“Just call Alive – they’re the best.” That’s what the global head of partnerships at Deutsche Bank told Antonia Korduba, principal and head of investor relations at G Squared, a global venture capital fund manager. Antonia was organising a prestigious two-day limited partner meeting to bring together the company’s sophisticated investors. And it had to provide a premium, seamless experience.

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“Just call Alive – they’re the best.” That’s what the global head of partnerships at Deutsche Bank told Antonia Korduba, principal and head of investor relations at G Squared, a global venture capital fund manager. Antonia was organising a prestigious two-day limited partner meeting to bring together the company’s sophisticated investors. And it had to provide a premium, seamless experience.

Absolutely no room for error

“My leadership team empower me and trust me,” explains Antonia, “But events are like any other supporting function – if something’s not right or it goes wrong, it’s a massive risk.”

At a previous limited partner meeting in the US, G Squared had used the hotel’s audiovisual provider and the sound was decidedly subpar. “I know Alive are really strong on AV,” says Antonia, “And, to set the scene, my introduction was something along the lines of, ‘Hi, my name’s Antonia and if the AV at our event isn’t flawless, I’m getting fired.’”

Creative visioneering

This was the third limited partner meeting Antonia had been responsible for at G Squared. She had very clear ideas about what she wanted but was also looking to Alive to build on them.

“Our firm was founded by industry outsiders, and everything we do is bespoke and authentic to us,” explains Antonia. “If we’re doing something, we do it well or not at all. What I appreciate about Alive is their big thinking. With them, it’s all about ‘What’s the best we can do?’ They didn’t restrict themselves by budget in the ideas phase, which opened up lots of possibilities. We could then make informed, considered decisions when they presented the costs.

“The resulting event far exceeded expectations,” says Antonia, “And I say that on behalf of my organisation and our investors too. Even our speaker, who presents at more than 50 of these a year, said it’s the best he’s ever seen.”

Built on exacting standards

The event in question was held at the elegant, five-star Rosewood Hotel in London’s Covent Garden. Which was selected after a comprehensive search, involving site visits to 15 hotels and venues, to identify exactly the right settings.

G Squared’s guests arrived for lunch at the Rosewood, followed by a plenary session in the afternoon. In the evening, numbers expanded for an awe-inspiring gala dinner at the Natural History Museum. The following day, there was a private breakfast in the Rosewood’s luxurious Mirror Room, another plenary session with lunch, and farewell drinks in the hotel’s iconic Scarfe’s Bar.

Alive provided a full events service with an unwavering commitment to quality and fastidious attention to detail. This included strategy development, creative design, content creation, event production, and logistics, project and digital management.

It’s all in the minute details

“What made the event so successful,” says Antonia, “was the obsession with detail and anticipating needs.”

“I live in the detail,” she goes on. “And what impressed me about Alive was that not only did they meet me in the detail, they ran with other details I didn’t have visibility to. They just handled things. It was the nth level of detail for everything. It was taking initiative and adapting the style and tone to ours. It was seeing what we were doing, finding gaps and filling them how we would fill them.

“And it wasn’t just our needs they anticipated every step of the way,” she explains, “it was the needs of our investors and speakers too. At the gala dinner, for example, Marina, who led the Alive team, was walking around talking to guests wearing high heels to make sure they were aware of the grates in the floor. That was the approach they took to everything – they were genuine partners.”

Real stage presence

“A couple of weeks before the event,” says Antonia, “Alive said you need a stage manager, and you need this specific person because she’s the best in the business. It wasn’t in the budget but we took their advice and it made all the difference in the world in terms of the streamlining and professionalism of our plenary sessions.”

When Antonia took to the stage herself for the third time, Alive played ‘There she goes again…’ from the track by The La’s. “I busted out laughing,” she says, “And the audience were laughing too. Everybody’s been to these events before and has expectations. And to be able to exceed those expectations in a way that’s completely authentic to our very specific business, and still have fun, was impressive.”

Polished professionalism and personality

“The event was unbelievably professional and polished and elegant, but also had our personality,” explained Antonia. “You have to really, really live in the detail to be able to do that.

“In no way was this just executing an event. It was absolutely designing every last detail. I’ve worked with agencies in the past, and this was just beyond next level.”

Marina Banusic, account director at Alive says: “For us, it’s about creating a seamless journey where every detail is considered, so delegates can be fully immersed in the experience. We want them to feel the brand, connect with its message on every level, and carry that forward – not just as something they heard, but something they believed in.”

Impressing the unimpressible

The gala dinner at the Natural History Museum was stunning and one of a series of wow moments throughout the two days. Guests were delighted when they were welcomed into the carefully lit fossil hall for drinks and even more impressed when they entered the dramatic Hintze Hall for dinner beneath the skeleton of a blue whale. No small feat with guests used to high-calibre events.

Gold details throughout and subtle branding created a setting that G Squared owned in a sophisticated way. And huge care was taken to please all five of guests’ senses – from the choice of music to the napkins, floral displays and exquisite food.

Developing a powerful partnership

The strength of G Squared’s team, particularly Antonia’s leadership and clarity, also played a crucial role in the success of the two days. She was involved in absolutely everything – from signing off the canapes to writing the content to presenting on stage. But this multifaceted role meant her time was stretched, so Alive needed to find efficient ways of working with her.

It was also important to navigate the cultural differences between the US and UK markets. Particularly when it came to expectations around production values. The Alive team, for example, stood firm on its view that the plenary session needed a professionally built stage. Complete with luxe touches such as high-quality furniture and bespoke tiles to provide texture when the company’s brand colours shimmered across them. They even asked the tiler to wait until the filler had dried to ensure it was exactly the right colour.

Putting trust in experts

Antonia says: “Putting on the best possible event is the goal and we have no ego in terms of how we get there. I have a clear point of view and there were plenty of times Alive would try to change that point of view because they knew better. We’re always open to that feedback, but we also seek to understand because we’re protective of our investors, so we take very little blindly.

“In this case, with the stage, we did not appreciate how good it was going to be until we were in the room. And that’s why we’re partnering with Alive for our next limited partner meeting. And that’s the point of an agency – you’ve got the whole team. All of this expertise and brilliance.

“I see no need to go anywhere else. I’m happy to do business with Alive around the world.”

Expectations far exceeded

From initial discussions, the event grew significantly in both scope and scale, with enhanced experiences, added production elements, and increased capacity. Which ensured the final experience delivered wider impact, a richer brand presence and more value. And it’s created a blueprint that G Squared can scale for future events.

“My leadership team were delighted,” confirms Antonia.

Raising the bar, together

“There are elements we’re going to repeat because they worked so well they don’t need improving. But, of course, you always need to top it a little bit. And I have an incredible level of confidence that we will because of how well we’ve gotten to know each other and work together. And because of how well Alive seeks to understand what’s important to us and how we want to execute.

“They will definitely take more of the load off my shoulders for our next limited partner meeting. Which they were ready and willing to do in the first place, but there was too much at stake for me. I couldn’t yet trust it to someone else, but I do now.”

“I’m genuinely relieved and excited to be able to put my trust in Alive a lot more as we continue working together.”