Live Design's Pandemic Pivot Prizes recognize individuals, companies, and teams that have successfully pivoted their business or productions in the face of the live events industry shutdown due to COVID-19. The prizes were announced alongside the winners of the 2020 Design Achievement Awards in three virtual ceremonies from January 13-15, 2021, hosted on WorldStage's Digital Oasis Platform.
The winners are as follows:
Product
This award honors a product that emerged in response to, and in mitigation of, the novel coronavirus.
- The PPP for Product was awarded to the team at Upstaging, led by John Huddleston, for switching gears very early in the pandemic to start manufacturing personal protective equipment that made it to the front lines of healthcare to keep workers safe.
Project
This award recognizes a 2020 project that most successfully and creatively adapted to social distancing restrictions for a truly innovative event.
- The Pandemic Pivot Prize for a Project went to Tribe Inc’s design for the Democratic National Convention. Bruce Rodgers and his team at Tribe delivered a virtual experience for the convention to millions of viewers. An event usually presented to thousands in person successfully delivered with the same enthusiasm and message required for this epic event.
Person
This award recognizes an individual for their actions in managing a business or aiding the industry during this crisis. The judges had the impossible task of choosing one inspirational person, so they didn’t. They chose three!
- Nicholas Strand has turned his own experience with personal loss into Choose Your Attitude, an entire brand based around tackling issues of struggle and grief, delivered via podcast, speaking engagements, inspirational swag items, and much more.
- Colleen Bonniol, CEO and founder of design firm MODE Studios, challenged her team early in the pandemic to create a new virtual event platform, resulting in Virtual Venues, creating many employment opportunities for the live events industry. Even more, Colleen remained focused on making sure these opportunities were extended first to women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community, always bolstering diversity, even during the most challenging of times.
- Michael Strickland of Bandit Lites has been on the front line of advocating for individuals and businesses very specific to the live events industry since the first weeks of the pandemic. He went right to work, quickly getting in the ears of government representatives, sharing our struggles and needs, and keeping us all informed by emailing an entire industry sometimes multiple times a week but also answering hundreds of emails daily.
Bravo to all these inspiring people and businesses!