CEO Council
Virtual event platform for 250+ CEOs, designed and shipped in eight weeks. 2.4x attendee engagement.
Context
The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council is one of their most prestigious events: 250+ CEOs and global leaders, traditionally hosted in person. COVID made that impossible. Cheerful Twentyfirst, who had run the in-person event, was asked to deliver the virtual edition. Eight weeks to design and ship.
Problem
A time-poor audience with no tolerance for friction. Networking was the reason people attended in person, and virtual platforms didn't support it well. And it had to carry WSJ's brand.
What I did
- Two spaces: Auditorium for talks and Q&A, Lobby for networking. Physical metaphors that made navigation intuitive without explanation.
- Page fold as priority: above the fold on every page, the single thing the user most likely wanted (question form in the Auditorium, live attendee count in the Lobby).
- Built for reuse: utility classes, CSS variables as design tokens, documented as we wrote it.
I designed every surface and led front-end development alongside Gramercy Tech.
Impact
2.4x attendee engagement versus WSJ's prior virtual event (Cheerful Twentyfirst). The design and codebase were adopted across WSJ's Leadership Institute events: CFO & COO Council, Technology Council.
Impact
- 2.4× Attendee engagement vs prior virtual eventAttendees spent more time watching and networking on the platform.
- 8 weeks Designed and shippedThe interface was designed and front-end built in that window.
- Adopted Across WSJ's Leadership Institute eventsThe design and codebase became the template for all subsequent Leadership Institute events.
A huge thank you for the delivery. We are getting endless thanks, high-fives and praise from all parties, internal and external.
Credits
Designed the WSJ CEO Council virtual event platform and led the front-end development to a tight deadline. Worked alongside Gramercy Tech's developers on implementation and presented directly to WSJ stakeholders throughout. The platform was reused for WSJ's CFO & COO Council and Technology Council.
- Alan Long UX/UI Designer & Front-end Developer, Cheerful Twentyfirst
Led design and front-end development of the platform. Worked alongside Gramercy Tech's developers on implementation, and presented to WSJ stakeholders throughout the project.
- Chris Keirnan Head of Creative, Cheerful Twentyfirst
Provided creative leadership throughout. He ensured the design stayed true to the WSJ brand while helping the team navigate the unique requirements of a high-level executive audience.
- Tim O'Leary Motion Designer, Cheerful Twentyfirst
Designed the motion graphics used on the site and event itself. This included creating the background animation seen on the Welcome page.
- Debbie Lo Project Manager, Cheerful Twentyfirst
Responsible for project management and internal coordination. She held frequent status meetings to monitor progress, manage feedback, and ensure the project met its deadlines.
- Ollie Smith Events Director, Wall Street Journal
Provided day-to-day oversight from the WSJ side, ensuring the project stayed on schedule and met internal requirements. He was our primary point of contact at WSJ and streamlined communication between Cheerful Twentyfirst and WSJ.
- Angus Peckham-Cooper Vice President, Global Events, Wall Street Journal
Acted as the senior stakeholder responsible for final sign-off. As a key senior stakeholder, he ensured the project's high-level objectives remained aligned with the Wall Street Journal's broader commercial and brand strategy.
- Adam Katze Developer, Gramercy Tech
Provided the full-stack development, focused on the site's underlying logic, performance and reliability. He was responsible for ensuring the site stayed fast, functional, and technically sound.
- John Speck Developer, Gramercy Tech
Collaborated with me on the front-end development, building a scalable system with utility classes and CSS variables. We documented the code thoroughly to ensure it could be easily reused for future event sites.
