edge event to the next round. She’s always the best person to have in my corner during planning and onsite management. My best kept secret!