When more than 1,200 Quest Software employees descended on the Anaheim, California Hilton for the company’s annual financial close celebration, NXT FY25, the venue looked more like something built for a music festival. So it’s no surprise that some attendees wondered if they were in the right place. Luckily, edgefactory’s creative branding made sure they knew where they were.
Quest organizers wanted their event to be like the SXSW music and film festival held annually in Austin, Texas. They created an event that rivals the SXSW music and film festival.
Defining themes
“(Quest) really broke the mold,” said Brian Cole, president and CEO of edgefactory. “They didn’t want to play it safe. They wanted to make a statement. We had a huge challenge because last year at Virgin Las Vegas (Quest’s NXT FY24) was all sports-themed. It was probably one of the coolest events we’ve ever done. So we had to raise the bar, and we didn’t really have a theme.”
When thinking about this year’s festival theme, Cole wondered, “How do you define it?” He said that was the team’s biggest challenge. “How do we define a theme to the audience so that they feel like they’re not at a business conference, but at a festival? That’s what we did.” He noted that bold, colorful brand visuals were used throughout the hotel, all with this in mind: to make attendees “feel like the whole hotel was built for them.”
The Three E’s
Around-the-clock DJs, on-stage game shows, and TVs throughout the venue that showed employees destroying old company products in the rage room via Quest’s in-house TV channel: these were a few of the forms of entertainment attendees witnessed during the event. The game shows were a take on popular TV game shows like Family Questions (they also did Jeopardy!), pitting different Quest departments against each other for office bragging rights.
Read more: Festivalization: to be or not to be?
The game also involves the audience by giving them the opportunity to answer questions posed on stage.
“I always say there are three core elements missing from most conferences: energy, emotion and edge,” Cole said. He referenced the fake set that edgefactory created to get the crowd excited. “[It]looks like something you’d see on Bravo or Andy Cohen. We built a set with their branding on it, and the hosts would come out in the morning on these giant LEDs and say hello to people and make some jokes about them. It was hilarious.”
As for how meeting planners can incorporate these three missing pieces, Cole said, “We’re seeing more and more groups going digital, which makes the entire meeting feel more dynamic. But it’s not just visuals—we love bringing in music at registration, in the foyer, and in breakout and ballrooms. Music and visualization are the biggest things clients can do to complement the overall meeting ‘experience.'”
Complete work within tight time frames
Cole said the biggest challenge was that Quest doesn’t set its fiscal year until Feb. 1, so the company doesn’t always know how much revenue the March 1 conference will bring in, and therefore they often have a short time to plan the event. “We put everything together in three weeks,” he said. “We had about 20 people working full-time for three weeks to get it done. Everything was planned, from the microphone flags to the tables and furniture, even the host. We shared mood boards about the host and what he could wear and what he would wear.”
Read more: How to design memorable experiences
Cole said it usually takes his company at least a few months to complete a set-up. “But we do so many shows a year, and as long as we have a dedicated team, we can complete an entire convention in three weeks. A lot of people think we’re crazy for doing this, but you know, we’re really good at it. I have a very talented team of people who really excel. When we work together on a project, things move very quickly.”
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