The 2nd RTO Innovation Summit 2020
Project
Ten leading European Research and Technology Organisations (RTOs) engaged OFCORES to organise the second edition in a row of the RTO Innovation Summit. This edition – originally planned as an in-person event in May 2020 – was postponed amid a global pandemic and reimagined as a virtual Summit that took place in November 2020.
A unique platform of representatives from European institutions, industry and applied research and innovation joined the Summit online through live session broadcasts and an interactive virtual exhibition centred on three thematic areas: “The European Green Deal”, “A Europe Fit for the Digital Age” and “Industrial Competitiveness”.
Solutions
With a project timeline of nearly 13 months, including 3 event format transformations due to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, OFCORES guided the 10 host RTOs in adapting their vision of a 2-day, in-person conference + exhibition, to a virtual event broadcasted from a TV studio environment for a remote, online audience. This entailed, for example, integrating dynamic pre-recorded video elements, shortening the sessions and diversifying formats, coordinating 3 different studio stage sets, increasing technical capacities on-site, and designing and managing a virtual event platform with a digital exhibition and networking features.
OFCORES also provided full-service communications expertise, including social media posts, e-mail campaigns, technical guides for speakers and exhibitors, website design and management, and more.
- venue benchmarks
- supplier & venue negotiations, contracting & management
- site relocating facilitation
- implementation of proper COVID-19 safety measures
- both in-person & hybrid event conceptualisation assistance & best practices
- registration management
- logistics management
- décor/stage sets
- on-site management
- event & technical scripts
- website & mailings content, planning, design & management
- creative design support
- audience engagement tools
- provision of technical guides
- attendee communications
- social media content & visuals creation for 10 RTOs
- copywriting support for website articles
- live graphic artist in-studio to produce concept visuals of the event for attendees
- support for bumper videos between sessions
- management of promotional videos pre-event on social media introducing the partners & technologies
- coordination of event opening video
- elevated AV solutions
- online event platform setup & management
- live-streaming
- digital exhibition setup & management
- videographer coordination for pre-recorded video materials & after-movie
- dynamic sound & light solutions
Results
Through their collaboration with OFCORES, the RTOs provided an innovative, meaningful Summit reaching more than double the number of attendees as their first physical Summit edition in 2018. The Summit once again demonstrated the united power of European applied research, with cutting-edge technologies and market-ready solutions.
