EVENTS
A different way of doing things
This year’s East Midlands Chamber Business Awards will have a unique vibe about them, with each event for Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire to be held as an online ceremony. For commercial events manager Linsey Hardy (pictured), planning for her fifth year of organising the awards has been very different to previous instalments, as she explains.
PREPARATIONS As much as I would have wanted the event to run as normal, hosting it virtually is the next best thing – and there’s even been some good that has come out of it. The first thing that has been
different for me in the preparation stage was in changing the entry deadlines, as well as opening them up to non-members for the first time.
Our awards are a great platform
to promote businesses so we made this decision to support even more companies across the region during what has been a very tough time. Announcing the identities of the
finalists was a lower-key occasion than the usual event we would host, as we instead used social media videos to reveal the names. The benefits to this were a
greater online reach and engagement in releasing that news for finalists and sponsors. Another key element we moved
online was the judging days, in which businesses would deliver a 10-minute pitch to our panel. This has been very efficient as
it’s saved time for both the judges and awards contenders, who haven’t needed to take several hours out of their day for a 10- minute slot.
PRE-RECORDING THE AWARDS NIGHTS The major change, though, is on the night of each awards. Although they will be premiered in sync for everyone on a YouTube stream in a similar manner to how the BAFTAs and Brit Awards were held, the events will have been pre-recorded at Avit Media’s studio in Derby. Our chief executive Scott
Knowles, president Dawn Edwards, sponsors and presenter Frances Finn will come into the studios – which have social distancing procedures in place – to film all three ceremonies on one day. We have booked the studio from
9am to 5pm but the idea is that sponsors can come in, film their category announcements over about 10 to 15 minutes, then leave. ‘AV IT Media, which usually
provides our photography, is pivoting to do the filming instead. I’ll be accompanying the team during editing – and it will be refreshing having some control as it means I don’t have that nervous feeling I get during live events as I don’t know what’s going to come out of people’s mouths on stage! Our strategic partner Purpose
Media will be providing videos for sponsors and category backgrounds as normal, while our conferencing
partner The Conference Works will also have a similar role to play to the usual events by designing stages – the only difference being it has to create three backdrops in a single day. BBC Radio Nottingham presenter
Frances, who will also undergo costume changes between each event, has a key role. She would normally be tasked
with working the crowd and can bounce off the audience, but as she won’t really have that it’s going to be a big challenge to gel everything together. Thankfully, her radio background will help with this. Ahead of the filming day, we
have also asked all finalists to submit short videos of their “reactions” to winning because it’s really important to showcase the celebratory feel to the awards. It gives those who have won
accolades the opportunity to acknowledge and ‘thank’ in the same manner that they may have done if the events went ahead in person.
This also gives them a chance to
be creative and have a bit of fun. No doubt there will be intrigue for whose video is shown on the night.
EVENT PLANNING BEYOND COVID-19 What I’ve found exciting throughout all this is that I’m learning all the time. I’ve had to look at new innovative ways to bring this event to life. It’s also creating new opportunities I wouldn’t experience otherwise, such as organising the filming day, although not having the chance to interact with our finalists and sponsors in person on the night will be a real shame. In the future, I’m expecting a blend
between the virtual and physical for the journey of our awards. If I have my own way, I wouldn’t replace the awards ceremonies, but something like the judging day could become a virtual event due to the way it has saved us time. Regardless of what happens next, it’s certainly been an eye-opening experience.
The East Midlands Chamber Awards galas, headline sponsored by Mazars, will all be held online this year on 19 November (Leicestershire), 26 November (Nottinghamshire) and 3 December (Derbyshire), starting at 6.30pm.
business network November 2020 63
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