Environmental Defense Fund’s 2021 Hybrid Staff Retreat
Empire was honored to help produce the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) 2021 Hybrid Staff Retreat on Wednesday, December 1.
The annual Staff Retreat, which is typically held over several days and shared with employees across the globe, gives EDF employees the opportunity to celebrate their achievements from the previous year and for their leadership team to set the tone for what's to come in the upcoming year. This year, Empire was tasked with consolidating a typical several day event into a 3-hour long program that was engaging, informative and celebratory.
The Zoom Webinar, which featured live and pre-recorded remarks, panel discussions and original video content was viewed by over 600 EDFers internationally. Program highlights include remarks by EDF’s President Fred Krupp, Executive Director Amanda Leland and current sitting US Senator Tammy Duckworth. Speakers joined the program both remotely from their homes as well as in-person at EDF’s New York and Washington DC offices, where small, live audiences also participated in the event.
Empire also worked closely with EDF to create three original videos, which highlighted what it is currently like to work at EDF and where employees hope the organization will go in the future. To create these videos, Empire interviewed over 60 EDF employees from across the globe, each of whom answered a standard set of questions. The responses were then cut together to create the videos, titled “A Look Back from 2030,” “How Will We Get There,” and “What It Will Be Like to Work at EDF?”, all of which included the 60 EDF voices across the three videos.
Empire’s scope of work included the development of the program’s run of show, technical production consulting, creative design of the live stream screen graphics, and production and editing of the feature videos.
Empire is a leading producer of events including corporate & non-profit conferences, fundraising galas, experiential marketing engagements, festivals, concerts and more.
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
