Challenge
Plan & execute a large-scale corporate event in less than 7 weeks
Services Delivered
- Event strategy & consulting
- Project management
- Budget & expenditure
- Venue management
- Vendor management
- Event production
- Event design & implementation
- Speaker & session management
- Event on-site branding
- Event on-site staff management
- Post event reporting & evaluation
Client Wins
A five star customer summit planned and executed in record time.
Talkdesk brand presented as a thought leader in Customer Experience.
A comfortable, intimate experience for the 1000 + attendees.
A stress-free conference experience for Talkdesk team.
Opentalk Summit 2017
Diving Deeper
The Event
Talkdesk holds its annual Opentalk Summit to build its brand as a thought leader in Customer Success. Over 1,000 customer experience-focused attendees were hosted at the Regency Center, San Francisco for Opentalk 2017. These “Customer Heroes” met to share strategies, gain insights and build connections to better achieve customer experience goals.
The Challenge
Talkdesk envisioned Opentalk 2017 as an interactive learning experience that would deliver thought-provoking content in a comfortable and inspiring environment. With less than seven short weeks to event day, the team needed to build all the elements for success in record time.
The Plan
Establishing ground rules that drive progress
The short delivery timeframe called for exceptional organization. Effective working procedures were critical to making rapid progress on every planning detail and approval cycle. Some of the ground rules Shiloh set for success included:
- Hold semiweekly team meetings
- Central location of planning docs and meeting notes
- Acknowledge receipt of every email as soon as possible
- Address every action item within 24 – 48 hours
- If more time is needed, provide a schedule
- If a team member is out, a back-up contact is available to take action
“We had more than one hundred and fifty staff members contributing to this event. Organizing all the people and things that needed to be in place in such a short time frame presented a huge challenge. Shiloh helped us organize so everything was in the right place at the right time. Just fantastic! We couldn’t have done this without Shiloh Events.”
Marketing
Talkdesk
“One of the challenges we faced was the venue layout. Shiloh came in and solved the problem with a creative program schedule and these incredible interactive and easy to use graphics and maps that helped attendees move freely around the venue and experience the entire event.”
Sponsors & Revenue Management
Talkdesk
Overcoming all obstacles on the path to success
While the Regency Center is one of the most architecturally stunning venues in San Francisco, its historic interior presented a challenge to attendee flow. Additionally, preregistration indicated capacity attendance, so flow strategy had to minimize lines in narrow halls and stairs as well as at food and beverage stations. Shiloh developed a simple and informative venue map to place in attendee’s lanyards. With it attendees could orient themselves and navigate to any other part of the event. Additionally, bright signage clearly guided attendees through hallways and stairs. Between sessions lively entertainment enticed the attendees who didn’t need a bathroom or beverage break to remain seated.
Equipping a historic building for a forward-thinking event
The team also needed a creative decor plan to transform the Regency Center’s Gothic and Beaux-Arts style architecture into an environment suited to Opentalk’s high-tech event. The Shiloh creative team proposed sleek modern furnishings including a combination of clear “ghost” chairs, black leather arm chairs, and white leather sofas. Bright yellow and blue pops of Talkdesk brand colors appeared in pillows, uplighting, signage and floral design.
“We’re working with a very historic building and Shiloh was able to design the space with all the elements; lighting, flowers, furnishings, signage, stage perspective that made this environment come together for us to deliver a Talkdesk brand experience for our thought-leadership event.”
Marketing Operations
Talkdesk
“One of our goals for this event was to promote and reflect the Talkdesk brand through a top notch attendee experience. Shiloh brought in best-of-breed vendors from around the Bay Area and helped us select the ones that best aligned with all our goals and business needs.”
Sponsors & Revenue Management
Talkdesk
Managing the budget for cost efficiency
Keeping the event on budget through rapid decision-making cycles required a disciplined cost-benefit analysis of every element. Shiloh developed a detailed requirements list with estimated budget for each line item. Multiple premium vendor options were presented and vetted to build a supplier list that met every goal and budget requirement. Team Shiloh managed vendors throughout the process, tracking daily deliverables and adjusting costs to manage change, prioritize expenses and keep the event on budget.
Results
On event day everything was in place for the Talkdesk team to deliver their precisely orchestrated, crowd-pleasing summit. The enthusiastic capacity-crowd engaged in lively panel sessions. Attendees listened in comfort to an impressive assembly of corporate leaders who shared their experience. The crowd flowed easily throughout the building moving from general sessions to meals, private meetings and the Expo hall.
Attendees cheered the entertainment, tweeted about the wide-variety of excellent food choices, and enjoyed making new connections at the evening reception. Sponsors reported satisfying results from their Expo hall presence. High-profile speakers were pleased with the event’s operational efficiency and timeliness. Overall, Talkdesk delivered on its promise of an outstanding customer experience for Opentalk 2017.
408-899-5464
events@shiloh-events.com
