Virtual events have quickly become the new norm as companies take their conferences, product launches, AGMs and all otherwise live experiences online. In a world gone virtual it can be hard to make an event stand out from the crowd.
Some companies, however, have embraced the virtual world and are riding a new wave of digital creativity as they test the limits and boundaries of what is possible in the online sphere.
Creative communications group DRPG have taken the opportunity to open up their annual thought leadership event DRPGBIGtalk to the wider public for the first time ever. Bringing the usually exclusive live event online from 29th of September to 1st of October, it allows for more guests, more fun interactive content, and more industry guest speakers than ever before, all hosted within a fully immersive and interactive virtual experience built within a digitally gamified theme park titled ‘BIGtalk World’.
The three day experience will include live and on demand sessions hosted by guest speakers including June Sarpong OBE, the BBC’s first Director for Creative Diversity, broadcaster and facilitator David Meade, and the Professor of Happiness Bruce Hood, plus speakers from the DRPG team along with well-known organisations, including Nationwide Building Society, Direct Line Group, the Institute of Internal Communications and Channel 5’s The Gadget Show.
The virtual world uses cutting edge browser based WebGl modelling to allow the delegate to intuitively explore the three dimensional low poly park and interact with each attraction within the experience to receive valuable, thought provoking content within the creative communications sphere.
The three days of DRPGBIGtalk will be wrapped up with an evening TV show broadcast, Step Right Up! featuring an array of celebrity guests, corporate entertainers and interactive challenges.
This virtual experience has been created with a view to bringing communications professionals together online to see what is possible in the world of virtual events and to share the experiences and learnings taken from the current climate.
Richard Hingley, Group Creative Director at DRPG, has spearheaded the overarching creative strategy behind the project: “This is a unique opportunity for us to showcase how powerful and engaging virtual experiences can be when we harness the technology to think beyond just the experience itself, with focus on the purpose and desired outcomes for the communication. With virtual, the only limits are your imagination and with this being a rollercoaster of year for many people, no less those in the world of communications, we decided that this metaphor was a great way of connecting the experience of learning with the experience we’ve been having over the last few months and so DRPG BIGtalk World was conceived.”
He concluded: “As well as offering value to people through the plethora of content, we want to create the sense that this is a real world experience where people can enjoy a little escapism and fully immerse themselves in a fun, entertaining and learnings filled adventure.”