In a recent event with our client in the technology industry, we headed to Minneapolis to set up and produce their annual leadership meeting. Having worked with this client for over a decade, we are always trying to introduce new and innovative staging ideas to keep the shows interesting and keep their attendees engaged. For this show, our technical directors put together a plan that would be visually interesting to both the guests and speakers alike – a full LED experience.
We noticed during our site survey that the shape of the room was a bit odd, making it a bit of a challenge for our technical directors when deciding the layout of the room. Our solution – rather than working against the odd shape, craft our features to make it odd but in a good way. Our client embraced the idea of a grand entrance, beginning the show before the attendees even sat down. Upon their arrival at the conference, guests would be shown into a welcome space lit from wall to wall with LED panels displaying their company logo. To find their seat in the general session space, guests walked through a ‘portal’ of titan tubes opening up in the conference space with another LED wall, ensuring that there was always something to look at. This choreographed grand entrance set the mood of the show and ensured that the theme of the conference was front of mind, even before a speaker stepped onto the stage.
To further impress their guests and make the conference experience more personal, our client opted for elevated soft seating. This stadium-style seating gives attendees a better opportunity to view and engage with the presentation. The tunnels, which had previously served as a wayfinding tool for the guests now were also purposed as a back entrance to the stage for presenters.
