Virtual Event - Sept 17-18, 2020
IDSA's annual IDC represents the perfect opportunity to bring together our global community of designers and top creative minds each year for a few days of connection, inspiration, and knowledge exchange. The 2020 event was originally planned to be in-person, as always, and in Seattle, WA. However, due to health concerns arising from the novel coronavirus pandemic, IDSA quickly realized that a pivot would be necessary. As a result, our biggest event of the year happened virtually for the first time ever.
And if that wasn't enough of a challenge, we also tried something that had not previously been attempted by any international design conference, to our knowledge: a virtual event with attendees and presenters logging in from around the world for a continuous span of 24 hours.
We wanted to build something that was truly unique.
"This format helped to separate us from other events and allowed us to address a truly global audience. It didn't try to replicate an in-person format in a digital environment, but rather leveraged the best of what a virtual experience can provide in order to create an entirely new attendee experience."
- Chris Livaudais, IDSA Executive Director
Emcees guide the way
A key element of the IDC experience is the Emcees who are responsible for guiding the audience through an incredibly expansive range of talks delivered by prominent industry thought leaders and provocateurs. They help navigate the transitions between speakers and craft a narrative that spans the entire event. This year was no different, with six tracks of top-tier design content guided by five spectacular Emcees:
A global gathering
IDC 2020 was a success on multiple levels: the diversity of speakers, content, and perspectives; the ease with which the emcees, presenters, and attendees navigated the entirely virtual experience; and the IDSA Staff and volunteers' ability to convert an in-person gathering to an online event that still managed to bring the ID community together for learning, fun, and fellowship.
The conference featured nearly 80 speakers from 9 different countries, all diving into highly relevant topics that spanned a variety of design disciplines, such as industrial design, UX, service design, medical design, furniture design, graphic design, and more.
