How far in advance should you prepare an international brand summit?

Much further than you'd think. Paradigms 2024 in Rome needed a year of preparation for two days of event. That lead time lets you lock in the venue, local suppliers, production and the content plan without paying for rush jobs or sacrificing ideas.

How do you amplify an in-person event on social media?

By planning digital coverage as part of the event, not as an extra. At Paradigms Rome there was real-time coverage and social media streaming, which turns limited capacity into an open conversation. You need a dedicated team, a content plan prepared in advance and the ability to publish on the spot.

Case study

Paradigms Rome 2024: Frontify's international branding summit

Paradigms 2024 brought branding experts, creatives and industry leaders from around the world to Rome for two days. Behind it lay a year of preparation for an event designed to inspire and connect.

ClientFrontify
Formatinternational branding summit
PlaceAcquario Romano, Rome (Italy)
Year2024

The challenge

Producing an international summit outside the home country multiplies everything: suppliers, permits, languages, transfers and expectations. Put bluntly, organising an event as big as Paradigms 2024 isn't only about logistics: it's “a real emotional, physical and strategic marathon”. A year of preparation for two days of event gives you a sense of the scale.

In a format like this, the communication challenge is twofold. On one hand, a demanding international audience of branding experts, creatives and industry leaders has to get an experience worthy of the brand hosting it. On the other, the event can't stay inside the venue walls: what happens over those two days also has to reach people who aren't in Rome, in real time and with the quality expected of a brand in this sector.

The idea

The concept was an event designed to inspire and connect, with the Acquario Romano as the stage. The proposal combined high-impact talks, performances and high-level networking with spaces built for attendees to connect, all supported by carefully produced staging.

The key was treating the summit as a complete experience rather than a conference programme. The programme also included a cocktail reception, dinner and banquet, a DJ and a transparent marquee for receptions, so the social moments carried the same weight as the content. And a digital layer was added: real-time coverage and social media streaming to amplify the event beyond its capacity. It fits because an international summit lives on two things at once: the conversation in the room and the conversation outside it.

What we did

A year of preparation for two days of event at the Acquario Romano
High-impact talks and performances
High-level networking and spaces for connection
Production staging and audiovisual production
Real-time digital coverage and social media streaming
Cocktail reception, dinner and banquet, DJ and a transparent marquee for receptions
Premium catering, live entertainment and space management

Key takeaways (expert view)

An international summit is won in preparation and multiplied live. Plan well ahead and produce content while the event is happening.

Preparation is part of the product

A year of work for two days isn't excessive zeal: it's what an international event with an expert audience demands. The lesson for brands and agencies is to budget time, not just money. Surprises in another country get solved during preparation, not on build day. Whoever arrives late to the planning ends up paying for rush jobs and giving up on ideas.

Live content for those who aren't there

Real-time digital coverage and social streaming turn an event with limited capacity into a communication asset with open reach. It's exactly what we mean by live content: producing and publishing while it happens, not weeks later. For any brand investing in a summit, skipping that layer means leaving half the value on the table.

The social side weighs as much as the stage

Cocktails, dinner, DJ and receptions weren't filler between talks: they were where the high-level networking the event promised actually happened. At industry summits, much of the value attendees take home comes from informal conversations. Designing those moments with the same intent as the programme is a strategic decision, not a production whim.

Services involved

→Live content →MICE marketing to win congresses, incentives and conventions →Live campaigns →Experiential marketing