REMA 1000

One of Norway’s leading companies brought 800 top performers to a retreat in Las Vegas for immersion into American culture while celebrating rapid corporate growth.

Grocery chain REMA 1000 enlisted MGM Resorts Event Productions, the AV and events arm of MGM Resorts International, to assist by providing sound, lighting, and video displays along with with stage design, props, catering, entertainment, floral, and décor.

Over 3½ days, the conference had 16 events, and many — including a TED-Talk style opening session and a gala worthy of Hollywood — merged technology and stagecraft.

But only one event was called “Inspiration Day” and held at the famed MGM Grand Garden Arena, where the client wanted to “shock and wow” employees by putting them in the action.

Set, video, and sound design teams created a feeling of intimacy so the 800 guests wouldn’t get lost in the 16,000-seat arena. The stage was raised almost five feet off the floor and the bleachers were set up close — bringing the audience into the presentation.

Widespread use of LED elements, including hanging LED walls and lighted risers, created bright, bigger than life staging. Placed for the event were 5.5 million pixels used to create thousands of 3-D digital effects that made the arena part of the show and cocooned the audience in displays in front, above, and to the sides.

This digital scenery had the power to become almost anything, including:

--Waving banners of red, white and blue that roused the audience to cheers during a session seeking to tap into the energy of an American political convention.

--A top, front and side video display of the interior of a grand cathedral added to the moment as two conference attendees came on stage for their unannounced wedding.

The surprise nuptials provided an example of a vital component in the event’s success: Throughout the day producers harnessed digital scenery to heighten the emotion and complement — not overwhelm — the real people on stage. When a video display of roses lined the aisle, it was there to celebrate a real bride and groom.

--The kitchen where REMA 1000’s founders met and built the company offered a warm welcome to today’s generation. Those long-ago meetings around the kitchen table make up much of the lore about the company’s early days, and the board still gathers around that table when it meets.

Lighting, video effects, and imaginative staging allowed MGM Resorts Event Productions to transport the audience to the founding family’s kitchen through the use of video backdrops of a sink, windows, and wallpaper, and a video-display likeness of kitchen lighting shone overhead.

By making use of small details such as placing bowls of fruit on the table along with the dazzling video displays, the presentation allowed top company executives the chance to communicate corporate goals in shirtsleeve language to audience members who were made to feel as if they had their own seat at the table.