Handling 30% of all web traffic, Akamai is a leading cloud platform enabling enterprises, media companies, financial institutions and the world’s biggest online retailers provide secure, high-performing user experiences on any device, anywhere. They turned to us for the second year in a row to elevate their sixth annual Akamai Edge conference for customers and strategic partners; bringing together global technology and business leaders to share best practices and create leading edge online experiences with the help of Akamai’s Intelligent Platform.
Our answer: together with their team we created a totally integrated, multi-day education, entertainment and networking brand experience with a new use of traditional space and stunning look and feel that transformed Washington DC’s distinctive Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center into a true contemporary brand experience, all built around the new Akamai brand positioning – Creating a Faster Forward World.
Highlights included two days of Akamai University training, demonstrations by more than 30 partnering sponsors, a new developer’s track, a web security symposium and a forum for government professionals. Interspersed throughout were keynotes and breakout sessions by Akamai executives, partners and clients, and several of the days were capped by unique hospitality and party events that brought people together in fun and memorable ways unique to the Akamai brand.
A quick recap of our services at Edge includes the development of the conference experience from a strategic planning and communication standpoint, as well as agenda consultation, attendee marketing plan development, creative direction, space mapping, total event management, registration, project management, entertainment and special event production and overall program measurement.
For the more than 1,600 attendees (50%+ more than previous year) from around the world, this Edge conference connected on a deeper and more relevant level through more insightful content, one-to-one interactions and overall engaging experience – nearly 100% of attendees gave it top marks. What’s more, more than half of attendees said they would have follow-up conversations with Akamai sales and product reps as well as partner reps, a strong indicator of sales engagement. Finally, the new Edge generated tremendous visibility for Akamai, with 4,900 mentions of the brand online and 72.3 million views of Edge content from around the world.
