EDF Connection 2022
Empire was proud to partner with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) once again, this time to produce their Connection 2022 staff retreat on June 7-9 at the Hilton in Atlanta, Georgia and online.
The hybrid event convened approximately 600 in person and 250+ virtual attendees from across the globe to connect with each other regardless of their location. For those opting to attend in person, it also marked EDF’s first staff retreat physically together again since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Early arrivals and leadership meetings were held over the course of two days prior to the official start of the retreat. By day three, a robust program of plenaries, breakouts, concurrent meetings/workshops, and EDF social events were in full swing.
Highlights included all-staff and team meetings, a fireside chat and Q&A with EDF President Fred Krupp and Executive Director Amanda Leland, a dinner keynote with bestselling business author and EDF 2020 Staff Retreat speaker Dan Heath, the EDF Staff Awards Ceremony, Q&A breakouts on the topic of global operations, karaoke, a dance party, and much more.
Applicable meeting rooms at the Atlanta Hilton were equipped with technology and meeting operators to enable and facilitate interactivity between in-room and online participants so that sessions were inclusive and engaged everyone attending in real time.
All sessions were made available on the event website/app developed for Connection 2022, allowing virtual attendees to join live, watch session recordings on demand at a later time, or to schedule 1:1 meetings with others. Similarly, in-person attendees utilized the app and website to reference the agenda, schedule meetings, and watch sessions on demand that they missed.
Empire worked closely with EDF to deliver this incredible retreat for all their employees. Empire’s scope of work included overall project management, consulting on run of show development and technical production, speaker advancement, Cvent event website/app development and design, stage scenic design, environmental wayfinding design, stage management, Covid-19 safety protocol management, and overall logistics.
Empire is honored to have worked with EDF to create a truly memorable staff retreat. To learn more about the Environmental Defense Fund and to support their mission visit: https://www.edf.org/
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
