Unfinished Live Episode One: Economy & Justice
On October 27th, 2020, the first of four episodes of the Unfinished Live digital series streamed live on the web, YouTube and NowThis to an international audience. Focused on big societal issues and how conversations can lead to impact and positive change, Unfinished Live is a new kind of intelligent digital programming that combines storytelling and content with live audience interactivity and calls to action. The topic of the first of these groundbreaking episodes was Economy & Justice.
Writer, Artist and Activist Baratunde Thurston serves as host of the series, guiding the audience through a fast-paced hour of insight discussions, films, and artistic commissions that invite the audience to participate and imagine what’s possible now.
The first episode explored questions including whether capitalism is working for us all and whether we can reimagine a better economy together. Bringing together a wide range of disparate voices and perspectives, the first episode featured ideas and artistic contributions by documentary photographer, Aaron Huey, Founder & CEO of Coalfield Development, Brandon Dennison, Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary Julián Castro, Ford Foundation President, Darren Walker, JUST Capital CEO, Martin Whittaker, Filmmaker Abigail Disney, New York Times writer, David Leonhardt, Executive Director & Co-Founder of GreenWave, Bren Smith, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman as well as workers, activists, small business owners and social innovators.
The program consists of live host segments, dynamic films and thought provoking performances to showcase lived experience, creative expression and real-world candor. Through conversations, interviews, exchanges and roundtable discussions, experts join everyday voices in a nuanced exploration of possibility and discovery on each episode’s topic.
Unfinished Live has partnered with an unparalleled, impact-driven partner network to create both the series and the impact platform (see below) including The Aspen Institute, The Shed, For Freedoms, Imperative 21, Ashoka, Georgetown, MilM2, and PolicyLink.
Empire is proud to serve as producer of this important series, managing the development and production of each episode as well as the overall project.
About Unfinished Live
Unfinished is an impact network and media platform devoted to the simple idea that if we open our minds and create the space for possibilities, we can advance powerful solutions to the most critical challenges of our time. By tapping into the power of communities, creative media and new technology, we connect thought-leaders, culture-shapers, policy-makers and innovators to provoke ideas, elevate unheard voices and pursue collaborations for greater impact.
To learn more and to RSVP for an upcoming episode visit: https://unfinished.com/
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
