Spotlight on.... Behind the scenes team
28th of April 2022 …
The Scottish Tech Army’s second Tech for Good Summit - our flagship event of the year … and Michael von Euw, Charlotte Canham, and Joe Cross were the team that was going to deliver it …
The room was abuzz with anticipation, as we eagerly awaited the moment when we would bring to life all our hard work over the last few months - cameras were ready, Streamyard was locked and loaded, and then we were live with a tiny mouse click, and the second Tech for Good Summit was underway.
Alistair Forbes was getting ready for his Welcome address. With his presentation uploaded, we made the first transition from Graham Johnston’'s Introductions stream to Alistair's one and the programme was underway. As the day progressed, we refined our processes and by the day's end we had mastered this pattern as a team. As panellists and hosts began to arrive, mostly virtually, Charlotte masterfully greeted all the guests and made them feel at ease. We had asked for all panellists to arrive 15 minutes early to test their sound and video and walk them through what was to come - we have all been part of virtual events where the tech doesn’t quite work and this preparation time was essential to minimise the risk of any issues.
As Joe put it, "I enjoyed working behind the scenes for the Tech for Good Summit. Seeing the work and collaboration that goes into hosting an event like this has made me appreciate the commitment from both staff and volunteers."
The day was buzzing with non-stop action; I had a privileged view of the operation from the control centre. This hive of activity did not end at the door - we had panellists, hosts and volunteers dispersed across the Forrit offices. An important part of the programme was our Volunteers, Assemble! challenge, a live interactive activity in which three teams worked in real time to come up with solutions to challenges they had been set. Joe played a crucial part with the teams that had come from AND Digital, Aegon Asset Management and our own volunteer community in the Scottish Tech Army., each of which came up with project ideas that will become a reality in the months to come.
In the words of Charlotte, "It was a fantastic experience overall, the speakers were all very engaging, and it was amazing to see the amount of great work done in such a short amount of time by the Volunteer Assemble teams.
As more and more panels were behind us, we had found our groove and would have happily carried on for many more hours. It was bittersweet to have finally ended the summit but we were delighted with the results and are already looking forward to the next one.
