18
CSIA FOCUS
Reinventing the (virtual) ASEAs The Australian Service Excellence Awards is a high-caliber annual corporate event that I’ve been honored to host several times at venues such as Crown or the Melbourne Convention Centre. I was delighted to accept the challenge to recreate this event in an online setting and apply my experience as a television producer.
The Platform It was my intention to make it as interactive as possible for all, so the decision to go with zoom meetings rather than webinar paid off. It began early with the invitation to attendees to meet in groups at their workplace, even though it was held 7:30 at night. Many took up the idea which necessitated adding a ‘room connector’ to the event to bypass the corporate firewalls. Also, people with the latest Zoom version were able to choose their own corporate breakout rooms at the end of the night to have their own ‘debrief’. Then to highlight the 50 or so finalists, virtual backgrounds were produced to identify them as finalists then champions or winners. The use of breakout rooms meant we could coral spokespeople before then spotlighting the winners and hearing their acceptance speeches, as well as answer the odd spontaneous question.
Putting the Social into Virtual "It was my intention to make it as interactive as possible for all."
The chat box was kept alive by messages of congratulations, privately or to the whole room. One finalist in fact was observed to be sending congratulatory messages to every winner in each award. That expression of support would just not have been possible if
it were the usual live event held in a function room. The strategic placement of some funny subject-relevant videos, as well as the live appearance of comedienne Mel Buttle and magician Nick Kay, gave both variety and a respite from the traditional award after award. Plus the winning of an iWatch by participating in an online quiz on their smart phones gave delegates another interactive dimension to the whole thing.
Bringing it Together Great staging and creative design enabled the production to overcome the technical challenges presented by Zoom to create an entertaining and innovative live event. My congratulations to the team at CSIA for selecting to produce what has been a highly acclaimed event in 2020..
Michael Pope If you would like Michael to produce or host your next event reach out to info@michaelpope.com.au
