Interventions:
Disrupt
Interventions is Scout’s annual design conference connecting creative thinkers across disciplines and industries who are intervening in design spaces and beyond.
As Northeastern University's only student-led design organization, Scout works to foster the design community of Northeastern through client work, speaker series, interactive workshops, and design conferences.
Duration
06.30.2020 - 6.03.2021
1 Year
Role
Director
Team Members
Full Team of 12 Designers, Developers, Marketers, and Leads Below
Deliverables
Live Event, Website,
Brand Book
Background
We were tasked to create a one-day conference that brought together creative leaders to explore design’s role in social change. Through presentations, panels, and workshops, speakers shared their commitment to using design for inclusion, activism, and community building in an uncertain world.
My role
Event Theme and Brand Direction
As Conference Director, my first challenge was shaping the theme of Interventions during the pandemic and racial justice protests. I decided the conference would be a live, virtual event showcasing design thinkers driving social change.
Meetings and Working Sessions
The challenge of being fully virtual, both internally and externally, led our brainstorming to focus on how to create an engaging online event amidst pandemic fatigue, Zoom burnout, and the overload of virtual events.
Speaker and Sponsor Outreach
We chose "Interventions: Disrupt" as both the name and methodology for our event, aiming to challenge the form, presentation, and core elements of Interventions to create something entirely new.
Design Team
Moodboards and Design Strategies
We started the design process with each designer creating a moodboard based on research of similar events, narrowing it down to three concepts for further development.
After three weeks of work and feedback, we chose "Disruptive Movement," a strategy that felt experimental, modern, and kinetic, with bright colors to spark excitement and organic gradients to represent a forward-thinking future.
Wireframes
To disrupt the standard look of previous Interventions webpages, we researched nontraditional menu navigation and horizontal scrolling. The horizontal scroll for featured speakers became a key element, and pushing our designers and developers out of their comfort zone before reeling back led to great success during the wireframing process.
Marketing and Logistics
Platform Research
After confirming the event would be entirely virtual, the Marketing & Logistics team focused on finding a live platform to capture the true conference experience. Having seen virtual events fall short, we sought a platform with live presentations, virtual booths, high customization, and recording tools for future use. We ultimately chose Hopin for its ability to meet these needs.
Speaker, Sponsors, and Scheduling
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Social Media and Advertising
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Event and Results
Under my direction, Interventions: Disrupt became the first free iteration and included Boston Public School students as part of our audience. We reached a record 449 registrants from 45 countries, featured global speakers, and set a new ASL interpretation standard for Northeastern events.
Content included live keynotes from David Dylan Thomas, Sarah Fathallah, and Jackson Hyland Lipski, panels on Design & Community, Inclusion & Innovation, Social Impact & Design, and a portfolio workshop by Wix Playground Academy.
Our Amazing Team
Stephanie Jung ➔ Designer
Renee Pearce ➔ Designer
Emily Cullitan ➔ Designer
Alison Booth ➔ Designer
Jessica Wilson ➔ Designer
Olivia Gon ➔ Designer
Shannon Reilly ➔ Executive Director
Andrea Barrios Duran ➔ Operations Director
Marcus Chen ➔ Marketing Lead
Alyssa Spaeth ➔ Design Lead
Emily Shen ➔ Logistics & Outreach Coordinator
Tracy Qiu ➔ Logistics & Outreach Coordinator
Cheyenne Tang ➔ Logistics & Outreach Coordinator
Nitya Sompuram ➔ Marketer
Maria Noelle Botello ➔ Marketer
Sam Gildea ➔ Developer
