CUPGRA Conference

The Brief:

The Cambridge University Potato Growers Association conference has been run as a physical event for 30 years. 2020’s event scheduled for early December would bring together over 100 delegates from academia and industry to address sustainability, productivity and scientific issues.

The Challenge:

The event was originally scheduled to be a Hybrid coming from the client’s offices in Cambridge. A site visit confirmed that we could establish a studio in a safe space for up to 20 presenters, a panel discussion and our crew. Despite the announcement of lockdown number three it was decided that the event would still go ahead – albeit now 100% virtual.

The Solution:

Switching at short notice from a hybrid to 100% virtual involved performing technical checks on all twenty presenters to ensure that we would stream them on the live day. We also introduced a one-day rehearsal the day before the event to ensure that the speakers, most of whom had not presented at a virtual conference before, were fully prepared for the live event.

The Result:

We delivered for CUPGRA’s audience a really compelling one day conference with some fascinating presentations. The audience interaction and the panel q&a sessions worked brilliantly for all three sessions. Audience numbers exceeded expectations.