Summary
The Mirage Hotel, Las Vegas, USA.
Following the merger of two significant companies working in the important Digital Accessibility space, this 3-day conference was the flagship launch of the new branding and identity of their newly combined company.
The Las Vegas location was fixed and booked. The client wanted to bring as many people together as possible in one location, but they were accutely aware that not everyone would be happy to travel or could deal with such a noisy and busy environment as offered by Las Vegas. These differing needs had to be catered for and the online streaming sessions must integrate seamlessly with the onsite logistics.
In the end, our client had some great feedback.
We loved working with Chill Out! A great job done in such a short time - thanks for all your help and here's to the next time.
The Conference
Following the merger of two significant companies, this completely new client to Chill Out! wanted to create a memorable event for as many people as possible to come together in one space and build relationships and shared stories.
As it says in their joint announcement, "People with disabilities make up the world’s largest minority group, representing more than one billion people globally. Digital accessibility supports an organization’s commitment to inclusion, as well as its compliance with anti-discrimination laws." The least we could do was to make sure the event supported their values and requirements.
The Brief
The client had already booked the Las Vegas venue directly. Chill Out! were brought in at relatively short notice in late October to deliver the event some 2 months later in January - with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years holidays in between of course!
The Spec
- 3-day event with plenary and over 10 breakout spaces
- 500+ total delegates with 400 onsite and 100+ online around the globe
- Registration for onsite and online attendance
- On-site venue, hotel and transport management
- Dinner options and gala awards dinner support
- Evening reception management
- Bespoke branded SWAG bags to every delegate
- Staging and AV plus seamless virtual online streaming
The Challenges
- Pre-booked Las Vegas location and commited dates with tight timescales
- Potentially 500+ attendees onsite and online
- 3 days of sessions and activities to be coordinated for hybrid delivery
- No time or budget to allow for pre-event site visits and assessments
- Short timescales with Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year in between
- Everything onsite and online needed to be fully accessible to all attendees
The new joint company specialises in accessibility for all - online and onsite. While they wanted to bring as many people together as possible in one location, they were accutely aware that not everyone would be happy to travel or could deal with such a noisy and busy environment as offered by Las Vegas. These differing needs had to be catered for and the online streaming sessions must integrate seamlessly with the onsite logistics.
The Chill Out! Solution
Planning the Planning
The relatively short timescales, combined with an extended holiday season, made it critical that everyone knew their actions and their deadlines - and stuck to them. We agreed a communication process and protocols with regular updates. Anything on the critical path was continually monitored for progress and blockages.
Everyone Everywhere
Inclusivity was obviously a key theme of this event - and that meant everyone, whether they were attending in person or virtually. We worked with the client to send out the same branded SWAG bags to all the delegates, wherever they were based.
Welcome to Las Vegas
VIP delegates arriving into Las Vegas airport were met near arrivals and transferred directly to the hotel. However, the number of VIPs arriving at different times, and with differing transport requirements, meant that we needed a selection of transport options. We worked with our local destination management partner and a local transportation company to ensure that delegates were not left waiting at the airport. And of course our branded visibility meant that we were the focus for questions from many people arriving for the event and helped any number of people find their way.
Fortunately Chill Out! has run several events in Las Vegas over the years as our own welcome to Las Vegas was somewhat more stressed than our delegates. Without the time or budget for our normal joint Customer-Chill Out! pre-event site visit, we were straight into action getting the lay of the land, familiarising ourselves with the floor plans and undertanding and mitigating any potential pitfalls.
The Conference and Break Out Rooms
One good thing about Las Vegas, and particularly the excellent Mirage hotel, is that you're rarely short of space. But we know the downside is that conferences and delegates can become very spread out - and there are a lot of distractions!
With a main plenary suite and over 10 breakout rooms and over 400 delegates, we made sure there was plenty of branded signage and a good number of well-briefed event support staff to make sure everyone got to where they needed to be, on time and not stressed out!
It was even more important to keep things running to time and on track as the venue catering team was operating to pretty strict timetables - and of course our online delegates needed to coordinate putting the kettle on or brewing their own coffee.
Las Vegas - Something for Everyone
During the planning we realised that a number of delegates would be travelling with partners and carers. We suggested a coffee morning for all the partners to meet each other and get some guidance on how they can entertain themselves in Vegas while their partners were attending the sessions. We also provided a service for finding and booking dinner venues. There's a lot more to see in Vegas than just slot-machines and gambling - although there is plenty of that too!
Making Accessibility Accessible to All
Given the nature of their business, a high proportion of both merged companies are people with specific needs and requirements. Working with our client, we made sure all elements of the entire three days were accessible for all, including -
- Closed captions on all presentations
- Every stage performance was described verbally
- Extensive team briefings to make sure all event support personnel knew how to approach and support those on site
- Quiet rooms were available throughout the event
- No flashing lights and the usual wiz-bangs of conference hype
- Clear walkways and grid layouts to ensure easy navigation for those with visual and physical impairements
- Clear and contrasting signage backed up by well-briefed people on hand
As accessibility becomes the norm, rather than the exception, these are techniques that you should be considering for your own events.
Hybrid World-Class Audio-Visual from a Long-Term Partner
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas is an old adage. But in this case, what was happening in Vegas needed to keep a worldwide audience involved and engaged over a period of 3 days, many sessions and a choice of breakout presentations. Quite a challenge!
Over the years, Chill Out! has built up an enviable list of trusted suppliers and venues across the globe. Given the very specific needs of this event, we brought in one of our long-term AV partners who have worked with us on events around the world - and online. Their expertise in hybrid technology and experience of working with the vagaries of hotel networks has been stress tested beyond measure. They've always come up trumps - which is something we thought was appropriate in Las Vegas. Their AV worked seamlessly on stage and online throughout the event.
Conclusion
Another happy client - and more importantly 500+ happy delegates! Our client said they loved working with Chill Out! and all our hard work paid off.
A Very Happy Client
We loved working with Chill Out! A great job done in such a short time - thanks for all your help and here's to the next time.
This was our first event for a new Chill Out! client. The first event is always the most difficult as both parties get used to working together. For this event, we demonstrated how our experience and expertise can take the stress out of even the most challenging events. What can we do for you?