How do you Market Fun?

While most impressions of a trade show involve a variation of workers in lab coats making large pieces of equipment hum and whirl, not all shows fixate on demonstrating the latest widget to the buying public. What happens when you’re asked to market FUN? No shiny product, no power point demos, no cash registers — just FUN!

Such was the recent case at the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event is an assemblage of more than 25,000 teens involved in their local church ministries. The idea is to reward and energize their faith through service, networking, prayer, and team-building activities.

Echelon Design was challenged to create a 400 sq. ft. environment with a studio theme for the Mission Investment Fund, a financial-minded organization which manages individual investments with an ethically-minded directive and active development for church-related projects. Highly visible and set in the heart of the 300,000+ sq. ft. Interactive Center, the goal of the exhibit was to encourage group participation in a public karaoke setting with positive-oriented, popular songs. The Mission Investment Fund sought to mirror their own societal identity by demonstrating the magic that can happen when a stage is set and the opportunity is offered.

The result was a 64 sq. ft. performance stage outfitted with a combination of feature-wash and color-accent lighting, a support archway rigged with high-light canopy and video screen, and 3-mic array with video feedback to accommodate performances of one to four singers. Mixing consoles and an iPod dock were also added to the stage to also feature 14 appearances from a talented Christian Hip-Hop group throughout the week.

MIF at the 2009 ELCA Youth Gathering in New Orleans, Louisiana

The exhibit also offered an additional semi-private screening area in which less performance-inclined individuals could try their hand at singing off-stage in a small studio. The ability to record and forward an electronic link of their singing to family and friends was also included.

Overall support for staff, information gathering, large story-boards of the successes of the Mission Investment Fund, and storage for more than 3000 t-shirt give-aways were less flashy for the kids, but necessary and appreciated by the exhibitors.