Kansas City, Mo. -- Silpada Designs, which specializes in sterling silver jewelry, thrives on parties and in fact, that's how it operates -- through home jewelry parties led by its 28,000 independent direct sellers.
But the company recently realized that its biggest event of the year – its annual convention – lacked the high energy with which Silpada Designs is associated, said Dave Boser, production design and management for Image Technologies, Corp., an event marketing firm that landed the job.
Company officials wanted one firm that could convey the spirited 12-year-old company through lighting and special effects and found it in Image Technologies, based in St. Louis. “They were looking for something far beyond what they had previously,” Boser said. “They had lots of bits and pieces but the show wasn't cohesive.”
Boser's company, with additional offices in Kansas City, Atlanta and Dallas, specializes in film and video production and event marketing. The company prides itself on the ability to take a project from inception to completion with audio visual, scenic staging and lighting and video.
The extensive production, held July 23-25 in the Municipal Auditorium, included a variety of moving yoke, wash and spot fixtures, but the focal point was a custom truss system replicating the company's logo, a diamond shape set off by two chevrons. Boser installed 40 CHAUVET COLORdash Battens in the truss system for color warmers.
He also based the color scheme of the lights on the power point graphics. “They had different colored themes so I followed the cues,” he said. A lot of pre-planning kept problems to a minimum, Boser added. “We had close to 116 points [of light] in the entire show.”
Silpada had much to celebrate. The industry as a whole generated more than $30.8 billion in 2007, with Silpada sales reaching nearly $190 million for that same year. In 2008, sales totaled nearly $270 million according to figures provided by the company.
Silpada founders Bonnie Kelly and Teresa Walsh were very happy with the show, Boser said. “We hope it's a slam dunk and they will come to us again next year.”