Shimano Europe (known for its bicycle parts, accessories and fishing gear) closed 2022 with the dazzling end-of-year party Keep on playing. A celebration that will be talked about for a long time within Shimano. Not only the participants were unanimously enthusiastic about this hybrid and interactive show. East Side (concept and production) drove us and the NXT studios team to great heights during this exciting staff event. We were on site with two people and even used three completely new functionalities of our platform.
Interactive game with live and online competition and connection
How do you create an unforgettable online event that blurs the line between online and live? And where all Shimano Europe employees really participate and have fun? East Side found the solution in an interactive board game on a life-size LED floor, with the five Shimano Executive Committee members as physical pawns in the studio. Each pawn represented the randomly assigned online constituency of Shimano colleagues. And to make the voice of the online team heard extra well in the studio, five sidekicks assisted the Exco members.
Content and fun in a nice balance
All game questions linked with a TV-worthy nod to Shimano. Surprising AV content and many unexpected props caused hilarity, both online and in the studio. The spectacle show was under the inspiring leadership of show host Karl Raats and was custom framed by live music by De Jongen van Je Weet Wel. The hour flew by!
'The event of the year'
'This was by far the best event of the year for our studio,' said Bas Meuleman of NXT studios. ‘For me as a director, it is wonderful to be able to show off with many cameras, an LED floor, a beautiful decor and fantastic content. Not to mention a program full of humor and surprises. The collaboration with the East Side team and all partners went very well. And… this program would not have looked out of place in primetime on national television.”
Interaction by team
We added three brand new applications to the successful event platform Transmisión Livestreams especially for Keep on playing. This made optimal use of the interaction with the home players. The online teammates of the virtual teams were visualized in a team matrix via their own webcam. Within the platform, each team also had a team chat that was protected per team for consultation. And the poll results, with which Shimano colleagues supported their players in the studio from home, were also shown on the broadcast - also broken down by team. "These new functionalities can now be used for any event that is held via our platform," says our project manager Rik, who was present in the control room together with Sjoerd to switch gears and to steer the interaction in the right direction.
It's all about the result
Kim Edwards, Corporate Communications Manager Shimano Europe: 'East Side delivered another top performance for us. The energy and enthusiasm in the preliminary phase came into its own on the production day itself, both in the show and behind the scenes. The reactions of my Shimano colleagues, who participated en masse, are heartwarming. We look back on a great Shimano-worthy end to the year.”
In the video below you can see a short presentation by Annemiek (East Side) and Michiel (ex-Invitado) about this joint project. This presentation took place during EventSummit 2023, on the Knowledge & Inspiration Square of CLC-VECTA.
Keep on playing in numbers
> 600
participants
5
teams
2564
votes
1
LED floor
∞
enthusiastic responses
New in Transmisión Livestreams: team interaction
Team chat
Five teams battled for victory in the hybrid board game played in the studio. The online participants were divided into teams via tags. Each team had its own, protected team chat within our platform in which extensive consultation took place.
Team matrix
By means of the tags assigned to the participants, the director, in collaboration with our moderators in the studio, was able to incorporate matrix images into the broadcast that showed the members of one team. And they were easily recognizable, because many home participants, who were shown via their own webcam, had dressed themselves in the color of their own team.
Poll results per team
Via an output of our platform, the poll results were shown live on the screen in the studio by the director. That was nothing new to us. But the fact that these results were broken down by team was a nice novelty in our platform. This made optimal use of the interaction with the home players.
