TEDx’s First Ever Virtual Event with Myreze

This event was initiated as a collaboration between TEDx Countdown and Bærekraftigeliv, with both initiatives having the shared goal of working towards a better future by caring for our planet, and creating a reversal that could improve the quality of lives for generations, and it all starts with bringing awareness to the dire health of our planet.

The TEDx Bærekraftige liv was held in Bergen, Norway for the first time in 2020 and focused on how to live sustainably and the preservation of the the earth’s health during a time of revival as the world continues to work through the ever-looming danger of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Countdown

2020 is the year of COUNTDOWN, and was made in collaboration with TEDx to start a bold global movement aimed to bring awareness to the earth’s climate crisis and has brought together environmental experts from all across the world to talk about the problems we all face in the very near future. These presentations from around the world are on the topics of projects, solutions and ideas to help us reach the climate crisis goals towards 2030.

A large variety of participants is the key to what makes Countdown an effective global initiative and includes communities such as schools, universities, businesses, nonprofits and city representative offices. TED is working together with incredible networks to coordinate a day where ideas are generated, knowledge is shared and solutions are showcased to drive local action.

Bærekraftigeliv

Bærekraftigeliv is a network of entrepreneurs and idealists challenging the status quo of society, aiming for transformational sustainability change of our culture, systems and identities. They begin with the community’s own vision of how they want their environment to be. From there the network joins forces, builds common goals, tests projects, and puts ideas into action where the people live. Together, they create sustainable societies for people and the planet.

Teaming up with TEDx will showcase and lift up regional solutions that turn ideas into action toward a more sustainable and climate friendly life. With TED’s global COUNTDOWN initiative to cut our global carbon emissions in half by 2030 — the ultimate goal is to create a safer, cleaner and fairer world for all. The Bærekraftigeliv network is bringing together scientists, activists, entrepreneurs, urban planners, farmers, businesses and artists to find the most effective, evidence based ideas out there to grow our communities into something we can be truly proud of.

The Event

This TEDx event was originally supposed to be a live conference in the city of Bergen, but because of Covid-19 restrictions, it was decided that the event had to be moved online and Myreze had the pleasure of producing this event and contributed to its eco-friendly message with the design of a groundbreaking virtual studio that sits upon Mount Fløyen and overlooks the city of Bergen.

Since the event had to be moved to a virtual studio, it was important that it was one that made a strong visual impact as it was the first virtual TEDx event in history, so it couldn’t be just any regular studio.

Virtual conferencing environments are emerging as an increasingly popular choice for businesses and organisations to use as the number of people working from home continues to rise — But most of them are boring and uninspiring, which is the last thing you need when absorbing important information.

The space was designed with the characteristic TED colours and aesthetics in mind, whilst evoking a larger-than-life visual experience with the stage itself seemingly floating over one of Mount Ulriken’s cliff falls. This combination creates an environment which is both instantly recognisable and uniquely special.

TED talks are about learning from an expert in their field, and keeping a strong focus on the speaker is important. Our TEDx studio lets the speaker use virtual graphs or other visual elements that can appear anywhere around them to better explain their topic, as well as a sliding screen that rotates into position behind the speaker when presenting.

It certainly keeps things interesting, especially with a view like this.

So Why Should Events Be Virtual?

Interactions between people within virtual events need to be as meaningful as they are in person. And through the use of virtual and augmented reality, they can.

Virtual events and conferences have a lot of advantages, both environmentally and functionally when it comes to being green — whether it’s saving fuel on long distance travel for attendees and speakers, or saving paper that would otherwise be used for leaflets and brochures — these costs are usually substantial but using a virtual set saves those funds that could easily be allocated to other important areas of the event’s production, and contribute even further to the green concept of the conference. A virtual set provides an incredibly flexible solution in almost every area. And that includes caring for the environment…

Being eco friendly is a great reason for event organisers to go virtual, as not only does it consist of hosting an event that can potentially be watched by millions from anywhere, but is performed from a set that causes virtually (no pun intended) zero environmental harm. It is a leading reason for event arrangers to turn to a virtual solution, and the perfect setting for TEDx’s Bærekraftigeliv event to be brought to life despite the restricting current conditions.

How Is It Green?

Virtual solutions serve as the perfect platforms for creating a memorable experience for events on any scale, and like in the case of this event — allowed for many more people to join in and from anywhere in the world, saving countless tonnes of CO2. In fact, by switching to a virtual studio for this event, carbon emissions have been reduced by over 90% of what would have been emitted if this were an event held in a traditional physical space.

Another key benefit of hosting an event from a virtual environment is the ability to reuse the space as many times as you like, saving yet more future costs associated with redesigning and redecorating/refurbishing the event space.

And If event organisers required the customisation of the studio to fit the theme of another event, it can be done quickly.

It’s Beautiful Too

By keeping things virtual we have complete freedom to capture any angle around the studio for incredible shots of the speakers and the small breaks between them.

Myreze is grateful for the opportunity to assist in making this year’s TEDx Bærekraftige liv event possible despite the complicated occasion, and we hope to work together again in the future on other groundbreaking events that not only realise the possibilities within virtual reality, but will give the audience a informative experience they’ll never forget.