weVENTURE offers a wide range of programs and services to help support the growth of small businesses within our community. Their goal has always been to provide small business owners with the tools they need to be successful.
The IMPACT Summit is their annual leadership conference that they hold every summer. It’s an excellent networking opportunity for local business owners and entrepreneurs. The event is typically packed with national speakers, breakout sessions, inspiring stories, and expert insights.
142 Productions is proud to have a history with weVENTURE’s annual IMPACT Summit, with various involvement year after year. We created highlight reels for the event in 2016, promotional videos for the following years, and we’ve also put together video that has been played at the event. However, this year things were a little different.
The Problem
With the current state of things in 2020, weVENTURE felt it was even more important than ever to support small business owners as much as possible. Unfortunately, they also knew they had to figure out a way to hold their annual IMPACT summit without actually having a large gathering.
We started brainstorming plans back in May to decide the best way to go about having the event. With key speakers already set, we decided on a full weekend virtual event.
“Because of COVID-19, weVENTURE had to come up with creative ways to adapt our two largest events of the year, while still engaging our community and donors. 142 Productions was an integral part of brainstorming ideas and executed both perfectly. We can’t thank 142 Productions enough for partnering with us and helping make both events a success!”
Kathryn Rudloff, President of weVENTURE
The 142 Solution
To bring this virtual event together, we knew we were going to need to focus on two key things: adaptability and collaboration. We knew video could be used as a tool to replace large networking events. We knew we could combine our professionally produced video with content the speakers recorded remotely. (Of course, we provided production tips to make sure the program would be the best it could be).
2020 Virtual IMPACT Summit Content
Promo Videos: We put together promo videos from remotely recorded clips provided by the speakers. These covered what topics they would be speaking on.
Testimonials: The promo videos went hand in hand with testimonials provided by past attendees of the event.
Main Video Presentation: The main video for the 2020 Virtual IMPACT Summit was a 2-hour long pre-recorded video premiered on weVENTURE’s Facebook page. It featured an introduction from their executive director, Kathryn Rudloff, and speaker introductions by the event’s main sponsors. This gave the sponsors facetime with viewers/virtual attendees and diversified the presentation.
We decided on doing a pre-recorded video (over Facebook Live) in order to ensure quality and limit any tech issues.
Live Q&A: weVENTURE also held a live Q&A on Zoom during and after the video premier to encourage engagement.
2020 Virtual IMPACT Summit Weekend Schedule
Video Premier: Friday 9 a.m.
Opening Session: Friday 1 p.m. – Live Q&A with Sandra Shpilberg
Private Watch Parties & Online Discussion: Friday – Monday
The video was available for viewing all weekend and weVENTURE highly encouraged viewers to hold small, in-person watch parties to spur both real life and virtual conversation.
Closing Session: Monday 12 p.m. – Live Q&A with Lisa Dinhofer
In the end, the 2020 Virtual IMPACT Summit went off without a hitch! Their theme, “The Relentless Pursuit,” held firm as their speakers covered topics regarding:
Diversity and the pursuit of female leadership across all sectors
Success and how female entrepreneurs should define it
Thriving, with insights about how individuals and business leaders can sustain through COVID-19 pandemic
We’re proud to work with weVENTURE, we love that they’re a part of our community, and we can’t wait to see what they do next!