Xchange is Reply Group’s annual conference, created to give its 8,000+ employees an overview of the company’s vision and strategy for the next year.
Since the beginning of Reply history in 1996, the annual internal event aims to encourage the exchange of information, expertise and among the growing Reply community, made up of a network of specialist companies, each focused on specific topics, technologies and industries.
Then, as now, Xchange represents a vibrant and energetic event where Reply Group’s entire workforce can come together to understand the corporate plan, celebrate success, improve their knowledge and skills, and have fun.
Xchange’s format is simple. Each day features a plenary session followed by several parallel break-out sessions on the latest trends and technologies. As Reply has grown, Xchange has too, going from a one-day event in Milan to one or two-day events in Milan, Munich and London. In effect, it’s become a roadshow visiting our key markets.
Originally conceived as an employee-only event, in recent years Xchange has been open to Reply’s customers. In fact, Xchange 2019 turned into a Tech Fair, with thousands of employees and customers learning together, socializing together, and having fun together. Today, the event remains Reply’s most valuable and important knowledge-sharing event of the whole year.
The challenge
As we’ve seen, 2020’s pandemic was the ultimate party pooper, which meant no physical event, no socialising, and no partying.
So what to do? There was no pandemic in January when we launched our call for contributions from our Replyer community. Incidentally, we received a record-breaking response, with more than 400 proposals.
The million-dollar question was: how could we turn a gamified, interactive, and fun roadshow into something people would find as engaging, interesting and worthwhile as a live event?
We explored a range of options:
· Postpone the event until autumn or later.
· Make a digital and virtual event, using virtual reality.
· Create a digital event using last year’s format.
· Change the format and create a completely different event.
· Keep it local to each country or go global.
Over several weeks, we assessed the feasibility of each option, contacting providers, discussing logistics, and talking to Replyers about their expectations.
What came out of it?
In the end, we narrowed it down to four choices. Either to:
1. postpone — this was never really an option, as our Replyer community was as motivated as ever, which would have been at odds with our culture. Postponement was not the answer.
2. go virtual — this was a serious option for a while, but we couldn’t find the right partner and didn’t have time to create a good-enough virtual 3D environment. Besides, would virtual reality add any real value to the event, in terms of content? Probably not.
3. go local — this would mean missing the opportunity to reach a global community of 8,000 Replyers. No way
4. go digital and global — an extremely tough task. Plus, we had the added pressure from the board ringing in our ears. “By July people will be fed up of being online. Don’t make yet another big webinar. Keep it short, fresh and interactive.”
We love a challenge, so option 4 it was.
But how to make it happen? Here’s where the adventure really started.
If Xchange 2020 was going to happen, we’d have to face a long and daunting list of never-before-faced challenges.
First, there was the “another boring video-call” challenge. After months of home working and social distancing, we had to distinguish the online Xchange format from the ‘new normal’ we’d all got used to. So we had to get as far away as possible from creating a series of Zoom or MS Teams webinars. Instead, we had to find something new and exclusive, exciting and compelling that would befit this (hopefully) one-of-a-kind Xchange.
Then there was the ‘what’ challenge. What was the agenda for our event? Thanks to our call for contributions, we already had content for hundreds of different sessions. The challenge was to sift through this content and repurpose it to fit the format and our parallel sessions in a way that was interactive and interesting to Replyers in Europe, US, Brazil, India and China.
The result? A two-hour daily programme across five days, with each day having a plenary session, plus seven parallel sessions.
In total, there were 90+ live sessions covering Reply’s best projects and the most innovative and trending technologies.
Next, we took on the ‘where’ challenge. Forced to avoid a physical event, we invested in creating a tailormade and mobile-responsive live-streaming platform. One we could fully customise to fit the event’s comic-book theme. This new platform gave us the chance to design the user experience, without compromising or having to work around our existing tech.
A video platform deserves TV-quality content, so we set up 10 real television studios in Reply’s main offices in Turin, Milan, Rome, Munich and London.
Then we added green-screens, lights, HD webcams and high-end microphones. Replyers in Europe, US, Brazil, India and China could access the event online at the same time? The platform guaranteed a high-quality and superior experience to the usual webinar or video call, yet also allowed us to keep the fun and interactive parts typical of a normal physical Xchange.
The ‘getting people to register’ challenge. As amazing as the platform was, it’s the Replyers that make any Xchange. Would they still come? Of course, we were confident participation would be good, especially as Replyers had been deprived of the hustle and bustle of office life for so long.
But just to make sure people had even more reasons to show up online, we created the Xchange 2020 Social Game.
The game, which featured heavily in our event registration communications, offered some fantastic prizes for participating individuals and companies, including an electric scooter, Apple Watch, Airpods and other gadgets and Reply merchandise.
The ‘making it run like clockwork on the day’ challenge. This was perhaps the most daunting of them all. Why? Because what we were attempting had never been tried before. We’d spent months evaluating different technical solutions, but what if the technology failed? With the level of sophistication and complexity, there was a lot that could go wrong.
We had to manage 45+ hours of livestreaming. This involved thousands of live video and audio signals and coordinating transmission from three different locations worldwide and broadcasting on seven different live-streaming channels.
We ran numerous tests, dry-runs and rehearsals. We checked and double-checked everything — timings, content curation, look and feel. And we questioned every single aspect of the project, encouraging peer-review across the whole organising team. This was the key ingredient. The secret sauce for making it happen. By facing our challenges head-on and working together, we achieved our objective: to create an online, interactive Xchange event that would make Reply proud.
The solution
Designing is fun, but there comes a time when it’s all about ‘doing’. We started by assigning tasks and deadlines to five small teams to handle five parallel streams. Sounds easy, but the timing was very tight and things were changing fast.
Stream #1 was about content: creating an agenda
After collecting more than 400 submission proposals, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to share with people. What are the latest technology trends? What will they be next year? What will work best for the whole company? Our Reply CEO together with the Board shaped the event agenda, based on a deep knowledge of Reply’s skills and expertise.
This proves the positive difference a committed top management team can make.
Stream #2 was about people: speakers and rehearsals
With the agenda set, it was time to work with the speakers — a 145-strong group from different countries and Reply companies. Communicating with and coordinating with them was a huge job in itself. How would they perform in front of a camera? Could they prepare their script in under a month? Could they all present in fluent English?
To help them, we scheduled more than 80 rehearsals over two weeks. Once everyone was happy, we arranged technical rehearsals in front of the camera a few days before the live event, so everything still felt fresh.
Stream #3 was about digital: the video platform
As always, our new digital platform had to look the part — cool, energetic and engaging. And we only had a couple of months to do it. Which is where our talented team of graphic designers, UX specialists, developers, and architects, came in. They worked day and night and even managed to incorporate our existing Reply Events App.
Stream #4 was about engagement: keeping people interested
Give them reasons to get involved! Make them interact, laugh, stand up and sit down. Compel them to use the app to communicate with our speakers, create quizzes, and offer them great rewards for joining the event.
Stream #5 was about communication: spreading the word
Create a buzz! We communicated via our internal platform. We promoted the event in our weekly email. We hung banners in all our display-screens’ offices and roll-up stands. We created special filters on Instagram. We played a daily quiz to get people excited. We gave every single person a printed and digital agenda. And we had a fantastic host in Enrico Giovannini guiding the Live Intro. Plus, we ran a Video Contest to promote as many Reply companies as possible and we closed the event with a ‘Virtual Aperitif’. And as always, we created follow-up communications designed to encourage people to relive the event by re-watching sessions or catching up on ones they’d missed.
In the spotlight
How to turn the office into a TV studio
We had to set up seven TV studios in our main Reply offices to ensure the highest quality experience. Each studio independently managed the shooting, direction, framing and audio, while our Milan control room coordinated all the studios, cued the sessions, and monitored the broadcast quality across all platform channels.
Practise makes perfect
It’s not easy to perform in front of several cameras and under dazzling lights, and knowing hundreds of people are watching you. It takes courage and practises, which is why the technical dry runs we did were so valuable for our tech team and our speakers.
How to make a global event look consistent visually
To create a consistent look and feel across seven different locations, we had to standardise everything as much as possible — both physically and visually. The consistent set design enabled us to switch between locations in a way that felt natural and seamless, but which was uniquely Xchange 2020.
Live is fun, but it’s risky
While an online Xchange had the potential to reach more people than ever, there was also the risk it would feel one-dimensional and a bit boring. But thanks to our Replyers and their hunger to make the most of any opportunity to exchange knowledge, learn new things, take part, grow and interact we knew it was a risk worth taking.
Second screen: make it interactive
The Reply app, created for Xchange 2019, proved extremely useful. All it took was a bit of a redesigning and a strong internal comms campaign to get participants to download the app and voila!
As well as enabling Replyers to ask the speakers questions in real-time during live sessions — over 3,000 during the week — the app also allowed users to interact more deeply with the event. Including joining daily quizzes, taking polls, and earning points in our Social Game to win prizes for themselves and their company.
How to handle a show schedule of 90+ parallel sessions
For obvious reasons, sessions never ended at the same exact time. So we inserted a short five-minute buffer at the end of each session, so all seven studios could synchronise the start of the next session at the same time. This ensured people who wanted to watch consecutive sessions on different channels, wouldn’t have to miss the start or end of either session.
This raised the question about what to show during the ‘five-minute interval’. Running old videos of previous Xchanges would have been the easy option. But when has Reply ever chosen the easy option? Instead, we came up with the Xchange 2020 Video Contest.
Engagement never stops: the Reply Video Contest
On TV, it’s well known that people often switch the channel or switch off during ad breaks. Our Video Contest was designed to minimise this happening. How? By playing home-made videos by Reply companies and asking people to vote for their favourites using the app. Over the five days, we ran over 30 different company videos — and received more than 5,200 votes.
Special guests
Traditionally, we always ask a few special guests to speak at our Xchanges and this year was no exception. Our guest speakers were:
· Carlo Rovelli, theoretical physicist in the field of quantum gravity, and one of the 100 most influential global thinkers according to Foreign Policy Magazine.
· Cathy Hackl, leading female futurist and business strategist specialising in the impact of emerging technologies like AR, VR, and AI.
· Tim Dykstra, manager at Boston Dynamics, the world leading robotics company and creator of SPOT.
Our choice of speakers was consistent with the theme of each day, and each speaker knew they were talking in front an audience with expertise and specialist knowledge of their area, which made for highly interesting conversations.
A toast to Xchange 2020
At the end of each Xchange, everyone normally hits the bar for a well-earned aperitif with old and new friends. This just wasn’t possible with a full digital event. So we did the next best thing.
We organised a mega final aperitif, all together on Zoom, to toast Xchange 2020.
And to add some extra spice, we ran a cocktail mixing competition where Replyers could win some Reply goodies. It was the icing on the cake after a most memorable week.
The results: the biggest Xchange ever
It’s all about the numbers, right? And they didn’t disappoint. There were more than 75% of the Replyers who took part in the event.
That’s roughly more than double the maximum we managed at a physical event. It’s clear, going digital increases accessibility.
So people have the freedom and choice to watch 90 unique sessions and over 45 hours of live-streaming in their own time, though it does require completely rethinking the experience for the audience. On the other hand, it’s impossible to replicate the buzz and energy of delivering sessions in front of a real audience.
What we have learned is that perhaps there’s a middle-ground to be struck between digital and physical.
For the Q&A at the end of each session, we received 3,127 questions and more than 22,000 poll answers, which showed just how engaged our audience was during the event. The positive feedback we received was higher than in previous years, with numerous people highlighting how valuable these two-way exchanges between speakers and viewers were.
A two-hour daily programme, spread over five days (rather than an intense one or two-day programme) has enabled people to fit the event into their working lives much more easily. And because everything was recorded, people can re-watch their favourite sessions on-demand, or discover new content at their leisure, which has created more opportunities for more people to learn and share knowledge than in previous editions.
What we learned
Xchange 2020 was an incredible learning experience for everyone who helped organise it. As promised, here are our top 7 takeaways:
1. Go big or go home. We set the bar sky-high and went for it. We organised more than 90 sessions, coordinated 145 speakers, and invested a lot of time thinking of creative ways to promote the event. It worked.
2. Never be afraid to evolve your plans. You can only evolve if you’re willing to challenge the status quo — even if it means adapting a well-oiled and established format or situation. Be prepared for a lot of extra work, but it will be worth it.
3. Bring along the best technology you can afford. We built our own mobile-ready platform in less than three months, mobile-ready using the latest multi-cloud technology. It can be done!
4. Every Replyer is a digital consumer. They expect a similar user experience from their work and office technology as they do from Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, Disney+ etc. Design your digital spaces and UX with this in mind.
5. The here and now effect is unbeatable. We’re social beings. We like to share, feel connected and have fun. That’s the underlying philosophy of any party: people in one place, together. As Xchange 2020 proves, it is possible to recreate this digitally.
6. Put your community at the heart of everything. Don’t be stiff and corporate. Give your community the power to express ideas and have fun. This is easier if you have a young workforce, but young or old, give them the opportunity to ask questions and interact.
7. Collaboration is the key. A global event will only succeed if the team behind can work closely together, globally.
