Chick-fil-A
Moving an Annual Event to be Online and Live
Chick-fil-A is one of the largest American fast food restaurant chains and the largest whose specialty is chicken sandwiches. Every year Chick-fil-A hosts an event where all of their suppliers gather together to learn at their annual Partner Meeting & Fall Forum. However in a year of social distancing and strict occupancy requirements, an event with over 700 attendees like this was not going to happen.
The Fall Forum is a time for strategy, shared vision, and new big moves. At this event guests will hear messages from Chick-fil-A’s Executive Committee and business leaders, and be a part of live Q&A sessions. It allows for all attendees to learn more of what is in the upcoming pipeline and ask critical questions that can allow them to be better supports of Chick-fil-A’s company. The 2020 Fall Forum was set to be cancelled but, instead of chickening out, they decided that moving this event to be a live, virtual event could be just as great.
Seamlessly Blending Live and Pre-Recorded Content
The Fall Forum & Partner Meeting was Chick-fil-A’s method for preparing their vendors for the upcoming year and this particular year was a critical time for their restaurants. They had to make the hard decision to either cancel or creatively work through options for hosting their event online.
We had to take the spirit of this exciting and informative event and inject it into a virtual space. Not only were we in charge of producing the content for this event but we also had to manage the event behind the scenes on both days. Our deliverables included:
Branded Platform
Use our proprietary platform to fit the Chick-fil-A brand and give users a unique login.
Live Streaming
Stream live keynote speakers along with Q&A’s that audience members can engage in.
Mixed Media
Craft an experience that effortlessly combines pre-recorded and live content.
THE CHALLENGES
Bringing all of the pieces together into one live event.
It is normal to encounter challenges when producing any type of content but with this year being so different we had to be very sensitive to how we produced all of the content. We adapted to film using a small and efficient crew to allow us to follow CDC guidelines and keep our clients safe. We also utilized our remote filming kits to record some content for those who could not be present to film.
There was great content and an incredible lineup of speakers for this event but it wouldn’t happen without a place for this event to live online. Luckily, we were able to use our proprietary platform, OnboardU, to host this event and deliver both types of pre-recorded and live content to the event attendees. We were able to brand the entire platform to look and feel as if it was Chick-fil-A’s platform and each attendee was able to login using a unique login given to them at registration.
As attendees waited for the event to begin they were shown an event count down with pre-roll commercials, trivia and event information as they waited. During the event, attendees could ask questions to the hosts while watching a session so it could be addressed during the live Q&A’s. All attendees also had access to go back into the platform after the event and re-watch the entire event if they wanted to.
It was our responsibility to ensure that all of the event went smoothly down to the final event closing. We had our small team stage a studio where we managed the livestream simultaneously with the pre-recorded content as one cohesive event. We also supported the live chat, Q&A question board and troubleshooted any questions a user may have while they were attending the event. After a long two days, a lot of chicken and great conversation, we feel that the event was a huge success!
THE RESULTS
Another Annual Partner Meeting & Fall Forum in the Books
We are very humbled to work with a company that values a great experience for everyone who supports them and trusts us to produce and deliver a great event, online. It is very important for us that our clients and their community leave an event feeling inspired and energized.
We believe we were able to deliver an incredible virtual event with many moving pieces that came together perfectly. Here are some snippets of some of our favorite moments throughout filming and working alongside Chick-fil-A.
Our Contributions
Messaging
Building the Story Framework for the event.
Hosting
Delivering the event through an online platform.
Production
Filming the content and all of live sessions.
Livestream
Live content to give an in-person feeling.