During a talk by Chris Milk, C.E.O. of virtual reality company Vrse, a Google Cardboard viewer and headphones sat on every chair in the theater. Attendees were invited to download his latest virtual reality film and watch it together as he spoke.
Each year organizers create a variety of lounges where attendees can watch a simulcast of speakers. New this year was a ball pit filled with beanbag chairs and beach balls.
Sponsor Delta Air Lines created an immersive installation to introduce its new collaborative research center dubbed the Hangar. Inside the space, 6,000 LED lights simulated a star-filled sky. Attendees could climb throughout the dream-like environment and then submit innovative ideas for Delta to explore.
TED invites baristas from around the world to set up coffee stations at the conference. In a workshop hosted by the Specialty Coffee Association of America, attendees also learned about “coffee cupping,” the practice of observing the taste and aroma of brewed coffee.
Sponsor Bluescape demonstrated its visual collaborative software by erecting several multi-touch video walls around the conference. On the walls, attendees could read about conference activities and speaker content and bios, watch live streams of presentations, and contribute comments. Attendees could also access Bluescape using a Web browser.
Vancouver architect and past TED speaker Michael Green worked with local design students to create two 16- by 30-foot “warming huts” where attendees could gather outside the convention center. Following the conference, the huts will be permanently installed in one of British Columbia’s outdoor recreation sites so they can be used by climbers, skiers, and outdoor enthusiasts.
Steelcase, a TED partner for more than 20 years, provided a variety of seating options throughout the convention center. The company’s personal cubicles provided a semiprivate area where attendees could watch the simulcast and do work.
To encourage attendees to mingle, organizers provided blankets and picnic baskets filled with food for six and invited them to find others to share it.
Sponsor Target provided illustrators who created unique pieces of art based on guests’ descriptions of their hopes and dreams.
Heart-shaped cookies were an appropriate dessert at a reception for the 21 TED Fellows on Valentine’s Day, the day before the conference opened.
Sponsor Lands’ End created a lounge where attendees could learn about its Sport Collection. The company also provided large totes that served as the conference gift bag.
With Event Farm's Digital Gifting Wall, guests can have offers emailed to them by tapping a badge. Gifts include coupon codes, music files, and digital content.
A curved 130-foot marquee extended over more than two dozen demo stations at the Dealertrack Technologies space by MC2 at the National Automobile Dealers Association show in Orlando. The stations were uplit with blue LED strips, and blue-edge-lit partitions offered privacy by separating the stations and dampening sound.
The playful exhibit for Brooks Sports by Pinnacle Exhibits for the 2013 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market in Salt Lake City had a team of mechanized mannequins running overhead, bar stools made with mannequin runners’ legs, and monitors displaying social media posts.
Lincoln defined its space at the 2013 New York International Auto Show with a partial wall perforated with a logo-inspired pattern, a feature the company called the "the Lincoln Lattice membrane." Exhibit Works engineered and fabricated the exhibit, and Imagination was the creative agency behind it.
At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, MC2’s booth for Michelin featured two simulator floors that let visitors “Be the Tire.” When they stepped onto the floor mat and placed their hands on the dashboard, they experienced the road from a tire’s point of view—feeling vibrations from the bumps and dips of various road surfaces.
For a low-key yet high-impact display, greeting card company JustWink parked a tricked-out a truck at the 2013 National Stationery Show in New York. Called the Wink Wagon, the truck had an HD screen, tablet devices, and a speaker system along with its bright graphics and product displays.
With black product displays and blue LED lighting, Gallo created a modern booth for SMS Audio at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Hanging fabric panels featured SMS owner and C.E.O. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, who signed autographs at the event.
MG Design created a traveling barn-theme exhibit for Organic Valley that had solar panels and a motorized wind turbine to emphasize the food brand’s commitment to environmental sustainability. Other details included rake ends that held lanyards, bent forks that held product sampling cards, and fresh grass from a local Organic Valley farm.
At the 2012 National Association of Convenience Stores in Las Vegas, MC2 created a “Convenience Store of the Future” for the Hershey Company that integrated physical and virtual components. On one wall, an 18- by 20-foot screen presented a 3-D model of a convenience store that visitors could navigate with an Xbox controller to see Hershey’s marketing ideas in context.
The gritty booth by Pinnacle Exhibits for personal electronics accessories maker Incipio at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas combined new build and rental elements, as well as a refurbishment of the client’s existing properties.
One major trend in trade show booth design right now is bilevel exhibits, like the one by Jack Morton Worldwide for Ericsson at Mobile World Congress 2013 in Barcelona.
Jack Morton Worldwide's bilevel booth for Ericsson at Mobile World Congress 2013 also included an on-site Âcoffee shop with exposed lightbulbs and an eclectic mix of seating.
The Game Insights booth by Sparks at the 2013 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco had multiple game stations in several formats for attendees to play, plus a large video wall showing the trailer for the new game Dragon Eternity.
The structural and cosmetic details of the exhibit for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company at the Offshore Technology Conference 2013, built by 2020 Exhibits, reflected the heritage of the United Arab Emirates while including tech-driven informational stations.
National Oilwell Varco wanted a red-carpet-themed customer appreciation experience, so the booth design by 2020 Exhibits at the Offshore Technology Conference 2013 in Houston included a café, a lounge with touch-screen coffee tables, a small-scale movie theater, and an interactive area with iPad stations.
At the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Freeman built a Âtwo-story exhibit space for Qualcomm that held three immersive experiences, 30 demos, 14 meeting rooms, and a press area. Cutouts of Sesame Street characters Âpromoted apps including one that helps children learn to read.
At Ply Gem’s 9,000-square-foot exhibit for the 2013 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, MG Design created a homelike booth that showed off hundreds of exterior building products and celebrated the brand’s 70-year history. The space also had a theater along with a two-story deck that housed a kitchen, Âprivate meeting space, and a fireplace.
A 30,000-square-foot space by Sparks for TaylorMade at the P.G.A. Merchandise Show in Orlando did double-duty, functioning as an exhibit during the day and a client appreciation party at night. Booming house music and an aerialist clad in a Swarovski-crystal-covered bodysuit pouring drinks from a 10-foot-high chandelier helped set the mood.
Freeman created a self-guided exhibit intro for Siemens at the 2012 Audiology Now Conference in Boston. While listening to headsets, attendees learned about the technologies they would experience in the exhibit.
For a New York Times exhibit that traveled to the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show, Macworld, and South by Southwest, Sparks created a multimedia experience in which attendees used iPads, smartphones, and tablets to do things like make Word Cloud portraits—images of guests created by a computer that searched for words within the Times’s article database.
Pinnacle Exhibits created a garage concept for outdoor retailer Yakima, showing off the products in a casual, inviting setting at the 2012 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake City.
A crisp white foundation showed off Philips lighting products in the company’s booth at the 2013 Lightfair in Philadelphia. A custom color-changing chandelier, inspired by an organ, presided over the 10,200-square-foot space, created by Global Experience Specialists.
At the 2013 Duty Free Show in Orlando, Tangram created a multi-brand booth for JTI that sought to display the company’s cigarette brands in a sophisticated way. An entryway showcased the different products while each of the three private meeting rooms featured a different brand and its own design.
Stations with seamlessly integrated refrigeration systems, sinks, and other equipment were ideal for serving PreGel America’s specialty desserts at the 2013 National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. Nimlok and Studio Displays Inc. created the space, which also had a double-decker lounge space, LED-lit counters, and sleek, curved custom structures.
Before lunch and the presentation, guests gathered in a sponsor activation area. Its design had a look consistent with the main room, with the same color palette and furniture rentals.
Bored of traditional theater- or classroom-style room setups? Designing a arrangement with an assortment of furniture "is an ideal way to provide flexibility and choices for attendees’ different personalities," says Michele Wilde, the resort's director of conference services and event sales.
Comfort is a priority, especially during lengthy meetings, Wilde says. Offering multiple seating options can keep attendees engaged and also suit different personalities.
A threesided set up gives attendees a sense of proximity to the speakers.
Quartz also experimented with seating. In the front of the room there were couches reserved for V.I.P. guests, and in the back of the room there was a row of high-top tables where laptop users could work.
Bags that attendees received at registration had various charts taken from Quartz stories that could serve as conversation starters.
Q&A sessions with speakers continued in a designated space outside of the ballroom. The move allowed more intimate access to speakers.
Quartz encourages its sponsors to bring unusual and engaging activations to its events. One example was a fully functional mini planetarium from Qualcomm.
Not every event wants to meet at a hotel. Variety and WWD chose Smashbox Studios for a different feel.
An unexpected addition to the stage was a DJ booth.
At the Oscars Governors Ball, marquee lettering served as a backdrop for an understated bar.
