Make it stand out.

Relay: Hands-On Engagement for Modern Teams

A white-labeled creative challenge designed to help companies bring their customers together around collaboration, creativity, and real product use.

Created by the original team behind Adobe’s Creative Jam LIVE, the virtual format we invented, built, and produced for five years to engage students, professionals, and B2B enterprise teams around the world.

That same award-winning approach now powers Relay—our virtual/hybrid event format designed for brands that want to inspire creativity and collaboration inside their own customers and communities.

Your brand provides the hands-on product, real-world demo, and story. Our team handles the translation to industry workflows, challenge development, editorial messaging, broadcast design, event production, and structure that turns it into a show.

The format that started it all.

It’s part designathon, part creative sprint, part team-building exercise—the kind that leaves everyone buzzing with ideas.

Why Companies Sponsor Relays

Relays drive what every B2B brand wants: adoption through experience.

1

People learn by creating together.
Teams explore your product through hands-on collaboration—discovering new ways to brainstorm, build, and share ideas.

2

They experience the “aha” moment.
The challenge format naturally reveals how your product solves real teamwork problems: file sharing, creative collaboration, iteration, and remote development.

3

It’s team enablement in disguise.
Relays build practical skills—not just product knowledge but confidence, collaboration, and creative problem-solving.

4

You get measurable engagement.
Every Relay produces participation data, stories, and proof of active use—not just attendance.

Why Demos Don’t Work (and Relays Do)

Most brands assume they just need to show people how their product works. Watching a demo doesn’t create adoption—it creates awareness.

Adoption happens when people experience the product together. When they build something, collaborate, and see the impact firsthand. That’s why Relays succeed where demos stall.

They give people a reason to try. A challenge, a prize, a shared goal — something to rally around.

They unlock teamwork. People brainstorm, create, and problem-solve side by side (virtually or in-person).

They make it stick. Participants associate your product with progress, creativity, and momentum — not a sales pitch.

How It Works

  • Kickoff (60–90 min)

    The Relay kicks off the team event with a live challenge reveal, inspiring speaker, and valuable product demo.

  • Work Period (1–2 weeks)

    Teams collaborate asynchronously—often across cities or time zones—using your tools to develop their creative solution. Some companies host watch parties for extra energy and community.

  • Finale (90 min)

    The top teams present live to your audience. Judges give real feedback.
    Chat goes off. It’s competition and celebration all at once.

Why Participants Love It

It’s teamwork in action.
Relays bring people together—marketers, designers, and product folks to think, build, and solve as one team.

It’s relevant.
The challenge mirrors the real-world collaboration they already do—but with new tools, new partners, and fresh perspective.

It’s growth that feels like play.
Participants practice communication, creative strategy, and presentation; all inside a safe, high-energy environment that feels more like a studio sprint than training.

It’s feedback from real professionals.
Judges and mentors are creative leaders and industry pros. Their feedback sharpens skills and helps participants see their work through a professional lens.

1,600+ participants per event

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67% active use conversion

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5,000+ creative projects completed

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1,600+ participants per event — 67% active use conversion — 5,000+ creative projects completed —

Proven with the World’s Most Creative Brands

Our team at Together By Design originally created and scaled Adobe’s Creative Jam LIVE program—transforming it into a global engagement platform used for student outreach, professional development, and enterprise demand generation. Relay continues that legacy, reimagined for today’s hybrid teams.

Brands we’ve jammed with: NASA, Netflix, Amazon, IBM, MTV, The New York Times, Activision, Airbnb, Ring, Nickelodeon, Disney, Patagonia, HBO, Sonos, Twitch, Southwest, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and more

Not a Hackathon.
A Human One.

Relays borrow the best parts of hackathons—the energy, the momentum, the focus—and ditch the rest.

No burnout. No 3 a.m. coding marathons. Just creative problem-solving at its best. They’re structured to stretch, not stress; and they can run virtually, hybrid, or in-person with chapter-style watch parties.

40%+ hands-on engagement

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25× lower cost per participant (compared to in-person competitions)

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12,000+ total attendees

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40%+ hands-on engagement — 25× lower cost per participant (compared to in-person competitions) — 12,000+ total attendees —

Traditional Hackathon

48-hour sprint

Code-heavy

Solo or small dev teams

Ends in exhaustion

In-person or online-only

vs

Relay Designathon

2-week challenge

Creativity and collaboration focused

Cross-disciplinary creative teams

Ends in celebration

Hybrid: includes watch parties and live showcases

The Payoff

For Teams & Participants

  • Real collaboration practice using your tools

  • Professional feedback from creative leaders

  • Shared wins and visibility across the company

  • Confidence in creativity and communication

For Sponsoring Brands

  • Product adoption through hands-on use

  • Stories, content, and measurable engagement

  • Internal champions who keep advocating your product

  • A scalable format that builds culture and community

Proven Engagement at Scale

Relay builds on the format that powered Adobe’s Creative Jam LIVE, a program trusted by 500+ organizations worldwide, to drive creative collaboration and measurable results. An event format that turns learning into doing, and doing into adoption.

  • 1,600+ participants per event

  • 67% active use conversion

  • 5,000+ creative projects completed

  • 40%+ hands-on engagement

  • 25× lower cost per participant (compared to in-person competitions)

  • 12,000+ total attendees

Why It Works

When people create something together, they remember it. They remember the challenge, the laughter, the “we did that” moment—and they remember your brand made it possible. It’s not another training session. It’s an experience. And experiences drive change.

Host a Relay for Your Brand

You bring the product and workflow.

We bring the production, facilitation, and storytelling system that’s powered hundreds of collaborative events.

Let’s help teams learn, create, and connect—through your brand’s Relay.