ATCON26

USING LIVE EXPERIENCE TO NAVIGATE ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AT SCALE

Client: Auto Trader

Audience: 1,000+ colleagues

Location: Manchester Central

Services: Strategy · Content Development · Experience Design · Production · Delivery

THE CHALLENGE

ATCON has become one of Autotrader's flagship internal events, evolving year after year into an increasingly high-production conference.

But this year, the brief wasn't to make it bigger.

It was to make it matter.

The business was entering a period of organisational change, with evolving structures, cultural shifts and the launch of one of its most important colleague surveys to date.

Rather than beginning with production, we started with strategy.

Working directly with the Chief People Officer, we facilitated an in-depth content workshop to understand the wider business context, leadership priorities and the conversations the organisation needed to have.

The challenge wasn't simply communicating change.

It was creating an environment where 1,000 colleagues genuinely wanted to be part of the conversation.

Our Approach

Instead of adding more spectacle, we deliberately stripped it back.

The opening moment set the tone.

No dramatic reveal.

No theatrical entrance.

Just the CEO walking on stage, taking a deep breath and having an honest conversation with colleagues.

That simple decision changed the entire feel of the day, creating authenticity and trust from the very first minute.

From there, the conference was designed around conversation rather than presentation.

For the first time, colleagues were grouped into their individual business communities, allowing leadership beyond the executive team to speak directly to their people.

More than eight community spaces ran simultaneously, giving teams the opportunity to discuss the wider business messages in the context of their own roles, challenges and priorities.

During lunch, the venue underwent a complete turnaround, transforming those community spaces into a more traditional breakout programme for the afternoon, giving colleagues the opportunity to continue learning and exploring specialist peer-to-peer content.

**REIMAGINING THE EVENING**

We also challenged one of the event's longest-standing traditions.
Rather than ending the conference, sending everyone away then asking them to return later for dinner, we redesigned the evening entirely.
The formal dinner was replaced with a flowing social experience centred around a feaure bar, DJ and four distinct experience zones.
The result was an evening that felt more relaxed, encouraged movement and conversation, and removed the disruption colleagues had consistently highlighted in previous years.

THE IMPACT

The event became far more than a conference.

It became the launchpad for one of Autotrader's most significant internal engagement initiatives.

Most importantly:

The colleague survey achieved its highest participation rate in the company's history.
Leadership successfully launched a business-wide conversation during a period of significant organisational change.
Community-based sessions gave colleagues more relevant, localised conversations with their own leadership teams.
A simplified opening created one of the most authentic leadership moments the event has delivered.
The redesigned evening experience created a more seamless end-to-end delegate journey.