BAI BEACON: 2017 – 2018 *event no longer running
BAI exists to give financial services leaders the confidence to make smart business decisions, every day. Their annual conference, BAI Beacon, delivers unbiased perspectives, accurate and timely data, and comparative analytics. They educate through interactive experiences, trusted research, and focused education and training. They facilitate meaningful connections for industry leaders and peers to build knowledge and expertise and discover new ideas and trends.
Goals
- Curate thought leadership that can inform members on the newest technologies and practice in the banking space
- Inspire members to find ways to innovate and evolve
- Encourage networking between fintech and traditional banking
The Event
This annual conference is an opportunity for BAI members to learn about the newest innovations in banking and connect with others who span from fintech to traditional retail banking to grow and find ways to help each other in the ever evolving space of financial services.
At BAI Beacon, they launched an awards program, showing real use cases of innovative solutions working for clients, and an emerging leaders program that allowed younger staff eager to make their mark the opportunity to be paired with a mentor.
Since 2018 BAI made the decision to move away from a broad annual conference and focus on more specialized events for their customers and financial services leaders.
OVATION’s Solution
The structure of the event was very unique. Instead of traditional breakout rooms, BAI opted for an open campus format where the exhibit floor was surrounded by stages of varying sizes. This allowed people to choose their own course and float from one session to another, never feeling stuck. Attendees could easily audit multiple breakouts.
Each attendee received a device in their swag bag that gave them the ability to tune in to different channels aka breakout sessions. Whether they had difficulty hearing or wanted to get up and use the bathroom or grab a snack, they could continue to listen through their device.
In an open concept like this, sound is going to be the biggest challenge. OVATION executed some pretty amazing audio engineering to address audio bleed in the space. We found the perfect balance of sessions be just loud enough to hear when you are in it, but not so loud that it interferes with other sessions. First year no print work or promotional design but they loved working with our creative team that the second year we did the design for all promo and large format print work.
In our first year with BAI we designed a runway stage for the general session. With round tables to host breakfast and dinner, we wanted to find a way to bring people closer to the stage. The layout was a success but as an association mindful of spending, our client was concerned that the event could have been perceived as too flashy. For the next year, we scaled back to make sure members knew dollars were being put into speakers and not production, and executed a simple yet sophisticated general session design. We also added to our scope in the second year, as BAI was pleased with our creative services in year one, and handled all promotional design and large format signage for the event.
Testimonial
I just wanted to take a moment and say “THANK YOU” for your exceptional work over the past two weeks with the Global Awards program. Your creativity and understanding of our program continues to shine through with all of the deliverables. Additionally, you continue to meet our aggressive timelines – which is greatly appreciated!
Thanks again – great job!












