Skills Summit 2024

An international event of this scale required careful attention to several key organisational priorities.

With delegations from 38 countries, multilingual and inclusive communication was essential. We worked with two fluent multilingual moderators (English and French) and engaged professional interpreters to provide simultaneous interpretation for all plenary sessions. In addition, we provided technical support for interpreters accompanying individual delegations, ensuring every participant could follow the summit in their preferred language.

Given the presence of ministers and senior government officials, security was a top priority. Three security officers were on site, and all security measures were carefully coordinated with the local police to ensure a safe and seamless event.

Welcoming such a high-level international audience also called for exceptional hospitality. We partnered with a premium host agency and selected a team of trilingual hosts who delivered a warm, professional welcome. Their role extended far beyond registration: they served as the first point of contact for delegates, answered questions, guided guests through the programme, and ensured every attendee felt welcomed and well looked after throughout the summit.

Despite the summit’s academic focus, there was still plenty of room to bring creativity into the experience.

We translated the theme of 'lifelong learning' into the catering concept. For the exclusive dinner on 20 February, we partnered with chef Seppe Nobels and the sous-chefs of Instroom Academy. This innovative culinary initiative is built around a Fusion Kitchen 2.0 concept, where refugees and newcomers are trained as professional chefs. Together, they combined authentic recipes from their home countries with local ingredients and Nobels’ culinary expertise. The result was a powerful reflection of the summit’s central theme—lifelong learning—brought to life through a memorable dining experience.

Each speaker also received a branded box of pralines from TWERK, a social enterprise that creates employment opportunities for people with autism. This thoughtful gift reinforced the event’s third key pillar: empowering everyone to develop the skills needed to seize new opportunities.

In close collaboration with the communications and press teams of all project partners, we developed a comprehensive communication strategy and event branding for the Skills Summit 2024.

Our first priority was creating a distinctive visual identity. Our in-house graphic designer developed two branding concepts, from which the client selected the final direction. The visual identity centred around a bespoke key illustration that captured the essence of lifelong learning while subtly incorporating references to Belgian culture. This was complemented by a carefully defined colour palette, typography, and logo variations. Based on this identity, we produced a wide range of communication assets, including web banners, social media visuals, PowerPoint templates, and video bumpers. To ensure consistency across all channels, we developed a comprehensive brand book and style guide.

We designed and built a bespoke event website in Dutch, French, and English, featuring an intuitive CMS that allowed for flexible content management. Our graphic designer and communications specialist were responsible for the wireframes, visual design, and multilingual copywriting. The website was seamlessly integrated with a digital registration platform, including automated confirmation emails. We also provided hosting, technical support, and ensured full compliance with WCAG accessibility standards and GDPR requirements.

Pre-event communication was primarily managed through the event website and a dedicated event mailbox. All participants received a detailed logistical note with practical travel information for their visit to Brussels. For social media, we created and delivered all visual assets, while copywriting was coordinated by the project partners.

For media relations, we collaborated with a public affairs agency to coordinate the press approach. This included managing press invitations, preparing press kits, coordinating media registration and reception, and organising the press conference. 

To build anticipation ahead of the summit, we developed a creative concept and script for an introductory video, which was produced with subtitles in Dutch, French, and English.

Throughout the event, a professional photographer captured key moments and delivered edited image selections after each session for immediate use across social media and press channels. A videographer documented the highlights and produced a dynamic aftermovie.

The event branding was carried through every touchpoint on site, including branded beach flags, wayfinding signage, and delegate badges. We also graphically refined all presentation decks to ensure a consistent visual experience.

After the event, all keynote speeches, best practice videos, and testimonials were made available on the website, allowing participants to revisit the summit's content on demand.