Our customer was The Sci-Fi Channel and the project was a new booth at the 36th Annual San Diego Comic-Con International.
For the 2005 show, the Sci Fi Channel decided an entirely new booth was necessary to capture the imagination and buzz of the attendees. They commissioned an architect to imagine a completely custom, otherworldly "booth," the likes of which had never been seen before.
It is true that many hands make light work, so between Tangram International Exhibitions (Project Producer), Graft LLC (Architech), Grenekar (Booth Builders), Paul Dexter (Lighting Designer), Stage Rigging, Inc., Freeman and AVW-TELAV, we formed a collaborative team and got the job done. AVW-TELAV worked with the designer and fabricator, consulting on all manner of technical issues, especially video projection and lighting. Our most creative, innovative idea involved the delicate use of Folsom Screen Shapers to allow the video to be projected onto the many curved surfaces of the booth. Mirrors creatively employed to bounce images from the projectors.Also included in the setup were Panasonic 7400 projectors and five Do Re Me units; audio was accomplished by implementing BOSE Marine speakers into the structure; for lighting, we installed 16 MAC 2000 and eight DL1 Digital Lights, all programmed through two Catalyst servers.
Most of the estimated 100,000 visitors to the show felt instantly at home in the friendly, interactive environment. Crowds loved it because it was a site they could actually touch, play and interact with - even climb and sit on it - instead of it being something to merely look at. Co-sponsored by Rental & Staging Systems magazine and the International Communications Industries Association (ICIA), the awards program recognizes extraordinary accomplishment in a broad array of staged events in the corporate staging and entertainment market. It is the third award AVW-TELAV has won since the program's inception in 2003.