“A 72-hour whirlwind” is what Workday’s own senior content marketing manager called Workday Rising 2024 and its “Forever Forward” theme this year. And true to the motif, the annual conference for the financial and human-resource management platform boasted a footprint that extended beyond the trade show floor at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas to a tour bus, a rockstar-worthy experiential pavilion, and even Netflix.  

Thus, it comes as no surprise that Workday Rising clocked 15% year-over-year attendance growth for its 2024 iteration Sept. 16-19, welcoming more than 30,000 attendees, according to Mary Fehrnstrom, Workday’s vice president of experience marketing. Fehrnstrom said the uptick "can be attributed to the rich content and special guest speakers we offered as part of this year’s event,” which spanned an impressive “lineup of leaders like Former First Lady Michelle Obama and superstar Gwen Stefani.” 

But that was only one part of the event—here five other standout moments from Workday 2024 worth reliving if you weren’t on-site in September: 

1. Creative meeting spaces 

Workday hosted the “Workday Forever Forward Tour Bus” at Rising for the first time this year, parking a big bus in its iconic cobalt blue brand color outside of the convention center. The tour bus is no stranger to serving as a podcast recording studio, mini theater, and host to Workday’s suite of customers, partners, and industry professions. It's done so since July, when it first made pit stops at Workday headquarters in NYC, Chicago, and Washington, DC. At Rising, “attendees were able to take a tour of the bus and host meetings, hold interviews, record podcasts, and more while on site,” Fehrnstrom explained. 

Fehrnstrom added why it was important to have the Forever Forward Tour Bus in Vegas: “[It] is a great example of how we celebrate our customers and aim to meet them exactly where they are, building and nurturing meaningful, trusted relationships.” 

And when not on the tour bus, Rising attendees could interact with Workday at the “Rock Star Social Pavilion,” which offered two interactive experiences: Rock Your Profile, in partnership with LinkedIn, and the IRL (In Real Life) Lounge featuring the Workday Forever Forward Airstream. Here, guests could connect with each other face to face and “capture fun photos embracing their ‘true rock star’ personalities within the rock star community,” Fehrnstrom said—a nod to Workday’s larger “Rock Star Campaign” featuring icons Gwen Stefani, Travis Barker, and Billy Idol. 

2. “The Core” 

This was Fehrnstrom’s personal favorite touchpoint at Rising, though she noted just how difficult it was to ID just one standout element of the guest experience. Called “The Core,” this immersive experience was built out right in the center of the expo floor, complete with “larger-than-life screens and a huge LED sphere showcasing the Workday story, the Workday platform, and our Forward Thinkers--our customers,” Fehrnstrom explained.  

To showcase more niche areas of Workday’s offerings, a self-paced interactive experience called the “Platform for Possibilities” took place within The Core. It “allowed attendees to deep dive into the platform layers with our Workday experts answering key questions,” Fehrnstrom said. “I loved it because it was the heartbeat of our expo and really helped showcase the unique value and innovation Workday brings to life for thousands of customers every day.” 

And in a greater effort to lean into intimate, choose-your-own-adventure-type experiences, "we added small- and medium-size theaters into our expo floor to encourage more group learning experiences,” Fehrnstrom said. She noted that these theaters came about as the result of attendees expressing a desire to keep the event intimate—one of the greatest challenges during the 10-month process to execute Rising. 

These moments of greater intimacy—which included more walk-and-talk sessions (“which were very well received,” Fehrnstrom noted)—served as a peek into the level of personalization Workday hopes to achieve at future Rising events. “A focus area for next year, as we continue to grow and scale our program, will be investment in personalization and persona-based journeys for our attendees,” Fehrnstrom said. 

3. Steal-worthy uses of on-site tech  

At its core, Workday is a cloud-based, AI-driven software platform that assists with financial and HR management. So, it only makes sense that Rising would be teeming with innovative uses of tech. To enhance the attendee experience, Workday tapped “Wicket facial recognition software to support our on-site registration process,” Fehrnstrom explained. “This helped us significantly reduce in-person registration check-in time, even with the strong increase in on-site attendance we experienced this year.” 

Content also displayed an impressive use of livestreaming technologies. “Through the solid partnership with our broadcast production agency, we also connected in real-time to Dreamforce in San Francisco from our keynote stage in Las Vegas,” Fehrnstrom said. (Dreamforce overlapped with Rising Sept. 17-19.) “Together we captured a live segment with Workday CEO Carl Eschenbach and Salesforce chair, CEO, and co-Founder Marc Benioff, announcing an expanded partnership,” Fehrnstrom added. 

It’s also worth noting that a mobile app dedicated to Rising also saw a grand 97% of guests downloading and using it--a testament to Workday’s “position as a tech and AI industry leader,” Fehrnstrom said. It also makes sense why “some of our highest rated breakout sessions were product-focused,” she added. 

4. Networking online and offline 

Workday infused networking opportunities with tech-savvy platform Braindate, which facilitated 30- and 45-minute meetings on-site. Fehrnstrom attributed the use of Braindate to "10,000 relationship-building connections at the event.” 

And new this year—Rising infused its tech-heavy programming with activities designed to connect attendees using a shared, screen-free experience. “We offered [...] sound baths, which allowed attendees to take part in a relaxed floating experience at the end of day,” Fehrnstrom said. 

5. A Workday-developed and co–produced Netflix documentary released in conjunction with Workday Rising 2024. 

Another standout element this year, per Fehrnstrom: “Hosting the premiere of a Workday-developed and co–produced documentary titled, UNTAPPED: Closing America’s Opportunity Gap, now streaming nationwide on Netflix.” The documentary’s "clear and inspiring message” is one close to Workday’s heart, that “talent is everywhere but opportunity is not,” Fehrnstrom said. 

To further drive that message home, during the UNTAPPED premiere, there was a Tear the Paper Ceiling art installation, “featuring a textured ceiling made of 30,000 real resumes from STARs--workers that are skilled through alternative routes versus traditional four-year college degrees,” Fehrnstrom explained. 

And in the spirit of content, “while not new this year, we greatly increased the depth of our live broadcast offering around the event, expanding our on-air show from two days to three,” Fehrnstrom said. Reporting live from a broadcasting booth featured prominently on the Rising expo floor—and via two roaming field crews--“content included pre- and post-show commentary bookending our mainstage keynotes,” Fehrnstrom described.  

“This helped us effectively bring the true spirit of Workday Rising to our remote audiences,” Fehrnstrom added, noting that “broadcast segments that streamed on Workday social media channels were some of the top performing social posts during Rising.” They also “continue to drive strong replay views” even one month post-event, she said. 

Next up: Workday Rising EMEA will take place at RAI Amsterdam in The Netherlands Dec. 10-12. “Similar to our U.S. event, Workday Rising EMEA will include more than 180 expert-led sessions and hands-on workshops from some of the world’s top thought leaders, all geared to take organizations forever forward,” Fehrnstrom teased. 

Lead photo: Workday's Customer Appreciation Party. All photos courtesy of Workday.

Don’t miss any event-related news: Sign up for our weekly e-newsletter HERE, listen to our latest podcast HERE and engage with us on LinkedIn!