MAGIC-ally Transforming Show Floor Design

August 28, 2014

Mark Munhall

Mark Munhall is Senior Vice President, National Accounts at GES. He has more than 30 years experience in the event industry including over 13 with GES focusing on large national portfolio business including Advanstar, Reed, Microsoft and MP Associates. 

There’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to show floor design. Just as exclusive as the fashion trends I see at MAGIC every year, the GES team aspires to bring our Advanstar client’s show floor vision to life and make it unique as possible. Too often, trade shows look alike, and our client is committed to making their exhibitors’ experiences fresh – from the way they manage the show to the way they interact with attendees.

For their summer 2014 show, Advanstar challenged us to create a new look and feel that would elevate the look of MAGIC.

It needed to be an elegant canvas that showcased their exhibitors’ products with polished and extremely high end finishes. When they came to my team with this challenge, we readily accepted. We vowed that we would deliver something that would turn heads and make products ‘pop’. That’s where FIT 3.0 came in.

FIT 3.0 is a versatile, exclusively designed GES system. The development of the system was led by GES’ product development team based out of Las Vegas and Chicago who solicited input from teams across the country for research, testing and a prototype.

After about 20 pages of tradeoffs between individuals, a final direction was chosen. Long hours were spent challenging traditional trade show design and determining the best-in-class solutions for numerous show site challenges based on each venue.

The multi-functional system offers infinite configuration possibilities and an array of accessories that exhibitors can choose to use at their discretion.

The real show-stopper is the fabric insert that allows overlay options and light box incorporation, creating a truly unique offering. The installation of 23,000 double-sided panels in the luxurious white fabric WOW-ed not only attendees, but the client and industry.

Take a behind-the-scenes look at the final product …

Video Case Study- http://youtu.be/Icys6suWl4I

Sometimes thinking outside of the box doesn’t require completely reinventing the wheel, but it does require change. By offering a limited amount of structures with an infinite amount of material options, MAGIC now has a unified show look without restricting visual opportunities for branding. The beauty of this system is that it gives exhibitors the ability to totally change the feel of a space through material selection. The industry is hungry for something new and we believe this system feeds that desire.

How are you challenging the norm within our industry? Share your ideas below; we’d love to collaborate and continue pushing our industry outside of its comfort zone.

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