One Pivot Leads to Another And Everybody Wins!)
03.24.2020
By Team IVC
One Pivot Leads to Another And Everybody Wins!
When software giant Pegasystems made the decision to pivot PegaWorld iNspire from live to virtual, a lot had to change in the course of less than a week. In addition to all of the content planning, logistics, and communications, there was the matter of the entertainment they’d booked for the event that was to run from May 31 through June 2.
After years of hosting PegaWorld in Las Vegas, Pega was coming home to Boston. Organizers wanted to celebrate their city, so they contracted several Boston-born headliners, including indie favorite Dropkick Murphys.
Then COVID-19 emerged and changed everyone’s plans. The events industry, as well as the music and concert industries, were thrown into uncertainty. On March 9, Pega made the decision to pivot. InVision and Pega reached out to the band’s management to discuss how to save the deal to the benefit of all. Here’s where this story gets interesting, even serendipitous.
Dropkick Murphys agreed to record a mini-set to be streamed during the virtual event. They set the recording date for Monday, March 16, and secured studio space. A few days before the shoot, the band asked to move the date to March 17. Since their traditional St. Patrick’s Day show in Boston had been cancelled because of the virus, the band decided to stage a live-streamed concert for their fans around the world.
In all of the back and forth, a bond formed between the Pega team and the band’s management. Pega’s VP Brand and Client Experience, Michael Brenner found a kindred spirit in the band’s manager Jeff Castelaz. That’s how Brenner learned something quite remarkable: the band was donating the entirety of their performance fees to their road crew to help them weather these tumultuous times. Who knew when they would be able to tour again?
Inspired by this compassionate notion, Brenner asked Castelaz about sponsoring the livestream concert to further support crew’s cause. “At Pega, we’re doing the same thing for our employees who can’t work remotely and would be losing their paycheck. We couldn’t let that happen to our team or the Dropkick Murphys’ team, so it just made sense” says Brenner. And so Pega became the sole sponsor of the livestream. Check it out here.
“We were just two great organizations and a bunch of Boston guys trying to do good for people who need it right now,” Brenner observed. Boston Strong indeed.
“In the past week, I’ve learned two things about Pega: one, this is a company dedicated to making complex systems operate smoothly in the business world, no matter what; two, when they saw an opportunity to support a bunch of Boston musicians to bring their music to fans around the world, they were immediately dedicated to make it happen, no matter what. Pega’s sponsorship of the Dropkick Murphys livestream concert allowed us to smoothly pull off an incredibly complex task in very quickly. Their support also allows the band to help support its crew during this time when touring just can’t happen,” says Castelaz.
In this pivot, everybody wins. Dropkick Murphys connected with their fans and received huge exposure in a NBC Nightly News featured the next evening. Their road crew family got some much-needed assistance. And Pega’s virtual PegaWorld event will rock the industry in true Boston fashion on June 2.
These days, it’s always best to look for the silver lining wherever you can. When you pivot with InVision, who knows how much silver we’ll uncover? Let’s find out. Give us a call.