THE GLOBAL FORUM FOR RESPONSIBLE RECRUITMENT 2021 UN Agencies & Think Tank 5X Event Attendance Online
- Virtual Social Good Event
- Virtual Conference
Virtual Conference Case Study
Speaker Coaching Live Production Design Multilingual Accessibility
The Challenge
Two agencies from the United Nations along with the Institute for Human Rights and Business approached us to produce its fourth annual Global Forum for Responsible Recruitment. The GFRR is a thought leadership conference for accelerating the responsible recruitment of migrant workers around the world. This would be the first time in which this multi-day gathering of international NGOs, corporations and nonprofits went virtual. And with conference objectives that centered on networking and idea exchange, we knew our plan and platform would make the 2021 GFRR memorable.
Our Solution
The four-day conference consisted of 16 keynote sessions and multiple, moderated subject-matter breakout sessions. We procured an enterprise-level conference platform with polling, sponsor booths, chat rooms and networking features. But for a conference of this size, speaker/moderator preparation was of paramount importance. We orchestrated 16 separate speaker training sessions with technical walkthroughs.
Breakout moderators were instructed on operating the live-polling feature for scripted and impromptu uses. The breakouts themselves were assigned live tech support for cueing, switching and recording.
To promote the event, we produced a video short that featured event and speaker details with b-roll, voiceover and scoring. Registrants were directed to a conversion-optimized landing page with custom registration fields. Advanced analytics tagging helped track registrants by their source of origin. We designed unique and consistently-styled graphics for each of the 16 sessions, optimizing them for readability in social media and mobile device settings.
The Results
The 2021 virtual GFRR felt more like an upgrade from past in-person versions than a backup production plan. Promotional tactics and the expanded reach of the virtual venue resulted in record attendance — 5 times greater than that of the 2019 GFRR. The main stage plenaries flowed seamlessly and on schedule without technical disruption. Breakout sessions were fruitful and festive for the GFRR community, many of whom rely on this annual event to connect with peers in other countries.
To aid these interactions, we provided remote simultaneous interpretation in French, Spanish, Arabic, and English. Every session was recorded and posted to the conference website and Youtube channels to extend the experience to the GFRR community beyond the event itself. “I can’t do justice explaining the technical knots they’ve unpacked to make everything work just right for our purposes,” said Haley St. Dennis, Head of Communications at IHRB, “but trust me when I say it was a major effort.”
Read the rapporteur’s summaries Watch session recordings
What Our Client Had to Say
Four convening partners, four languages and 1,700 attendees across four days of live sessions. Here is what the people running it said afterwards.
“The event was a great success with 1,700 attendees over 4 days.”
“The event was a great success with 1,700 attendees over 4 days. The professionalism of the We & Goliath team and unfailing good humour was key to successful delivery. I am very pleased to recommend them to anyone seeking help with similar events.”
Neill Wilkins, Head of Migrant Workers Programme, IHRB
“We & Goliath were so responsive to our complex needs.”
“We & Goliath were so responsive to our complex needs. We had multiple partners, multiple audiences and multiple language needs, all live and high pressure. They were calm, collected, and constantly creative even in the busiest periods. I’ve recommended them to multiple organisations since.”
Haley St. Dennis, Head of Communications, IHRB
“Please extend a huge thanks to everyone from us at IOM.”
“Please extend a huge thanks to everyone from us at IOM. Hope we will get a chance to work together again!”
Philip Hunter, Senior Labour Migration Specialist, IOM — UN Migration
“We are not an easy bunch but you guys managed us perfectly.”
“My personal thanks to you and the team. We are not an easy bunch but you guys managed us perfectly. Thanks to We & Goliath, we came out of this smelling like roses.”
Lisa Wong, Senior Specialist, International Labour Organization
Featured Service
Landing Page
Registrants landed on a conversion-optimized event page built for the Forum: a countdown to the opening session, one clear call to register, and a Why Attend section that made the case in a single screen. Custom registration fields and analytics tagging tracked every sign-up back to its source, and the session recordings were posted there afterwards, so the site kept serving the GFRR community long after the four days were over.
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