Objective

The World Culture Festival is held to bring people together through a celebration of diverse, global cultures, sharing messages of unity and joy. When the Art of Living Foundation, which sponsors the event, brought the fourth edition to the U.S. for the first time, it decided to host the experience at the nation’s capital, Washington, DC.

Creating the large-scale affair on the National Mall presented unique challenges and layers of complexity — specifically to logistics and infrastructure planning. Luckily, the foundation teamed up with Encore and its subsidiary brand Hargrove to bring the vibrant festival of cultures to life.

Solution

Producing an event of this scale required building out the entire infrastructure from scratch to span the event space’s 3,000,000 square feet, while navigating the National Mall’s rules, regulations and multiple permits. Seeing opportunities in every challenge, Encore and Hargrove flexed the full breadth of their capabilities:

Encore supported foundational services such as power and internet needs for in-person attendees and the live streaming broadcast with expansive technical infrastructure
Encore enhanced inclusion with remote, simultaneous ASL interpretation
Hargrove served as the general services contractor
Hargrove provided creative, design, fabrication,graphics, tenting, logistics and labor services, including over five acres of matrix flooring

Outcome

Leveraging its full scope of production services, the Encore umbrella of organizations delivered an unforgettable cultural extravaganza.

The event featured over 17,000 performers representing more than 180 countries around the world. Their breathtaking performances showcased incredible and diverse voices, talent and creativity on one central stage. It also engaged attendees with hands-on activities like workshops on meditation, culturally inspired crafts for kids and a wide array of cuisine.

Over the three days, the festival welcomed one million attendees with an additional 25 million viewers who watched the live stream, serving as a testament to the power of unity and the magic that Encore can create on a global stage.

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The Ask

Help deliver an event in Omaha, Nebraska, that would leave a lasting impact on their top executives and key vendors. The complex event would feature a General Session, leadership reception and all-attendee reception, followed by dinner and presentations.

Leveraging their production partner’s expertise became crucial when last-minute changes to attendance affected event scope, gear needs and room layouts just an hour and half before doors were to open! Fortunately, the company was supported by an event team that could seamlessly pivot — no matter the ask or hurdles.

The Solution

After discussing the evolving needs with the customer, the Encore team tapped into their experience, expertise and creative instincts to address the newly scaled adjustments for a much different event on the fly. Their solutions included:

Scrapping the schematic and quickly writing out a new gear checklist, replanning the entire room design and utilization to the re-configuration of event technology needed
Collaborating with two nearby Encore venues to supply the re-adapted equipment and staff resources needed to execute the adjusted event vision
Managing the show to ensure every stage of the event ran smoothly

The Result

The customer was impressed to see how Encore listened and rallied behind her to fulfill shifting needs at a moment’s notice.

After the program ended, she expressed how pleased she was with the outcome, adding how glad she was to be working with Encore for the next event on the tour, just a week away.

The team offered to recreate the day’s setup for the next event to guarantee consistency and smooth operations across locations. Her eyes lit up. She relayed that Encore had set the standard for the national tour.

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The Ask & Challenge

To set a clear path for the year ahead, the organization would unite 200 of their experts across the Americas. The event would feature a main General Session, split into bilingual mini sessions; educational breakout sessions; and a show-stopping awards dinner.

Eager and ready after her academy training at Encore, a multi-certified technician, supported by in-venue and regional network experts, led the charge in bringing the customer’s vision to life.

The Solution

Encore transformed the venue’s ballroom and its sections with flexible technology solutions and support optimized for its diverse space needs. These included:

Illuminating the main stage with lighting and gobos
Delivering engaging content with a three-screen projector setup and audio package
Providing real-time footage of the presenter onstage with a camera-operated third screen source
Supporting PowerPoint presentations, video content and audio
Adjusting all solutions accordingly for the concurrent bilingual sessions

The Result

The customer raved about the continuous support and standard of excellence provided by the tech lead and her team’s partnership.

The CEO of the organization told the Encore team: “Months of planning lead to productions like these. It's a lengthy process, and we greatly appreciate both the support we received, and the outstanding results achieved.”

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Objective

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is the largest association of neurologists and neuroscience professionals. For the AAN’s 76th annual meeting, the goal was to create an immersive experience and activate different areas. The objectives included:

Refresh and invigorate attendees
Create a plenary within a non-traditional venue
Ensure compliance and avoid regulatory concerns
Deliver the “best professional gathering of the year”

Solution

Encore can always leverage the natural strengths of a venue and maximize any experience created within it. AAN engaged Encore as an end-to-end solutions provider, managing everything from creative content development and AV technology to production management and sponsor compliance. As long-time partners, AAN trusts Encore which enables them to function as a single team. After consulting with AAN on their vision and goals, Encore delivered the following

Designed an immersive general session in an existing theater, by adding a LED screen that spanned the theater’s proscenium to create dazzling graphics and lighting that increased participants’ depth of experience.
Created memorable experiences through education and hands-on activities at the eight Hubs for attendees to train, engage and learn with AV, creative and production support.
Oversaw regulatory concerns to ensure compliance with the sponsor team and CME grant process.

Outcome

AAN's event production process was simplified by having a full-service partner for their event needs. With decades of experience around medical and pharmaceutical meetings, Encore provided fluency in compliance and regulatory concerns few event production providers can match. Management of compliance issues for AAN freed up their time to focus on choices that optimized the guest experience. The Encore depth of event technology, creative design and production knowledge ensured that AAN members had memorable, immersive experiences within the venue’s meeting spaces.

The numbers speak for themselves:

82% of the 14,000 AAN attendees considered the 2024 annual meeting the best neurological professional gathering of the year.
95% of attendees are likely to attend a future AAN Annual Meeting

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From Multi-Vendor Project Coordination to Seamless and Worry-Free.

We See Solutions.^™

“Our job is to be a solutions architect
and partner”

Imagine coordinating 10+ event providers while hosting the 3-day Latino Tax Fest conference – for nearly a decade. Enter David and team in 2022. Now, imagine having a single partner who can do it all and grow attendance by 44%.

David Eck

Customer Engagement Director

The Challenge

The Latino Tax Pro customer recognized the multi-provider approach was not working for them or providing a quality experience for attendees. There was a real need to holistically understand the event experience and identify the right overall solutions.

While the Encore team was elevating the production experience at the 2022 conference, David shadowed 12 different customer teams to create a thorough event analysis with recommendations.

The Solution

Encore provided a full-service proposal to Latino Tax Pro for their 2023 event that completely satisfied their unique needs – relieving multi-partner management stress and boosting attendance and satisfaction in a big way.

Everything was reimagined from marketing campaigns, digital solutions and bilingual services to the multifunctional general session space, continuing education breakouts, expo hall and the annual pool party takeover.

Key Solutions Used in This Story
Creative	Production	Technology
Event Strategy & Design Event Branding	Staging Services Scenic & Décor Show Man agement Convention & Exhibit Services	Audiovisual Solutions Digital Solutions Mobile Applications Chime Live^SM Hybrid Solutions Event Infrastructure Services Internet Power Rigging

Key Solutions Used in This Story

Creative

Production

Technology

Event Strategy & Design
Event Branding

Staging Services
Scenic & Décor
Show Man agement
Convention & Exhibit Services

Audiovisual Solutions

Digital Solutions
Mobile Applications
Chime Live^SM
Hybrid Solutions

Event Infrastructure Services
Internet
Power
Rigging

The Result

The marketing campaign boosted attendance a whopping 44% – from 1,800 to 2,600! The attendees complimented the smoother, more inclusive experience. And Teena Lopez, Director of Development at Latino Tax Pro was so happy, she came up to David, gave him a hug and exclaimed, “This is the first time in 10 years I was actually able to network and enjoy the event!”

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LET’S GO

IMEX America is the largest trade show in the U.S. for the meetings and events industry. Its 2023 event attracted a record 15,000 meeting and event professionals, visitors and exhibitors. Encore joined forces with IMEX America for the second year in a row to deliver an experience showcasing how meeting professionals can change the world through everyday event decisions. The vision for the 2023 activation? Breathe life into conversations around fostering inclusion and belonging through human-centered design.

“It’s really important to our customers, when they get their communities together, to find ways to connect with the human element of who they are both personally and professionally,” explains Encore President and CEO, Ben Erwin.

The way Encore fostered discussions around this theme was as intentional as the theme itself. Armed with industry-leading insights, the team knew:

93% of planners are likely to use immersive technology to engage attendees
85% of planners believe that immersive experiences foster greater attendee engagement
83% of planners think the technology that delivers immersive experiences would enhance their event ROI

Tailoring their approach to planners, Encore crafted immersive storytelling with its Break Free: Continuing the Journey activation, showcasing tools and tech planners could integrate into their own events to make them more accessible to all participants.

Solutions

In order for visitors to actively feel the value of designing for belonging and inclusion, the Encore team transformed a 5,600-sq. ft. environment into a fully immersive experience using a range of technology solutions.

Once show-ready, the activation offered an immersive theater with visual and hearing assistance tools, a Think Easy commitment and community space, and a zone where attendees could playfully explore new ideas and technology. Each aspect of the activation was designed with intention, leveraging planners’ interest in immersion to forge meaningful connections, foster engagement and enhance the ROE of events.

To make the maximum impact, they:

Activated multiple senses through scent, lighting, sound, touchscreens and other technologies to improve participant engagement, enhance learning and increase information retention
Created diverse open-flow environments by hanging 50 custom rigging hooks, which supported everything from audiovisual equipment to custom builds to space-defining draping
Produced an immersive theater experience by:
- Cutting 16:9 screens to create a single, connected wrap-around screen for visual storytelling
- Conceiving, designing, writing and producing media content for the immersive theater that explored how human-centered event design creates inclusive experiences and elevates belonging
- Seamlessly delivering the content by stacking projections and blending original images
- Enveloping the audience in 5.1 surround sound
- Increasing accessibility for the hearing impaired with closed captioning via a QR code accessed through Chime Go℠
- Providing video, audio and imagery descriptions for the visually impaired via headphones

Encouraged reflection on the immersive theater experience by constructing a ‘commitment wall’ outside its exit, where participants could write and post their intentions for change
Designed conversational nooks in a Think Easy space to let attendees escape the hustle and bustle of the trade show floor
Presented fireside chats, LinkedIn Lives and Happy Place Happy Hours to foster conversations and increase networking opportunities
Provided holograms, swing seating and a human-size bird cage to create interactive, social-media friendly photo opportunities

Outcomes

Over the course of the event, 700 planners went on the Break Free journey of vulnerability, awe, wonder and excitement, learning ways human-centric event design creates better participant experiences. An additional 2,000 impressions were generated by portal, fireside and theater traffic. By the end of the event, Encore had qualified 177 leads.

The Break Free experience demonstrated how smartly designed events can build communities and achieve long-range outcomes for organizations. Meeting and event professionals discovered how to create inclusive experiences that satisfy multiple stakeholders, create lasting relationships and ultimately influence change.

Encore’s understanding of its IMEX America audience also demonstrated how an empathetic approach can not only remove barriers in an event experience but also create an empowering sense of belonging for greater impact. Encore increased participant learning and engagement by intentionally designing environments that engaged all the senses. This sensory activation also helped participants remember how the Break Free experience made them feel long after it was over.

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From Oversized Sponsor Display to Last-Minute Branding Save.

We See Solutions.^™

“Where there's a
will, there's a way"

Nicole and team were unexpectedly given four hours to transform a hotel suite into an event hosted annually for women in leadership and VIP customers. Just 45 minutes before guests arrived, they learned an unexpected, framed sign for a major sponsor was too large to move up to the room. But that’s okay. This is what Encore’s people do every day.