To Do’s Jenna sends her regards:
From live to virtual events and everything in between! This was To Do 2020.
Hey there, it’s Jenna, To Do’s editor, calling out. WHUU what a year back!
2020 got off to a fast and energetic start; we pre-produced dozens of events, travelled to Amsterdam and Tallinn to plan events and the whole team was buzzing with enthusiasm!
In March, a wall suddenly hit. All our spring events were cancelled overnight. In May, we talked about how this probably couldn’t last until August and made plans ahead. In August we did a few live events, but as the infection situation worsened we decided that maybe 2021 spring is supposedly a safe time to organise live events and now we are biting our nails and waiting to see what happens…
From live events to virtual encounters.
Live made a big leap into virtual events and hybrid versions. Our events had previously gone live and it was possible to participate from home. However, for the first time, entire events were being exported online.
However, when the situation escalated in March, we didn’t just sit back and do nothing, we already knew what we had to do; develop, ideate and plan participatory and experiential virtual events and figure out how to turn a one-way “TV broadcast” into an ACTIVATING EVENT that actually engages and activates participants! We used the spring to identify partners, explore best solutions and learn together.
Over the past year, we have learned a lot of new things, gained a lot of new partners and made great strides forward. The past year has brought our team even closer together and we have found a whole new way of working together.
When the situation was at its most chaotic in the spring and no one knew how to get out of it, instead of being paralysed, the team put their heads together and developed and built something completely new. A big thank you to the whole insane To Do gang. Together we have survived 2020 even better than before!
Virtual events are now behind us, from summer parties for thousands of people to smaller ones for dozens of remote participants. On top of that, we’ve been doing a variety of outreach, networking with influencers and thinking about solutions outside the box. The feedback has been overwhelming. Having got to know the team better at the virtual parties than at the live ones, we can’t help but be delighted. Many virtual event sceptics have been converted and the average score for Alink on the single event recommendation scale going forward has been 8.6/10! The only thing that has often lowered the score is the desire for live encounters instead of virtual moments.
We want to do cool stuff with cool people.
The aim of To Do has been very clear from the start. We want to be a partner you can turn to for anything you need. If we don’t know how to do it ourselves, we look for someone who does. This year we found that the same works the other way round. Our customers, the enablers of our dream tree, came forward, offered their support and help to get through this. We were offered a wide variety of gigs outside of our normal schedule, were widely recommended, and even offered a loan to get us through the worst of it (luckily, this was not needed). There have been many nights awake and tears shed over the year of worry, but at the same time those tears have also been tears of happiness at the wonderful people we get to do events for. <3 So thank you to all our clients and partners with whom we have made this year just a little bit better together! <3 <3 2020 was different. It broke, but at the same time it forced us to take big steps and evolve in big ways. While there have been moments of challenge, we look to 2021 with confidence. Once we have survived this year, we will survive anything – together!
Traditionally, instead of cards and Christmas presents, we turn our Christmas memories to charity. This year, our donation will go to HelsinkiMission, which works to increase emotional intimacy and eliminate loneliness. Read more about HelsinkiMisssio here.
Thanks to all those who supported us, together we are more!
Have a wonderful, soft and merry Christmas and a better year ahead in 2021!
