SAS’ global team unites online in a virtual conference

Saving time and money, communicators pull off an elaborate worldwide e-gathering

If your company is like most, it has had to make cuts this year. Reductions might have come in staffing, salaries, perhaps free coffee for your employees. Maybe all three.

For business analytics software company SAS, it was travel. With 400 offices in 52 countries, travel is important for SAS communicators and marketers for purposes of collaboration. It was especially crucial for the company’s annual all-communications summit at its headquarters in Cary, N.C.

The conference has gone smoothly the last two years; about one-quarter of the global communications team gathered to listen to presentations, talk about communications and socialize. This year, though, flying in 170 communicators to meet the 30 based in North Carolina for a few days wasn’t in the budget. So internal communicators put their heads together and opted for a virtual summit.

“We wanted to mimic, as best we could, the things that happen at a physical summit,” says Kim Darnofall, internal communications project manager, who teamed with Karen Lee, senior director of internal communications, to realize the vision.