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Business critical online events - delivered seamlessly

Our specialist Virtual Events team supported BT’s Investor Relations team to deliver quarterly briefings online.

Overview
The BT Investor Relations (IR) team reports our quarterly results to the wider market, including to investors and analysts. It has to include speakers like our CEO and CFO.

Before the pandemic, this was always a face-to-face event.

When we couldn't deliver the event in person anymore, our Virtual Events team stepped in and seamlessly moved the event online.

The challenge
The IR team had to carefully manage the event because it’s so high profile and any issues with the delivery could have a huge impact on the company’s reputation.

The stakes were so high with this event. The flexibility, expertise and support we had from the Virtual Events team gave us peace of mind that the tech would just work.”

Jessica BradfordBT Investor Relations team
Jessica was concerned that her team didn’t have the technical skills to deliver the event online, nor the capacity based on how busy the team is when the results are released.

As a result, the IR team asked the Virtual Events specialists to support them with their online event.

The virtual event needed video collaboration capabilities so that the presenters could interact with the people viewing the event. The attendees needed to see the slides and the presenters at the same time, the ability to submit anonymous questions, and be able to speak to the presenters for the Q&A session.

The solution
They considered all three available platforms – Microsoft Teams Live Events, Zoom Webinar and Webex Webinar – and decided that Webex Webinar was the best option because it met the requirements of the session.

Our Virtual Events team worked closely with the IR team from planning and scheduling through to the post event wrap-up, allowing the IR team to focus on the content and delivery, as opposed to the tech and the admin.”

Victoria PalinProduct Manager, Virtual Events, BT
A rehearsal is a crucial part of the service our Virtual Events specialists provide. It helps them test the tech and iron out any issues pre-event, it helps the presenters to understand what to expect on the day, taking away some of the worry, and it offers the chance to perfect the delivery of the content.

On the day of the event, the Virtual Events producers introduced the event and handed over to the IR team. They moderated the questions coming into the Q&A and reacted to direction from the IR team, who’d suggest which questions to reply to and where to guide the conversation. They also closed the event professionally, telling the attendees the next steps.

After the session, the Virtual Events producers gave the IR team a full post-event report. This covered things like attendance insights, a summary of the questions asked throughout the event, and any drop out rates.

The outcome
The IR team were very happy that their quarterly results were delivered successfully to about 800 people online without any issues.

Jessica from the IR team believes that the smooth delivery would not have been possible without the expertise of the Virtual Events team.

Quarterly results are so vital to our organisation. The thought of their live delivery going wrong is quite scary.”

Jessica BradfordBT Investor Relations team

Technologies

Cisco Webex

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