Award-Winning Team Pioneers Digital Experience for NIST PSCR
Corner Alliance Successfully Pivots to Virtual Engagement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In March 2020, COVID-19 upended the conference design that Corner Alliance drafted for their client, the Public Safety Communications Research (PSCR) Division within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The PSCR Annual Stakeholder Meeting is an opportunity for PSCR's community of researchers to exchange valuable information about their work with leaders in industry, government, and public safety. The Corner Alliance team knew that canceling the meeting, without an innovative substitution, would have been a loss to their client and the agency’s mission.
With just two and a half months before the original meeting date, Corner Alliance and their client saw the need to change the traditional meeting experience as an opportunity to create something innovative. The consultant team conducted thorough research, held virtual brainstorms, and—keeping their client’s stakeholders in mind—recommended a never-before-tried and custom-built platform to maximize engagement. Last month, Corner Alliance’s support of PSCR 2020: The Digital Experience was recognized with a Platinum MarCom Award for its “excellence in marketing and communications.”
Securing client buy-in
“With only three months to develop and launch PSCR 2020, we immediately recognized our need to divide and conquer,” said Brianna Vendetti, Senior Consultant supporting PSCR. “We formed ‘tackle teams,’ each dedicated to one specific component of The Digital Experience for the team to own and execute.” Vendetti served as the overarching event lead that set up each tackle team to operate independently and integrate with the other teams.
“Since we were building the event platform at the same time we were promoting it, a large part of the campaign aimed to educate the target audience on the tools they would be using,” Vendetti explained. “We kept our client’s stakeholders top of mind and started solutions with them, selecting tool integrations familiar to them—leveraged in new and enhanced ways.” The team built a video tutorial walking attendees through the platform navigation they would use in the event and developed a user guide that recommended optimal browser settings, suggested available navigation aids, and informed them of the different event features at their disposal.
Drafting compelling government visuals
Knowing that the entire world was going digital at the same time, the team honed in on the communications challenge to overcome: the need to convince stakeholders - who prefer and rely on in person events - to participate in a virtual one. To combat this, the team used tactics new to their client, including education promotional videos and webinars to “disrupt the feed” and catch the stakeholders in a format more attractive and less taxing to consume.
“From day one, we saw this as an opportunity to create a positive and innovative experience for our client’s stakeholders,” said Katarina Mandiola, Corner Alliance’s graphic designer. Mandiola believes graphic design is vital to demonstrating the approachability of a government agency.
Through compelling visuals, she says government agencies can make complex subjects more digestible and foster enhanced connections with all kinds of stakeholders, regardless of their background. “Graphics are responsible for the ‘first impressions’ your audience creates about your client or agency - even more so when everything has become virtual,” explained Mandiola. According to Mandiola, the visuals associated with the impactful research done at PSCR amplifies and underscores the importance of their mission. “Through powerful imagery of first responders and innovative communications technology, along with consistent branding, we can attract more eyes and stakeholders toward PSCR’s novel work,” said Manidola.
PSCR 2020: The Digital Experience earned a Platinum MarCom Award
Achieving success for the client
Although traditional networking wasn’t part of The Digital Experience, the team’s innovative virtual meeting platform produced exciting new engagement opportunities and raised awareness with new audiences. “Hosting the event virtually allowed us to forgo registration fees, allowing stakeholders previously unable to join with a cost barrier new access,” said Vendetti. “Ultimately, we reached new stakeholders across the world and time zones with flexible viewing that enabled attendees to choose their own experience with the content most interesting to them at the time most convenient for them.”
The success of PSCR 2020: The Digital Experience exceeded both the team’s and their client’s expectations. “We increased attendance by 132% from the 2019 Stakeholder Meeting, achieving a total of 1,041 attendees signed up, which is the greatest attendance PSCR has seen across the decade during which they’ve hosted this annual event,” explained Emily Hartmann, Corner Alliance’s team member responsible for managing promotions and marketing. In total, 640 participants were new to PSCR and had not attended the 2019 in-person meeting.
In addition to the Platinum Award that Corner Alliance earned for PSCR 2020: The Digital Experience, the firm was also recognized for its pre-pandemic in-person event promotions—including Consumer Electronic Show (CES) and South by Southwest (SXSW) accolades. “We’re extremely grateful to our collaborative clients for their trust in letting us push the creative envelope,” remarked Stacey Trunnell, Senior Communications and Outreach Specialist. “An innovative federal program such as PSCR deserves to have breakthrough communications and branding, and we’re proud to have effectively delivered on that charge for our client.”
PSCR Trade Show Exhibit earned a Platinum MarCom Award
Corner Alliance can help
Corner Alliance can help you design innovative graphics and branding; choose or build a virtual platform, customized for your needs; maximize your virtual attendance and participation; and measure the success of your virtual engagement. Our iterative stakeholder-driven process focuses on producing high-impact experiences for all of your participants. Our promise to our clients is to always have their back and present innovative solutions to address their most challenging needs. Read more of our virtual engagement insights here.
