Trade Shows

The North American International Auto Show, in preview week right now in Detroit, was chock-full of hot cars and sweet interactives, and the digital star of the show was the Toyota Vision wall. The wall is made up of three 82-inch LCD panels, equipped with multi-touch technology and loaded with tons of content and features about the new Prius. Each of the three screens focuses on one area of content, combining to tell the whole ownership story of the Toyota culture and the lifecycle of the vehicle. The software that runs the experience is based on Microsoft Surface, but is custom-designed.

When interactive learning technology provider Promethean saw trade-show attendance drop last year, it created the ActivClassroom Experiential Tour, which takes its products directly to customers and beefs up its experiences at industry events. The tour is geared toward school district decision-makers at K-12 schools, such as superintendents, principals, teachers and IT consultants. The tour travels in a 36-foot ActivBus, which started up in April and is currently on the road with a second vehicle in the works for 2011.

At January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, LEGO unveiled the LEGO Universe Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG), which is expected to bring the brand to life for thousands of online players all over the globe when it is launched later this year. The toy brand’s goal is to put the focus on building and creativity, this time by bringing the LEGO brick online.

To its legions of enthusiastic owners and owner wannabes Porsche is not just another car. The automaker wants its presence at the Los Angeles Auto Show to be viewed in the same light. That’s why for the last nine years Porsche has taken over a separate 20 000-square-foot hall adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center for a standalone exhibit apart from the dozens of other automakers.

Using materials that give your trade show exhibit an upscale polished appearance can be an easy way to communicate the sophistication of the brand. Now brands are tapping into the latest trend in upscale looks: architectural materials that would look at home in a permanent environment like a high-end office or retail space.
The materials are substantial enough to make attendees forget that they’re walking the trade-show floor but flexible enough to install and pack up easily for the next show on the circuit.