“They wanted to showcase themselves as a forward-thinking, technologically-savvy organization,” says Elizabeth O’Keefe, director of creative services at TPI. “The challenge was to position the company in front of their people in a manner that every one of their agents would walk away from the show with renewed confidence in their ability to remain number one.”
“The client’s view was that the visiting agents needed to understand that a handshake and a smile now needs the full support of [the] technological component in today’s marketplace,” adds Michael O’Keefe, TPI president. “So we created a learning environment in the Paris Las Vegas hotel ballroom that delivered that message seamlessly.”
The Exchange
“We decided to drive this sales-based environment with technology, as we strongly believe it is the way of the future,” Michael O’Keefe says. “The easier we could make it for agents to access this new technology, the more likely they would be to embrace it, and the better they could succeed out there in the marketplace.” TPI called on its experience in the concert touring industry to create a dynamic environment to meet the educational needs of the client. “It’s an asset in making an environment like this possible by using the best lighting, audio and display opportunities available. TPI was able to create a multi-level, multi-media environment that was engaging without being distracting in 125,000 square feet of ballroom.”
In addition to scores of crew, it took a staff of 34 people ranging from video engineers, lighting designers, graphic artists, producers and technicians to pull it off.
“It took 10 days just to complete the installation, and that includes three days when we worked around the clock,” says Michael. Six other days were “just” 16-hour days, he adds.
The event organizers “wanted a contemporary but warm environment that would allow their people to exchange ideas and best practices,” explains Elizabeth O’Keefe. “They didn’t just want talking heads. They wanted us to create a world that had a learning, growing atmosphere.”
TPI broke the room into eight smaller areas of interest differentiated by color. Each area was contemporary and wide open, like an upscale boutique hotel lobby or hip gathering place, but had its own identity that stood out and was easily identifiable from across the room. With sales being the primary motive for getting these agents together, TPI decided to base the environment loosely on the idea of the New York Stock Exchange. Each individual area was referred to as a “sales pit” where best sales practices would be shared through video, Intranet, live camera feeds and demonstrations throughout the show.
Wrangling the Technology
Creative use of technology provided clean, clear distribution of information. “The client wanted to portray a technological approach to the show, and our aim was to be forward-thinking to the point where the company and its ideas were in fact driving the technology,” Elizabeth says. “We used a lot of video to convey these ideas and designed architectural pieces within each display to house those programs for instant access.” The client wanted everything to be as environmentally-friendly as possible, so TPI turned to Bandit Lites’ LED offerings, particularly their GRNlites. “They are really impressive because they draw so little power,” Michael adds. “Despite the 200 GRNlites we used, they still drew less than the 300 computers that were being used on the floor!”
Some high-profile video pieces were prepared in advanced. “We shot on location and were able to produce really beautiful programs,” says Elizabeth. “It’s always a luxury when the client gives you that creative freedom, and we are really proud of that work. There were 46 screens on the floor running a minimum of two looping programs, sometimes three on the big pieces.” Up to 44 separate video pieces could be running throughout the room simultaneously. Due to the complexity of the programming, they chose to prepare show reels in advance and sent them out in 10 bit uncompressed HD video for display. Sometimes the material was changing daily on these monitors, so the TPI team had to stand by with the bandwidth necessary to process that amount of data overnight and prepare the programs for the next day’s show.
Another unique aspect of the show was an Intranet website designed for use on any of the 30 touch screens or 100 iPads located throughout the floor. Users gained instantaneous information about display locations. They could also watch agent testimonials of best practices and see live robotic cameras showing what was happening on different parts of the floor. “Seamless integration of all these different aspects was the biggest challenge,” Michael says. “The videos, the LED screens, the live cameras, the 70 monitors, the touch screens, the iPads and websites — it all had to all work together.”
“I’m especially proud of this communicative aspects of this particular show,” Elizabeth adds. “We were lucky enough to get involved from the beginning with a client who trusted us with a blank canvas. The six on-site show cameras were streamed live to the Intranet website along with over 100 pre-produced videos featuring best practices in the field, specific customer information and zone specific messages for the agents. Interactive legend maps were used to highlight each pit detail down to the exhibitor’s needs. Discrete zone information and a welcome message from their SVPs allowed agents to pinpoint areas of interest with ease.”
TPI offered the opportunity for agents to text-in highlights from any of the 30 touch screens or from their mobile devices. “There were 546 text messages and 121 images from all 13 zones that found their way to the LED display wall.”
TPI also designed a fiber optic distribution system to feed 300 independent computer workstations and send 1080p HD video to four 7.5-foot-by-13-foot Barco i6 LED walls, along with 44 large format HD monitors. There were 25 Crest Audio amps powering the ceiling filled with Martin Audio F8 cabinets run by two linked Yamaha digital consoles.
“Head rigger Roy Bickel lead the team and hung 122 motors and 3,800 feet of 20.5-inch truss in record time,” Michael says. “This was needed to hold 200 automated light fixtures that were controlled by four grandMA consoles via Art-Net, and it worked beautifully. We also had three Panasonic AV-HS450 switchers and one Panasonic AV HS-400 switcher to distribute up to 48 discrete multi-source video programs simultaneously throughout the floor.”
Sitting in his office, Michael sighs, thinking back on it and jokes that it took a while to recover from it. “It was a great experience, and the client was really happy with it, which is our ultimate goal. For TPI, it was another envelope-pushing event that proved to me once again that there’s nothing this amazing team can’t do.”
