CN looks at how American software giant Alteryx made use of the events space at London venue Tobacco Dock.
Can you tell us what Alteryx is?
Our mission at Alteryx is that every business should experience the thrill of problem-solving with Alteryx. We do this by providing an end-to-end self-service data and advanced analytics platform. It is a single platform that caters to those statisticians that require a code-friendly approach because they want to leverage R and Python, and also caters to those citizen data scientists who tend to live mainly in a code-free world, carrying out ‘vlookups’, pivots and joining of data.
What was your event brief and objective?
Alteryx Inspire Europe 2019 was a four-day conference, divided into two days of training followed by two days of conference delivery. With over 2,500 data-centric businesspeople, customers and partners converging each day to build skills and share knowledge about the future of data analytics, we needed an event space that enabled us to create a seamless and bustling, but never over-crowded, experience. Now in its third year, the Inspire Europe event has grown from its original attendance of 750 guests from its inaugural year at Tobacco Dock in 2017.
Why did you choose Tobacco Dock?
This was a return to the venue after a year’s hiatus and the large capacity and versatility of the venue was a major draw for Alteryx, as Inspire Europe has expanded significantly over the past few years. Event spaces used were the Great Gallery for keynote and plenary sessions; Little Gallery was used for large breakout and keynote overflow; East Mall and Quayside Breakouts were used for training breakouts; the Quayside Bar was perfect for the VIP Green Room during the day, as well as for book signing and welcome and closing evening drinks receptions; and the East Mall Square was used as the help desk and chill out zone.
What factors did you consider when choosing a venue?
Proximity to transport links was important as well as the inimitable Tobacco Dock depth of history and atmosphere. The venue’s sustainability initiatives were also a huge draw.
What was the event solution?
Alteryx hosted over 2,500 data-centric customers, partners and industry leaders to share how they have embraced the thrill of problem-solving with Alteryx and discuss the latest trends in data science and analytics.The event covered multiple keynote addresses, break out conference tracks and training sessions across a range of different rooms and spaces within Tobacco Dock.
How did you find Tobacco Dock’s team: were they helpful at providing for your needs?
The Tobacco Dock team were amazing, helping us solve challenges throughout the project and ensuring a seamless flow for the over 2,500 delegates around the venue. With the nature of the venue and unpredictability of the October weather, the team also helped us to overcome the unique indoor/outdoor quirk of Tobacco Dock to make sure everyone stayed dry throughout the event. The Tobacco Dock operations team always come up with unique and effective ways of meeting the brief and making sure there is always a back-up plan when the inevitable last-minute curveball is thrown at us.
What was the feedback like from delegates?
Delegate feedback was very positive, and they really enjoyed the atmosphere and history it had to offer. We played with the gamification of elements of within the event, with delegates completing challenges around the venue as part of the content and then collecting prizes from the ‘Swag Store’ set up in the bandstand. We also added turf to the East Mall Square to create an oasis complete with deck chairs and hammocks to serve as a catch-up and chill-out area. We would absolutely recommend Tobacco Dock to other event organsiers.
