Cherryflava

Case study: The re-engineering of a conference

Posted on 09. Nov, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry.

On of our best clients is Dimension Data. They really get it – and are dedicated to pushing the innovation envelope when it comes to their conferences. They understand that hosting a conference is a huge opportunity to demonstrate forward thinking to the people that matter – the people attending the event.

Most brands [even the seemingly progressive ones] when hosting events, surprisingly just can’t tear themselves away from the standard conference format. It’s the same ol’ format with the same ol’ tired outcome at the end. It feels like event organisers are too scared to do something different for a change.

Last year, we produced a conference quite out of the ordinary with a 2-week long game called State of Grace. This year we stayed physically in Sandton, but instead produced interactive and immersive elements for the event that enhanced the overall message and experience of innovation.

RFID tag technology has remarkable applications for events, allowing you to blur the barrier between physical interactions, digital tracking and social media integration. We designed, prototyped and build a series of RFID stations, which we placed throughout the conference venue -  tracking each participant’s progress between sub-venues through the day. All were build from scratch in our lab using Netbooks and Arduino circuit boards and software applications that we wrote. Tags were personalised and loaded with individual information that even indicated the preferred beverage of the conference goers to the barman at the end of it all. Unexpected touches that make a huge difference and all possible with the technology.

Part of the series of stations was an over-sized RFID triggered photo booth [that we also designed and built from scratch] that tagged photos with the names of the people triggering the shot based on the RFID cards swipped. These images were then displayed in real time via large projections to the dance venue at the end of the event. At one stage we had eight people crammed into the booth firing multiple images of themselves and then running through to the dance floor to revue they efforts.

In the repackaging of the conference content we also created a 2m high hologram [for real] and a 5-minute long 3D-projection mapping that was displayed on a partially wrapped 14m x 5m specially design stage. We used the backdrop of the mapping throughout the conference as a dynamic theme to pull all of the content together.

[Once the video of that mapping is complete we'll share more about that then.]

In conclusion: Our philosophy is that an event or a conference that people have elected to attend is an unbelievable opportunity to WOW! people with your brand. We hear a lot about ‘death by PowerPoint’ these days, but in truth it’s not PowerPoint that’s putting people to sleep, it’s the company’s unimaginative intention behind that presentation that’s the crying shame. If you’ve managed to attract an audience to your gig – do them, and your brand a favour and make sure the overall experience is remarkable and unforgettable.

Invest the budget and leverage off the massive amount of word-of-mouth you could potentially generate. In an overcrowded global media environment it’s the hardest working investment you can make. If you’re not sure how – call us.