The ASAE Summit Awards have taken place at Washington, D.C.’s National Building Museum for more than twenty years, so it was important that we created a web-based platform, graphics, and overall feel that stayed true to the legacy of the event. To make sure attendees felt like they were still in ASAE’s signature awards environment, we incorporated imagery from the National Building Museum into the backdrop of multiple areas of the website – visually placing the evening’s events within the museum’s lobby, stage, and more. We also made sure the design delivered a truly red carpet feel, combining the luster of golds with the modern yet elegance of black-colored graphics. This design was applied not only to the platform, but throughout the show’s content within the speaker slides, sponsor branding, event videos, and more to elevate the experience from start to finish.
ASAE’s Virtual Power of A Summit Awards
ASAE’s annual Summit Awards is their signature event of the year showcasing and celebrating the unique and indispensable role associations play in the country. When faced with the taking the program virtual, the LAI Live and LAI Video teams worked with ASAE to translate the industry-beloved show into a one-of-a-kind experience that was effective and enjoyable, and honored the industry and award recipients through the online medium.
Design Delivered: Maintaining a 2-Decade Legacy
Entertainment Reimagined: A New Take on VIP Receptions
Traditionally, ASAE’s in-person program hosts VIP receptions prior to the event where people can network and interact before the show. To capture the magic of these receptions in a virtual setting, ASAE conceptualized four different “experience rooms” that people could engage with prior to showtime, that our team then helped bring to the virtual stage. We developed a gallery page showcasing the experiences that attendees could choose from and join, allowed for sponsor branding in each of the experience rooms, conducted tech checks with the talent joining remotely (such as the mixologists and chef), and ensured everything ran smoothly the day of. Throughout this pre-program portion, we enabled a chat feature so participants could mingle, network, and reconnect with their peers and, in turn, get one another excited for the upcoming celebration.
Scaling Down: Adapting the Content for Virtual
When planning and producing the awards program content, we knew that ASAE’s typical 1-hour show would not be as effective for virtual attendees. We collaborated with the ASAE team to scale down the show to a 30-minute, video-driven program, and worked alongside our LAI Video colleagues who developed 7 different videos that artfully recognized award winners, as well as the industry, while remaining relevant to current times. The pandemic played a significant role in the video content – kicking off the program with a moving montage that acknowledged the extraordinary responses from associations during these challenging times via a COVID-19 response video. The evening ended with a musical performance straight from Nashville, closing out the program in a memorable and special way.
With more than 20 years of experience as an event producer, Shannon has produced everything from multi-million dollar, nationally-televised events to a nationwide…
With over a decade of experience designing a wide variety of engaging visual media solutions, Benjamin McGeever brings a refined eye and a fresh approach to…
Elizabeth has over 10 years of experience working with LAI customers in all aspects of our business. She maintains production schedules, manages workflow and tracks…
Helena Lehman is responsible for building the company’s business in content marketing strategy among its clientele.