A main ambition for this year’s event focused on giving the audience more opportunities to be an active participant rather than listener during the main plenary. With the majority of the agenda containing fixed deliverables, we identified the moments in-between agenda items as a way to deliver maximum interaction with the audience.

We collected audience stories at the registration stage, which led us to design a concept of the ‘HPE Heroes’, celebrating the passionate culture at HPE and the individuals that make up the sales teams - those who sit outside of award recognition in the evening but are crucial to the company for its success in other ways.

With recognition playing a huge role in the day, we recognised opportunities to further enhance the evening awards look and feel. A strong neon and multi-coloured theme was woven throughout content design, LED table centres and the band choice - Madhen, represented a complete transformation from last year’s theme. The entertainment offering evolved with a live band, DJ and sing-a-long games during dinner for the big party feel. Additionally this year, we built a games area to give alternative entertainment and a space for conversations to take place - ensuring inclusivity and that there was something exciting for everyone to participate in.

With it being a one-day event, production quality versus cost is a large consideration to balance. We opted for an LED screen once again, which works effectively to deliver impact within the time restrictions, but elevated the design to zone the agenda sessions and utilise the whole stage platform.

With two internal employees acting as hosts for the main plenary this year; we worked closely to understand the tone they wanted to create within the room. A natural, relaxed and conversational approach led the design to divide the stage into three tiers - one formal presentation area, one-to-one chats and then a breakfast bar lounge vibe for the hosts to deliver their discussions in ways that connected with employees.

Five sponsors were integral to this event and ensuring all sponsors received maximum time in front of the attendees to build meaningful relationships within the sales teams was a challenge. Knowing that time is limited throughout the day for these moments to take place, we took advantage of a completely new space in the venue and created a unified sponsor branded area, complemented with an app-based game to incentivise attendees towards this space throughout the day and drive conversations between the attendees and sponsors.

Another challenge that remained this year centered around the very limited time available to transform the main plenary space into an evening design. This required our Mighty Force value to come out once again; seamlessly removing breakout rooms and furniture, various games coming in and setting up, sound checks taking place for the band, dinner entertainer and hosts, awards and prizes in place, tables transformed, screen content checked, LED tablecentres and evening lighting checks all in just over an hour.

The greatest area to create a positive impact was once again through the location. The chosen Heathrow-based venue ensured minimal travel for all attendees and optimised the use of public transport with direct links to the airport, tube and bus stations. For the majority of attendees who live within a 30 mile radius and opted to drive, car sharing was encouraged.

Excess items such as glow sticks that were used during the evening were repurposed and gifted to a local school to raise funds for their upcoming disco.