Lights, camera, action! - Behind the scenes of Backbase Connect.

It's a wrap. We have just concluded our two-day virtual summit that unites digital banking leaders from around the globe to experience and discuss the future of banking. Two days, two sessions, one for the EMEA/APAC region and one for the Americas. It's been amazing.

An event like this not just unites our customers and partners, actually the prelude and months of preparation truly unites all teams within Backbase as well. It's like there's not a single department not involved in such a large production; product marketing, R&D, marketing, sales, customer success, you name it, everybody chips in, chips in big time. To prepare the demos, liaising with customers that are kind enough to share their learnings, to managing the entire production and communication, the list was massive.

The result? Here's a little snippet of the key note.

What do you think?

There's nothing new to organising online events, but when it has to equal the engagement and interactivity that we value so much from our annual on-site Connect event, that's a whole different ball game. Or 'a whole different cookie', as famous Dutch football coach Louis van Gaal would say, being known for his literal translations of Dutch expressions.

But there's nothing like a good challenge here at Backbase. It's a chance to rise up and differentiate. So the team set out to create a virtual WOW experience. And that's exactly what was accomplished. Wow.

Wow does not happen overnight. It starts with a vision and is followed by months of hard work, by all the different teams. It meant some serious heavy-lifting, particularly in the content stream and the production and communication stream. An event platform was selected and designed, additional Slack engagement channels were set up. In terms of production we decided for a mix of a keynote stage experience and the more intimate feel of panel discussions, here's a quick impression.

The on-site production part was really impressive. Shout out to the amazing crew that helped us out. And of course to the amazing Backbase team.

Equally impressive how all the speakers handled the TV-like presentation format. Such a different experience.

It's all about the right angle.

The 'so-what' chat prior to taking the stage.

Next to 'consuming content' in the keynotes, the value for many attendees is in the sharing of best practices. That's where the panel discussion came in. But also the live QA sessions, Slack channels for easy 1-1 connections and the additional opportunity to schedule 1-1 meetings with Backbase leadership and wide range of experts. Each region had several clients sharing their experiences of how they're transforming their banks into digital leaders. Here's the panel for the Middle East and Africa session featuring National Bank of Bahrain, Standard Bank South Africa, and Mauritius Commercial Bank. Really nice stories and a lively QA with the attendees.

Our design team did a superb job in creating a consistent and beautiful experience; in the event platform, all the comms assets around the event; the streaming back drops, all the little details that make a great user experience. Also a special note to the importance of timing and tone of all the copy, to capture this well, especially live during the event has been a real-differentiator.

For sure, the experience is different from the on-site Connect events from the past (flashback to last year is on the right, still unimaginable currently). But with the right technologies to engage with your audience, the virtual connection surely has proven valuable. And to the benefit of all attendees, you attend in your own time, at your own convenience with the ability to even more easily connect with peers from around the world.

Virtual or on-site, one thing that really is no different, is that joyous feeling when it all comes together. Add to that, that due to remote working this was the first time in months that we all got together as a marketing team (in a socially distant office set up of course) and you can imagine this was a special two days. I am really proud of the team, thank you so much!

Also a big thank you to our customers Royal Bank of Canada, SFFCU, Truist-Lightstream, Banco Caja Social, Banco Pichincha, Advanzia, Bank of the Philippine Islands, National Bank of Bahrein, Mauritius Commercial Bank, Standard Bank South Africa, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank, Greater Bank, DigiBankASIA, FE Credit and NS&I for their time, effort and honest reflections.

If you are interested to hear about the results (as in KPI's), the tooling we used, or how we integrate the event and make it part of our digital marketing strategy...just send me a DM or reach out to the marketing team. We're always happy to share experiences and learn from each other.