CBI – ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2016

OBJECTIVE

The UK’s premier business organisation once again chose LRI to produce their prestigious Annual Conference at the Grosvenor House in central London. With an audience of more than 1,000 business leaders and both national and international media broadcasting live from the venue.

LRI were tasked with designing a setting to reflect the day’s theme of Innovation, Growth and Prosperity in a World of Disruption whilst providing a showcase for the speakers on stage who ranged from top level government ministers to business leaders from the media, software, marketing and aerospace industries. We also needed to show how those outside the Conference were reacting to the diversity of ideas from the speakers and indeed how the world was reacting to events from around the globe.

Alongside this we were also tasked with designing an intuitive routing for the delegates to navigate once they arrived at the venue from Registration and Security through to Refreshments, Partner and Sponsor display stands.

SOLUTION

Working closely with the CBI events team, registration company and security we designed a simple yet effective Registration and Security Area in the Ballroom allowing delegates to move smoothly through this essential process and into the heart of the venue.

Once the delegates arrived in the Great Room they were presented with a spectacular view from the Balcony of the main platform for the Conference… LRI had developed a curved, immersive set 40 meters wide divided into three distinct, yet related, areas – the Topics section with session titles; the Conference Content section with speaker names, videos and live cameras and the Media section with Twitter, BBC and Sky news, housekeeping, business statistics and photographs from during the day…

Plus, all three screens were also used together to stunning effect for the opening sequence and session links. A stage and a large runway allowing speakers to present from among the audience complimented this stunning backdrop.

For the world’s broadcasters – BBC, Sky, ITN, Bloomberg, France 24 and others – we designed and built a soundproofed media area opposite the stage with large acrylic windows through which the news crews could relay their reports live with the set in the background.

There were a number of exhibition stands on the Balcony of the Great Room and LRI worked closely with the two Strategic Partners Deloitte and Hays, as well as one of the sponsors JLL, to design and build their stands showcasing their individual business offerings.

During the afternoon we turned the Registration and Security area round for the Evening Drinks Reception with mood lighting, a bar and examples of some of the latest technology including a robot welcoming the guests, 3D printing and Virtual Reality.

VERDICT

When asked to produce this year’s CBI Annual Conference we relished the fact that we had to raise the bar – an innovative, larger set; more interactivity; enhanced creativity; greater cohesion with partners and sponsors; smoother media collaboration… so with 8 months in the planning, 7 sponsors, 7 broadcasters, 50 crew and only 24 hours to install… so…

“I just wanted to say thank you all so much for your help in making the conference such a success.

The set looked absolutely amazing and totally met the objectives of a modern look and feel. The No 10 team commented that they had never seen anything like it in all the events they have done at GH! Feedback from CBI has been brilliant and the senior team is extremely pleased with everything. We have had so many comments about how slick and professional the event was. Also, several people have said how friendly and helpful the production team were. Carolyn specifically mentioned our lovely floor managers, Karen and Tracy, so please pass on our thanks to them.

It has been an absolute pleasure working with you all. Thanks so much for the time and effort you put in to ensuring everything went so smoothly. Please pass on our thanks to the crew and all involved.”

Nicky Cox, Head of Events, CBI