Introduction:

Robin Hood, NYC’s largest poverty-fighting organization, held its 8th annual Investors Conference October 27-28, 2020, as a virtual forum. The Robin Hood Investors Conference brings together leaders in finance, biotech, entertainment, healthcare, and politics to share actionable money-making insights. Since its inception in 2013, the event has raised nearly $43 million to fight poverty through sponsorships and ticket sales.

“Touchcast created a mixed-reality world with virtual sets and created a unique experience for users to be at our conference, keeping them engaged throughout the day.”

The Goal:

“Our main goal was to broaden the audience for the speakers and the sessions and, Robin Hood. How do we introduce Robin Hood as a poverty-fighting organization at this conference?” explains Grace Dixon, Manager of Events with Robin Hood.

Robin Hood wanted to extend their reach and break attendee numbers while they were at it. “Having a global presence and having the ability to share this globally was top of mind for us,” shares Grace.

For Robin Hood, it was also important to mimic a live event in a way that made the viewers feel like they were a part of the Robin Hood universe.

“We didn't have any compromises from a security standpoint when it was all said and done.”

The Challenge:

Converting the event to a virtual platform for the first time presented Robin Hood with a few hurdles. First, security was top of mind for bringing this event online with respect to the nature of the information. Robin Hood also wanted to focus on extending the event globally for speakers and attendees and as with any online event, getting people to stay engaged throughout the event presents its challenges.

The Solution:

Touchcast was able to work with the Robin Hood team on creating custom-designed virtual sets that mimic the excitement of being in a live room. The intuitive and dynamic agenda allowed attendees to evolve with the show as it progressed and gather important speaker information. The ability to incorporate elements from their design company produced an attractive and engaging “Robin Hood universe” for the attendees to live. Attendees were greeted with customized voice-overs at the start of the session, making it feel like they were indeed at a live event.

When it came to security, “We didn't have any compromises from a security standpoint when it was all said and done,” Grace informed us. Touchcast enabled two-factor authentication to the attendee login process and added watermarks onto the presentations to avoid the sessions’ unauthorized recordings.

To attract a large number of viewers, this event took place across multiple geographic locations over 48 hours to expand and broaden the global reach of their message—a feat only accomplishable by going virtual. Custom access options allowed various groups entrance to specific sessions, assuring that invited guests could join across the globe and in any time zone.

“We created a beautiful space,” affirms Grace, “...I hope we get to work together again in the future.”

Impact:

Robin Hood’s first virtual two-day conference reached an impressive 2,000 global viewers, an astounding 300% increase from the previous year. Robin Hood was able to drastically broaden the reach of NYC’s largest poverty-fighting organization. The event brought in $3 million through ticket sales, 100% of which goes to fighting poverty.