Click to Call: 
What’s behind a flawless one-hour virtual live event? Weeks of preparation, storyboarding, script writing, costuming, rehearsal, stage direction and styling. And when your client is a major distributor of forklifts and warehouse equipment, there’s bound to be some sort of heavy machinery launch added to the mix.
We’ve been planning the National Dealer Meeting for Doosan Industrial Vehicle America Corporation for several years now. Typically, the event spans three days and welcomes guests from all over the world to a lovely space like Chateau Elan near the Doosan North Georgia headquarters. But in the midst of a pandemic, we strategized timely ways to bring everyone together in a digital space while providing the high level of event the many repeat guests had come to enjoy.
Guest Engagement
Our first order of business was to rally the invitees. Our client wanted to let them know that attending the virtual event wouldn’t leave them out in left field. Guests were sent pre-event mailers with goodie bags including the type of swag they could expect to go home with at the end of a face-to-face event.
Because Doosan has a partnership with Major League Baseball, our client decided on a date in the middle of the World Series and a baseball theme that was reflected in the pre-event gifts. It wouldn’t be baseball without a brew, so the bags also included gift cards for specialty beers. Guests were asked to have the beer chilled and ready at the time of the event so that everyone watching could participate in a tasting together.
Recording in Advance
Guests invited, we set out to collaborate with the client and use some of their existing collateral. This meant a recording of a beer tasting at SweetWater Brewery in Atlanta, coordinating an interview with Doosan CEO Tony Jones and MLB’s Dale Murphy, and heading to Wisconsin to film an inspiring dealer spotlight. We came in with our film crew to get drone footage and b-roll shots of their GIGANTIC warehouse, which provided engaging content shown intermittently throughout the live event.
Branding remained cohesive throughout thanks to a great graphics package and a consistent set with a table, chairs and baseball props.
Going Live
Finally, it was time for the opening pitch. The one-hour live event welcomed 150 guests who celebrated together even though they were scattered far and wide.
We had all of the recorded pieces perfectly edited and ready to mix in. For the live portions we worked with emcee, Jim Schaub, to determine ways to keep the event interesting. One fun concept was having Jim change into a new baseball jersey for each scene. He used the costume changes to lead into each segment, which perfectly bridged the content and kept the guests on their toes.
We broadcast Jim on site at the Doosan warehouse, and he was beamed live from four locations to living rooms around the country.
All of the great recorded spots were intermixed with the live coverage for a seamless event that had the appearance of being 100 percent live. To boost audience engagement and a sense of connectedness, we managed the video conference chat features, polls and gamification throughout the hour. Additionally, we polled the audience to find out which of the two beers from SweetWater they preferred, and then revealed the results at the end of the broadcast.
The 72nd Emmy Awards had nothing on this corporate event. It was an absolute grand slam.
