Excitement is building in Xero and our community as we’re just weeks out from the launch of Xero On Air. Some of our partners are gearing up to watch the episodes throughout the week with table tennis breaks, printed t-shirts and even Xero-themed Spotify playlists.
We were as disappointed as you when we had to hit pause on our in-person events with our COVID-19 configured world. But our fantastic Xero team quickly turned attention to how we could continue to deliver value and stay in touch with our community throughout the year. The outcome is an incredibly ambitious pivot (yes, that ‘P’ word again).
Xero On Air is a completely new way we’re connecting and sharing information with you, so we thought you might be interested in a ‘behind the scenes’ view of how we’re creating this new experience.
Filming during a pandemic
As you can imagine, filming in a pandemic brings with it some significant challenges. Over a five-week period we filmed in 15 cities, which meant we were factoring in health and safety requirements for all those locations.
And while we were fortunate to have the use of a studio we set up in Auckland, lockdowns in the UK, US, New Zealand and Australia meant we had to deliver a lot of filming equipment to our guest speakers across the world.
This became even more dynamic when cities changed their COVID-19 status in the middle of filming, and our amazing Xero team and partners have responded to every change and challenge thrown at them.
With 91 speakers and 58 of them remote, this has been an epic undertaking. But creating something entirely new has been an immensely satisfying (and exhausting) experience for our teams. Our Xero offices are spread around the globe, and like you, most of us are working from home while juggling family commitments and a rapidly changing social landscape.
I want to shout out here to our amazing team across marketing, communications and beyond; there have been many heroic efforts to produce Xero On Air. Our team has lived our Xero values at every twist and turn, particularly Challenge, Team and Beautiful.
Now, new, next
Xero On Air offers practical resources for the here and now, new product announcements, and thought leadership pieces to inspire you as you create what’s next. Our episodes are split into these categories – now, new, next – so you can quickly access the content you’re after.
We made our episodes short and snappy, so you’re not stuck in front of your screen. Instead, they’re made to be watched with a cup of coffee, or whenever you have some downtime.
We’ll release a total of 32 episodes over four days. After launch week, the episodes will be available for a month, so there’s no pressure to consume the content on the day it’s released. You can return to your favourites or share them with others in your community.
This offering is extremely sharable, and it’s open to all. While the content is mainly directed to our accountant and bookkeeper community, there’s a tonne of information that is very useful to small business owners too. Best of all, it’s free and a truly international offering so wherever you are, get ready to tune in.
We’ve looked at this experience as a way to connect and share, and that’s at the heart of everything we’ve done for Xero On Air. Throughout the chaos, we’re creating something positive, so our Xeros, partners, and small business communities around the world continue to stand together.
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