For the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Ford worked with Imagination (212.813.6400, imagination.com) to debut the Ford Blue Oval Card, an R.F.I.D.-enabled card. On-site the cards, which guests preregistered for online, could be used to save content to download later via a personal Web page. The booth also featured a 20-foot-tall elevator that brought guests up into “The Cloud,” a 360-degree cinema experience that offered a look at the future of in-vehicle cloud computing.
Photo: Courtesy of Imagination
2. Dinner with Strangers
Since 2001, the Exhibitor Show has offered "Dinner with Strangers." The idea developed out of the recognition that many people came to the show alone and were opting to eat dinner in their hotel rooms rather than go out. Organizers make group reservations at about six restaurants for each night of the show. Sign-up sheets in the conference registration area list the restaurant name, type of food, average check, and reservation time. Attendees sign up—and then show up.
Photo: Courtesy of Exhibitor Show
3. Photo map
The Exhibitor Show also invites attendees to attach their photo to a large world map to indicate where they are from. The map was first used eight years ago and participation increases each year, reaching more than 500 photos from every state and 60 countries at the 2012 conference. Photographers are stationed at the map to take instant thumbnail photos of attendees. Organizers say the map is an easy conversation-starter as attendees look for others from their area or from cities where they have lived in the past.
Photo: Courtesy of Exhibitor Show
Callaway
Callaway draped its nearly 11,000-square-foot booth in huge poly silk banners to visually represent its slogan of "Don't Just Take Our Word For It." Each banner included dozens of comments from customers about its products and brand that the company gathered from Twitter, Facebook, emails, and in-person events.
Photo: Courtesy of PGA of America
