Photo: Alive Coverage
A perfect mix of brand and business, Google Cloud’s flagship event, showcasing the transformative power of AI and its practical applications for companies, brought together over 36,000 industry tech professionals, developers, engineers, analysts and industry leaders to Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, April 9-11.
The event opened with a keynote where Google Cloud and Google DeepMind announced bringing the AI-remastered The Wizard of Oz to Sphere this August, transforming visual storytelling and unlocking new frontiers for everyone.
“Our partnership with Sphere on The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is a great example of pushing the boundaries of generative AI to deliver exciting new experiences for audiences—and new opportunities for studios and filmmakers,” says Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. “We are honored to play a role in such an ambitious project to bring a classic piece of Americana to an entirely new generation of audiences.”
In the same spirit of pushing boundaries, Google Cloud Next was all about having the curiosity and the courage to go where no one has gone before and gain insight and practical knowledge as well as feeling a deep sense of community. If you already loved all things Google, you remembered why. If you were looking for the yellow brick code, you were likely to find it.
Dynamic signage, bringing the brand system to life and highlighting partnerships and customer stories, set the stage for the experience. This year, attendees could pick up their badges at multiple locations, including the airport, and could proceed straight to the expo hall, which felt like a welcoming futuristic city ready to be explored.
“From AI-generated letters that are constantly transforming, to static graphics that wrap around corners, breaking the frame, to hanging fabric that are meant to be the interpretation of some of those brand shapes to the translucency of glass and the stained glass effect when its flooded with light, we’ve tried to maximize every opportunity to create a dynamic and immersive environment,” says Ryan Mee, executive creative director at George P. Johnson Experience Marketing that produced the event.
The heart of the expo floor was the Showcase, inviting attendees to “imagine, learn, build”, ultimately discovering “the new way to cloud” for themselves and their organizations, and dive deeper into experiential learning based on their roles and interests. Here’s what we’re excited about.
Next-generation AI Activations
The electricity powering the new generation of activations, AI is quickly leaving boring touchpoints in the dust. Granted, the point was to showcase Google Cloud’s products but with the speed of AI adoption, it won’t be too long before brands will be able to level-up their trade show engagement game and meet rising attendee expectations because once you’ve experienced it, it’s like your first time with AI—there’s no going back.
AI Basketball Coach invited attendees to “shoot your shot with Gemini”, as in, step onto a basketball court and get real-time performance and technique analytics as well as improvement pointers, powered by Google’s AI technology. A highly engaging and very popular activation, it showcased an intangible product in a way that translated to a completely personal, helpful and fun experience.
Blending futuristic and whimsical, Dial an App offered developers and builders a chance to discuss their app idea with an AI agent, set in an intimate phonebooth space with an actual old-school receiver. AI interpreted the idea and generated functional prototypes as well as image mock-ups and product-required documents on the spot, showing how quickly it can bring ideas to life.
Developers could tap into their love of building at the Quick Build Game Show, where contestants raced against the clock to make objects out of Legos, all to the running commentary by Gemini’s voice API, which observed the process and evaluated the builds. The winners walked away with cool social media content, a feeling of reconnecting with their inner child, and of course, serious admiration for Gemini’s powers. (Partner: Use All Five)
Elsewhere on the floor, AI gave a new dimension to an escape room, where attendees could use Google’s products to solve a work-related challenge, and turned on creativity in photo booths that showcased the ease of creating custom visuals for work and fun.
Balancing Tech with Analog
It was not all futuristic tech. In fact, it’s the balance with the analog that, in many cases, made the tech shine. For example, the Museum of Artifacts featured Etsy products, connecting cloud technology to tangible business outcomes. If you love museums, this was your happy place. The heart of this activation was a huge, endless scroll, representing how the algorithm serves up curated objects, delivering personalized content. Profiles of makers and the items they craft, displayed in a true museum fashion, connected not just people with tech, but people with people and their work.
Another impactful activation showcased how small businesses around the nation use Google Workspace with Gemini. Here, attendees could learn their stories, touch their products and also pick a postcard with a state that has a special meaning and mail it.
Thoughtful On-brand Wayfinding
For the first time this year, attendees could use Google Maps in the event app to navigate the show floor, but as cool as that is (and much needed at a lot of shows), it was the visual wayfinding that played an integral role in helping attendees navigate the floor and have a seamless experience. Following the idea of the city, it made sense that crosswalks would act as transition spaces, connecting physical areas and narratives. Subway-style signage with color-coded lines led attendees around the core of the expo, pointing out various highlights along the way if they were in the explore mode, as well as making it easy to find specific experiences. Fulfilling the brand promise of helpfulness and intuitiveness, the system was easy and empowering.
Built-in Sustainability
The majority of structural and design elements were rental properties or reused in some shape or form from previous years, helping meet sustainability goals and also creating engagement opportunities. The huge NEXT letters have been reused from previous events, adding the element of visual continuity for people who come every year. Shipping crates were turned into meeting pods, a very popular destination in one of the “park” settings on the floor. They were also reused for their intended purpose year over year. Meatless options, including no-beef lunches, were served in recycled and recyclable containers.
Small but Mighty Touches
The event app was truly helpful. QR codes placed throughout the venue and at the airport made it easy to download it and do the show your way, whether to stream keynotes live or build your agenda. Also, making key information available as an audio is such a thoughtful idea. On-brand, down to the last pixel. (Partner: George P. Johnson Experience Marketing)
Featured photo credit: Alive Coverage
