Deerfield Academy’s Be Worthy Comprehensive Campaign Launch
Beneath the soaring architecture of the Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Deerfield Academy launched its Be Worthy: A Campaign for Deerfield with an immersive gala designed to celebrate the school’s history and current successes while anticipating its inspiring next chapter. Blending performance, storytelling, and experiential design, the evening transformed the landmark space into a refined and deeply personal celebration of community.
During a cocktail reception, iInteractive moments highlighted the school’s history and culture through archival memorabilia displays, a listening station featuring a short film, and a "green carpet” (incorporating a defining school color) experience with student interviewers. Inspired by Deerfield’s rich literary history, a Poetry Corner offered original works based on guests’ personal stories throughout the evening, while live student performances brought energy and authenticity across the event.
Guests proceeded into The Met's iconic Temple of Dendur for a seated dinner where immersive projections transformed the space with imagery of campus life, students, and faculty. The stage program featured remarks by Deerfield leadership, faculty, alumni, and students, as well as student performances by dancers, a choral group, and an instrumental ensemble. The dinner celebration concluded with the entire singing the Academy’s “Evensong" paired with inspiring projections.
The 400+ guests exited into an After Hours experience already underway with over 200 young alumni, where guests mingled and socialized, accompanied by a vinyl DJ set.
Our team worked closely with the extended Deerfield Academy team for many months on all aspects of the evening including creative concepting, technical production, stage program and run of show, screen content production, design and decor, talent coordination, catering, and staffing logistics. We were honored to shape and deliver a unique experience that honored Deerfield’s 227-year legacy while introducing a bold vision for its future.
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Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
