How Kennedy Jenks Builds Lasting Employee Community Through Internal Events and Mobile Technology
**Join Us: How Kennedy Jenks Builds Lasting Employee Community Through Internal Events and Mobile Technology**
📅 January 1, 2025 | 40-Minute Webinar
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For organizations with dispersed, hybrid workforces, the challenge isn't just bringing people together—it's creating connections that outlast the event itself.
Join us for this free webinar to discover how Kennedy Jenks, an architectural engineering and construction firm, turned their internal technical conference into a community-building powerhouse that drives recruitment, energizes employees, and showcases company culture long after attendees return to their remote desks.
---
**Kennedy Jenks' Internal Event Engagement By the Numbers**
• 98% event app engagement rate among technical, introverted engineering and science professionals
• 18–24 month event cycle requiring sustained excitement between conferences
• 100% paperless event operations through mobile app adoption
• Event referenced as a "must-do" experience during candidate recruiting conversations
---
**What You'll Learn**
In this 40-minute webinar, Susan Broadbent (Senior Director of Communications at Kennedy Jenks) shares strategies for creating internal events that build lasting community in hybrid work environments, including:
**Setting the Tone: Creating Differentiation from Daily Work**
• Using casual communication language in pre-event emails to shift employee mindset
• Taking employees out of the 9-to-5 office environment into special event spaces
• Running events outside working hours (partly over weekends) to create a distinct experience
• Building leadership trust to experiment with tone and format that feels different
• Letting enthusiasm and excitement bleed through all communications to drive participation
**Driving App Adoption: Making Mobile Central to the Event Experience**
• Positioning the event app as the portal to all critical information (agenda, WiFi, hotel details)
• Withholding WiFi password until attendees download the app to incentivize adoption
• Pre-loading the event feed with behind-the-scenes content from the planning team
• Including Easter eggs and hidden information to encourage exploration
• Achieving 98% engagement from a typically introverted technical audience
**Photo Challenges: Leveraging Authenticity Over Professional Content**
• Creating photo challenges: selfies with people you've never worked with, from different states, or meeting in-person for the first time
• Displaying user-generated photos on event screens in real-time during sessions
• Capturing authentic moments through the attendee lens versus only professional photographers
• Making photo sharing feel safe and comfortable for introverted engineers and scientists
• Using a separate app space (not LinkedIn or corporate channels) for more personal sharing
**Real-Time Engagement: Building Momentum Throughout the Event**
• Showing morning photos during lunch and previous day photos the next morning
• Creating curiosity about what's happening in other rooms or after-hours activities
• Allowing passive participants who see content without posting themselves
• Watching engagement organically grow as shy employees see others sharing comfortably
• Getting posts from attendees on shuttle buses before the event even starts
**Post-Event Nurturing: Sustaining Excitement for 18–24 Months**
• Releasing professional event video months later to remind attendees of the experience
• Using a staggered content release strategy rather than overwhelming with everything at once
• Creating monthly touchpoints to keep the event community engaged between conferences
• Gathering post-event takeaways through surveys for ongoing storytelling
• Centralizing presentations, photos, book recommendations, and resources in an accessible platform
**Cultural Impact: Turning Attendees into Recruitment Ambassadors**
• Highlighting cutting-edge research and technology applications during the conference
• Showcasing employee work to combat isolation of a dispersed hybrid workforce
• Using event content in recruiting materials to demonstrate company culture
• Having candidates specifically ask how to attend after hearing about the event from current employees
• Building the narrative that "this is what it's like to work here" for prospective hires
**Cost and Sustainability: Paperless Operations**
• Spending less on an annual event app subscription than previous printing costs
• Eliminating printed agendas entirely in favor of a mobile-first approach
• Making instant updates for weather changes, room swaps, or last-minute adjustments
• Removing handheld clicker systems in favor of mobile polling solutions
• Distributing individual details (hotel confirmations, table assignments) digitally
---
**Who Should Watch This Webinar**
• Internal communications professionals planning employee engagement events for hybrid workforces
• Corporate event managers organizing technical conferences or cultural gatherings
• HR leaders seeking to strengthen company culture through memorable experiences
• Event planners working with introverted or technical audiences (engineers, scientists, developers)
• Organizations running biennial or infrequent events needing sustained engagement between gatherings
---
**Real Results from Kennedy Jenks' Event Strategy**
• 98% event app engagement from typically introverted technical professionals
• Candidate recruitment conversations specifically referencing the event as a company differentiator
• Cost savings by spending less on an app subscription than previous printing expenses
• Organic social sharing from employees who initially seemed unlikely to post publicly
• Post-event career advancement through cross-regional project collaboration connections
---
**Featured Speaker**
Susan Broadbent serves as Senior Director of Communications at Kennedy Jenks, an architectural engineering and construction firm. With several years of experience using Guidebook across multiple companies, she specializes in internal events that build community among technical professionals. She leads planning for Kennedy Jenks' Technical Excellence Conference (TechX), managing everything from pre-event communications strategy to post-event content distribution for sustained engagement in hybrid work environments.
---
**Register now** to learn how to transform your internal events into lasting community-building experiences that employees talk about for years to come.
📅 January 1, 2025 | 40-Minute Webinar
---
For organizations with dispersed, hybrid workforces, the challenge isn't just bringing people together—it's creating connections that outlast the event itself.
Join us for this free webinar to discover how Kennedy Jenks, an architectural engineering and construction firm, turned their internal technical conference into a community-building powerhouse that drives recruitment, energizes employees, and showcases company culture long after attendees return to their remote desks.
---
**Kennedy Jenks' Internal Event Engagement By the Numbers**
• 98% event app engagement rate among technical, introverted engineering and science professionals
• 18–24 month event cycle requiring sustained excitement between conferences
• 100% paperless event operations through mobile app adoption
• Event referenced as a "must-do" experience during candidate recruiting conversations
---
**What You'll Learn**
In this 40-minute webinar, Susan Broadbent (Senior Director of Communications at Kennedy Jenks) shares strategies for creating internal events that build lasting community in hybrid work environments, including:
**Setting the Tone: Creating Differentiation from Daily Work**
• Using casual communication language in pre-event emails to shift employee mindset
• Taking employees out of the 9-to-5 office environment into special event spaces
• Running events outside working hours (partly over weekends) to create a distinct experience
• Building leadership trust to experiment with tone and format that feels different
• Letting enthusiasm and excitement bleed through all communications to drive participation
**Driving App Adoption: Making Mobile Central to the Event Experience**
• Positioning the event app as the portal to all critical information (agenda, WiFi, hotel details)
• Withholding WiFi password until attendees download the app to incentivize adoption
• Pre-loading the event feed with behind-the-scenes content from the planning team
• Including Easter eggs and hidden information to encourage exploration
• Achieving 98% engagement from a typically introverted technical audience
**Photo Challenges: Leveraging Authenticity Over Professional Content**
• Creating photo challenges: selfies with people you've never worked with, from different states, or meeting in-person for the first time
• Displaying user-generated photos on event screens in real-time during sessions
• Capturing authentic moments through the attendee lens versus only professional photographers
• Making photo sharing feel safe and comfortable for introverted engineers and scientists
• Using a separate app space (not LinkedIn or corporate channels) for more personal sharing
**Real-Time Engagement: Building Momentum Throughout the Event**
• Showing morning photos during lunch and previous day photos the next morning
• Creating curiosity about what's happening in other rooms or after-hours activities
• Allowing passive participants who see content without posting themselves
• Watching engagement organically grow as shy employees see others sharing comfortably
• Getting posts from attendees on shuttle buses before the event even starts
**Post-Event Nurturing: Sustaining Excitement for 18–24 Months**
• Releasing professional event video months later to remind attendees of the experience
• Using a staggered content release strategy rather than overwhelming with everything at once
• Creating monthly touchpoints to keep the event community engaged between conferences
• Gathering post-event takeaways through surveys for ongoing storytelling
• Centralizing presentations, photos, book recommendations, and resources in an accessible platform
**Cultural Impact: Turning Attendees into Recruitment Ambassadors**
• Highlighting cutting-edge research and technology applications during the conference
• Showcasing employee work to combat isolation of a dispersed hybrid workforce
• Using event content in recruiting materials to demonstrate company culture
• Having candidates specifically ask how to attend after hearing about the event from current employees
• Building the narrative that "this is what it's like to work here" for prospective hires
**Cost and Sustainability: Paperless Operations**
• Spending less on an annual event app subscription than previous printing costs
• Eliminating printed agendas entirely in favor of a mobile-first approach
• Making instant updates for weather changes, room swaps, or last-minute adjustments
• Removing handheld clicker systems in favor of mobile polling solutions
• Distributing individual details (hotel confirmations, table assignments) digitally
---
**Who Should Watch This Webinar**
• Internal communications professionals planning employee engagement events for hybrid workforces
• Corporate event managers organizing technical conferences or cultural gatherings
• HR leaders seeking to strengthen company culture through memorable experiences
• Event planners working with introverted or technical audiences (engineers, scientists, developers)
• Organizations running biennial or infrequent events needing sustained engagement between gatherings
---
**Real Results from Kennedy Jenks' Event Strategy**
• 98% event app engagement from typically introverted technical professionals
• Candidate recruitment conversations specifically referencing the event as a company differentiator
• Cost savings by spending less on an app subscription than previous printing expenses
• Organic social sharing from employees who initially seemed unlikely to post publicly
• Post-event career advancement through cross-regional project collaboration connections
---
**Featured Speaker**
Susan Broadbent serves as Senior Director of Communications at Kennedy Jenks, an architectural engineering and construction firm. With several years of experience using Guidebook across multiple companies, she specializes in internal events that build community among technical professionals. She leads planning for Kennedy Jenks' Technical Excellence Conference (TechX), managing everything from pre-event communications strategy to post-event content distribution for sustained engagement in hybrid work environments.
---
**Register now** to learn how to transform your internal events into lasting community-building experiences that employees talk about for years to come.
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