TalkingTree Creative

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president and co-founder of 1F Collaborative and we’re a nonprofit that funds medical research to cure a rare genetic disease called Usher Syndrome Type 1F.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TalkingTree Creative?

We were hosting an international scientific research conference, which we hoped to go to in-person — but because of COVID-19, we couldn’t. There was no way we could’ve handled 26 presenters and 300 attendees virtually, without the help of TalkingTree Creative.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Initially, we were deciding whether we’d do it live, if we were going to have recordings, what we wanted the home screen to look like, and what we wanted the viewers’ screen to look like in terms of the speaker and the slides — we also talked about sponsorships and how they’d be presented. As we got more into details, we worked on the agenda and they gave us advice on when we should have speakers get on, and how far they’ve collected the slides in advance. 

In addition, they had a whole crew on the day of the conference. They had a control team with a backend where speakers would come on and be in waiting, and they did tests on their connections to make sure they presented smoothly. Apart from that, they created and sent the Save the Date emails, sent out the graphics, and created and kept track of the registration page.

What is the team composition?

In all the work leading up to the actual event, we worked primarily with one person who was on top of things the day of the event. We also actively worked with two other members, but I know there were 1–2 in the background working on all the controls.

How did you come to work with TalkingTree Creative?

We were the recipients of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative project grant, and holding the conference was part of the requirement of the grant money. The organization gave the grantees a list of a few companies to help with the conference planning and TalkingTree Creative was one of them. Their description seemed to fit what we needed, and when I spoke to Craig (President), I knew they were exactly what we needed.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent about $39,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from March 2020–May 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The outreach they helped us get was fantastic. We got about 300 people that signed up for the conference, and because it was done virtually, we had attendees from China, Indonesia, Australia, and all over Europe.

How did TalkingTree Creative perform from a project management standpoint?

They performed terrifically. TalkingTree Creative was very on top of things, and they were very responsive. We typically communicated through email and video conferencing.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I would say it was their personalization, responsiveness, and the fact that we had one person who was dedicated to our project. They made suggestions to us that we hadn’t thought of which was very helpful. Their control room was also pretty fantastic. They had equipment that the average person wouldn’t have.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. Given that it was a completely virtual conference with speakers around the world, they got to manage it and 26 different internet connections — they got them all live so I have no complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

My advice would be to come up with a detailed agenda to share with them, and do it early enough so that they know who they have to interact with. Give them the information that they need to make the event a success.