Read on Twitter
1/ #Oktane20 Live wrapped up a couple weeks ago (!) and it& #39;s time to go behind the scenes of the 4 weeks leading up to the event. Here& #39;s a thread on how the team @Okta pulled off a virtual conference... and turned lemons into lemonade. 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍋" title="Lemon" aria-label="Emoji: Lemon">
2/ Q1 is Eventathon at Okta (we used to call it Eventageddon, but @SarahShaheen2 had the great idea to rebrand this year). This includes Company Kickoff, Sales Kickoff, Technical Kickoff, Global Holiday Parties and our Oktane Customer Conference - within 8 weeks.
3/ As COVID-19 spread, we knew these events would not be possible as designed. We started taking precautions + building contingency plans. Limiting attendance based on recent travel / illness, hand sanitizer, deep cleaning, masks. Fortunately we made it through February& #39;s events.
4/ Then it started getting worse, and became increasingly clear that we could not responsibly bring 6k people together for 3 days for Oktane. At the same time, we had great content in progress, announcements + a community to bring together. We had momentum...
5/ We considered alternative dates + multiple back-up plans, but we wouldn’t cancel. It was important to show the company, the team, and all of you that we would prevail. The show must go on.
6/ March 2 10am we met w/ Executive team with our recommendation to shift #Oktane20 to a virtual conference. Had we hosted a virtual event like this before? Nope. But we knew and shared that we’d do everything we could to pull this off and make it a world-class virtual event.
7/ Then we did what any team would do - set up a Google Doc, a Slack channel and pulled together the core team (Okta internal + our *amazing* partners at Launch) for an all-day planning session.
8/ March 3. Announcement day! Emailed registrants, customers, prospective customers, sponsors, board members, updated website + social, notified press. Hosted a company Town Hall to lay out the plan (or as much as we could!), answer questions.
9/ OK, new planning underway... First, keynotes: instead of delivering to an audience at Moscone West, we’d still record everything there on the big stage, and then play the video live for attendees.
10/ And *great* news - every guest speaker agreed to the new plan, and our customer speakers agreed to join us too. Having these inspiring guests and industry thought leaders still participate was a big win. Great progress.
11/ Of course as soon as the team came up with the back-up plan, it became clear that it wasn’t just 1 contingency plan for going from live to virtual. There were plans A, B, C, D and even E. (I& #39;m so glad we didn& #39;t get to Plan F...)
12/ We found an alternative local venue “just in case." We shifted to the concept of our keynotes being a broadcast show, with news anchors and smaller stages.
In the end we made to Plan E - fully remote keynotes, breakouts.
More on that in a minute...
In the end we made to Plan E - fully remote keynotes, breakouts.
More on that in a minute...
13/ Once shelter-in-place was in effect, it was clear we wouldn’t deliver keynotes on a stage. We went from full production to “OK @toddmckinnon, @fkerrest, Diya, we’ll ship you a high-end camera, show how to record via Quicktime + @zoom.” Flexibility is key!
14/ Great, so we just have to hit record. Simple, right? Not quite. Lighting. Audio. Remote interviews. Re-takes. Families. Wi-fi. Equipment delayed in the mail. Green screens. Moving furniture for the perfect shot. But we got great clips and the team delivered awesome keynotes.
15/ Oh, I won’t even share the story about the keynote we re-edited 3 times within 16 hours! But all these keynote shots did result in one of my all-time favorite blooper videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbTmEHjoAGk">https://www.youtube.com/watch...
16/ Along the way from Plan A to Plan E, the team was challenged in entirely new ways. Over 75 breakout sessions meant updates to dozens of speakers (both internal and external), new technology, new timing. All to be pre-recorded a week sooner than the event. Ready, go!
17/ Interactive experiences: Without the in-person component, how would we engage w/ attendees? Luckily the platform enabled us to offer Ask the Experts, Okta Hub, Developer Hub, live chat with speakers during sessions. All in-person staff could still participate online.
18/ And partners! Dozens committed to join us at #Oktane20 + we wanted them to stick w/ us to virtual. We ran a Sponsor expo (leads!) + sponsor breakout sessions (leads + content!) Thanks to a herculean effort from the team +35 sponsors joined us! Thank you sponsors. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">
" title="18/ And partners! Dozens committed to join us at #Oktane20 + we wanted them to stick w/ us to virtual. We ran a Sponsor expo (leads!) + sponsor breakout sessions (leads + content!) Thanks to a herculean effort from the team +35 sponsors joined us! Thank you sponsors. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
19/ Then it was the big day #Oktane20 Live! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎉" title="Party popper" aria-label="Emoji: Party popper">There could be an entire thread on those 48 hours, but it& #39;s time to wrap up: +20k registrants, +10k in virtual platform + 1000s more on LinkedIn live stream, awesome engagement through dozens of sessions, Expo, Ask the Experts
There could be an entire thread on those 48 hours, but it& #39;s time to wrap up: +20k registrants, +10k in virtual platform + 1000s more on LinkedIn live stream, awesome engagement through dozens of sessions, Expo, Ask the Experts" title="19/ Then it was the big day #Oktane20 Live! https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎉" title="Party popper" aria-label="Emoji: Party popper">There could be an entire thread on those 48 hours, but it& #39;s time to wrap up: +20k registrants, +10k in virtual platform + 1000s more on LinkedIn live stream, awesome engagement through dozens of sessions, Expo, Ask the Experts" class="img-responsive" style="max-width:100%;"/>
20/ There are countless stories about how everyone working on Oktane adapted, brought new creative ideas to the table + were resilient. The ability to adapt and change through ever-evolving plans was so important. I was, and still am, so impressed by the effort.
21/ Of course during all of these changes and contingency plans and curveballs, the team learned about an entirely new way to work remotely. And we stayed connected through @zoom (similar to the many you have all joined), @SlackHQ messages, google docs, and emails.
22/ In the lead up to the event, I found 2 quotes that resonate with this entire experience.
First from Amy Poehler, second from Helen Keller.
(Book: Great Quotes from Great Women)
First from Amy Poehler, second from Helen Keller.
(Book: Great Quotes from Great Women)
23/ I saw this more than ever with how the @Okta team made #Oktane20 Live happen. Everyone came together, rallied, brought their A game and delivered lemonade, sunshine or whatever you want to call it.
24/ @Okta showed the world we’re one team. The @oktane20 Live experience validated my belief that there is no better place to work and no better people to work with. I& #39;m so proud of and so inspired by this team. A huge thank you to the many, many people who made this happen!
25/ P.S. If you missed the content, you check it out here: https://www.okta.com/resources/oktane-content/">https://www.okta.com/resources...
26/ Shout-out to the incredible team here on Twitter ... @jennakozel @SarahShaheen2 @lindsayklife @BattenKatie @leenathequeena @marquesaversola @samkatzen @laur_berry @ryantcarlson and lots of others not on Twitter https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💙" title="Blue heart" aria-label="Emoji: Blue heart">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🎉" title="Party popper" aria-label="Emoji: Party popper">
