Virtual Leadership Conference

Larrge scale virtual event as a joint launch for a leadership initiative

Kick-off of a Leadership Journey: The launch of an initiative to further develop the leadership culture of a leading company in the insurance industry required the comprehensive involvement of all managers. The conference was designed to give several hundred participants the strategic "big picture," enable commitment, and familiarize them with the defined focus topics for leadership.

Challenge

Due to the pandemic, the conference had to be designed completely as a virtual event with an attractive, user-friendly conference environment beyond the usual video conferences. At the same time, dialog and networking had to be integrated and it had to be ensured that no one in the home office would "switch off" during the conference.

Approach

A virtual walk-in conference venue in 3D optics with a foyer, stage and plenum, theme halls, network lounge, etc. enabled colleagues to meet and interact in a shared environment.

Board keynotes, film clips, interviews with customers and project management, mood polls and live chats were broadcast and moderated from the plenum.

In theme halls, participants visited different interactive booths, learned about the background of the leadership initiative and key topics, were able to download
working materials, and exchanged ideas with colleagues and board members in so-called theme forums at the booth.

Short messages were sent to all participants at short notice to alert them to current events so that they did not miss anything.

After the event, executives had another two weeks to view all the films, presentations and archived chats again individually on the virtual conference platform.

Result

Continuous monitoring of the number of participants logged in showed that the virtual dramaturgy worked: Almost all participants stayed until the end. The virtual meeting format was promptly repeated several times, so that around 3,000 executives across all levels took part within a short period of time. The further rollout of the Leadership Journey was also implemented in virtual formats as so-called "Leadership Camps.