Digital graduation: celebrate your successes remotely

Digital ceremony for a business school

It is in March 2021 that this particular event took place for the students of Lyon, despite the health crisis and the relatively strict governmental measures. In collaboration with the Moon Event team, we set ourselves a major challenge: to organize the graduation ceremony of ESDES, a business school of the UCLY (Catholic University of Lyon). With more than 1,500 participants and respecting the constraints of the moment.

Video capture of a large-scale ceremony

Due to the health crisis, we decided to organize a 100% digital graduation. The virtual ceremony brought together all the students and their families, i.e. approximately 1,500 participants. We were contacted by the Moon Event agency which took care of the creation of the event and its content, in connection with the ESDES management, while we focused on the technical aspect.

The graduation ceremony went like this: while two important school officials were filmed in the school lobby announcing the names of the lucky graduates and valedictorians, a full team was running no less than five simultaneous ZOOM conventions, to which the 1,500 participants were connected. In addition, the 3-hour live stream was broadcast on the school's website so that the students' parents could also attend the virtual ceremony.

Creation of a solemn and friendly setting for the graduation ceremony

It is in the hall of the school, a former prison of the 19th century, that the stage of the two presenters was installed; a real mobile TV set!
The goal was to make the atmosphere modern and elegant, but also to remain solemn, in order to mark the virtual ceremony. Thus, a custom desk with the business school's logo was installed, as well as chic anthracite carpeting. Decorative plants were also installed to give the place a little more life and color.

The lighting, on the other hand, proved to be a real technical challenge. Indeed, although the hall is a very nicely lit place during the day, the luminosity dropped drastically at sunset. As the live show started at 5:30 pm, we had to anticipate the loss of light by installing modern industrial style lighting. Spotlights were also installed on the front of the building. We also had to make sure that there was a good internet connection at the venue for the live stream.

It was a great pleasure to work with Moon Event for this graduation in a complex health context. The ambition was to create a virtual event at the level of a physical graduation, which challenged all the teams as much for the production of the event as for the technical part. In the end, the students were treated to a lively and emotional ceremony that allowed them to celebrate their success with their families, while waiting for the dance party with their friends.