Reimaging a physical flagship in just 60 days
PegaWorld Inspire 2020
The Challenge: A Race Against Time
In late February 2020, our team sat in the boardroom finalizing plans for PegaWorld, our flagship annual event that brings together thousands of customers, partners, and industry leaders. Just days later, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic—and everything changed.
With PegaWorld scheduled for June 1, we had just 60 days to pivot from an in-person conference to a fully virtual experience. There was no playbook—most virtual events at the time were glorified webinars, lacking engagement, energy, and real impact.
We faced an urgent question:
How do we reimagine PegaWorld in just two months—without losing its power, audience, or value?
The Solution: A Ground-Up Reinvention
Instead of simply shifting the event online as many of our competitors were doing, we rebuilt PegaWorld from scratch, making bold, strategic decisions to ensure it delivered energy, engagement, and real value.
From Multi-Day to Must-Watch: Instead of dragging content across multiple days, we streamlined PegaWorld into a two-hour, high-impact digital experience, prioritizing quality over quantity.
From PowerPoints to Prime Time: We ditched long presentations for a TV-quality production, with cinematic storytelling, expert hosts, and high-energy transitions that kept the audience engaged.
From Local to Global: Going virtual eliminated barriers to entry, allowing us to reach a far broader, more diverse audience than ever before.
From Passive Watching to Active Engagement: We introduced live polls, Q&A sessions, and interactive content to ensure attendees weren’t just watching—they were participating.
From Planning to Execution in 60 Days: Every aspect—content, production, speakers, design, platform, partners, and marketing—was built from the ground up in record time.
The Results: A Virtual Event That Set the Bar
Record-Breaking Attendance – PegaWorld 2020 drew 40,000+ registrants—a 8x increase over prior years.
Global Reach – Attendees joined from 20+ countries, making it the most geographically diverse PegaWorld ever.
High Engagement – Viewers stayed an average of 96 minutes, proving the content was compelling and well-paced.
Industry Benchmark – PegaWorld 2020 became the standard for virtual events, influencing how companies rethought digital experiences.
The Takeaway: Innovation Under Pressure
What could have been a crisis became an opportunity to redefine virtual events. In just two months, we transformed uncertainty into innovation, proving that with bold decision-making, agility, and creativity, even the largest challenges can become breakthroughs.
