Unlimited Visibility Lighting Design (UVLD) recently teamed with Drury Event Group (DEG) on a high-powered annual conference for a major technology company. The three-day event was held at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. UVLD was charged with designing the lighting rig for the conference and its high-end party headlined by Smash Mouth, and with developing media for multiple applications, including speaker support and concert lighting.
A division of meeting production company Drury Design Dynamics, DEG leverages the creative talent and resources at a corporate meeting to craft memorable events. "Clients today are faced with many challenges, especially having smaller budgets and, frequently, fewer hands to produce more work," notes President and Chief Creative Officer Chris Drury. "Having the ability to work with a full-service company that can produce all their meeting components as well as their party has many advantages from maximizing everything already in place for the meeting, such as theme elements and technology, to helping reduce stress levels."
The seamless integration that DEG offers was mirrored by UVLD which had a big-picture perspective of the conference and its concluding party which was attended by an estimated 4,000 people. "We designed a lighting system for the general session and added LED fixtures to highlight the décor elements of the party," says UVLD lighting designer Greg Cohen. "Because we understood what was needed to light each portion of the event, we were able to repurpose the same moving lights that were already part of the rig."
DEG "used many of the same assets from the general session for the party: video on two big screens and IMAG on two, the moving lights and Mbox /MIDI production system," adds Drury Design Dynamic CEO Jill Drury. "We needed to turn the conference space into a party space so we eliminated all of the seats in favor of a giant dance floor. This created a rock club feel in a giant arena. We added different banners, configured 20 lounge areas and big bars, and installed skyboxes. But the main components were the same for both events - what differed was the look and feel.
"With large AirStar balloons with printed graphics and furniture that glowed from imbedded LEDs, the space had the feel of a club when the cover band and Smash Mouth performed," she continues. "It was really important that the second the attendees entered the arena it was a different place. Greg's lighting communicated immediately that this was something different: It was time to unbutton the top of your shirt and relax - this was not business as usual."
Looking at the entire project, from UVLD's lighting design to media development, Chris Drury leverages on the "synergy of working with Greg and his UVLD team. We were in sync from the very beginning."
Drury regards any project "as a canvas, and the ways in which we get our vision onto that canvas is almost always mixed - lighting layered with various forms of video. We look at it all early, with the entire team, before spending any money so we have a clear plan. Greg knows what we're trying to achieve, and how much budget we have to achieve it before he sits down to design. That way there's no retrofitting. Since we partner on a lot of projects, there's a real shorthand between us. We work very efficiently together to paint a picture in an integrated way."
The lighting equipment was provided by 4 Wall Entertainment. Chris Nye served as production electrician with Dave Haar as his assistant. Cameron Yeary was the programmer and visual media developer for UVLD, with David Rees serving as the event lighting designer.
About DDD and DEG
Drury Design Dynamics (DDD) is a full-service business communications company specializing in the planning and production of meetings, corporate communications, learning and performance programs, entertainment and special events.
Drury Event Group (DEG), a division of DDD, has produced some of the most spectacular events imaginable, including world-renowned talent and entertainment, five-star cuisine and cutting-edge lighting and staging techniques for Fortune 100 companies around the world.
About UVLD
Unlimited Visibility Lighting Design (UVLD) creates lighting designs for corporate theater, live entertainment, themed environments, trade shows and special events. UVLD is a partnership of 10 designers working in all aspects of lighting design; their work has been seen on stages and screens nationwide and around the world. Clients include IBM, Mitsubishi, Honda, Kia, Mercedes, Volvo, Volkswagen, John Deere, Microsoft, Cartier, Victoria's Secret, FedEx, Avon and Audi.