A new blueprint for innovation and event tech
Innovation and technology—those buzzwords splashed across decks and within taglines—are often the most crucial differentiators that planners, vendors and venues require to create a can’t-miss experiential event. With so many companies promising to deliver these two elements, how does one sift through the noise to find the best partners?
At the Experiential Marketing Summit (EMS), held this year in Las Vegas, I explored some of the top options for meeting profs and returned with a renewed focus on the wow-factor possibilities awaiting their business. Across creative agencies, tech platforms, exhibit builders and corporate teams, one thing is clear: Innovation thrives when technology disappears into the experience, making connections more memorable, operations smoother and data more actionable than ever.
Surpassing the Expected through Tech
When it comes to creating memorable experiences, technology isn’t just a tool—it’s a starting point for genuine human connection. Mark Stewart, president and chief innovation officer of wonderMakr, says the goal is never to showcase a gimmick. Instead, it’s about using everyday objects in unexpected ways to evoke emotion. “The first thing you need to do is not take something at face value…Think about what else you could do differently,” he told me at EMS.
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At a campaign for Canadian Tire celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary, wonderMakr installed simple doorframes across major cities, inviting strangers to open a door and meet someone new. “It didn’t feel like an ad—it just felt human,” Steward recalls. There were no branding banners or sales pitches; spontaneous, heartfelt conversations were the product of the day. According to Stewart, when experiences surprise and delight rather than sell, “people will remember that; it’s not just a transaction.”
Centralizing Event Operations
The boom in event technologies has created new challenges, such as disconnected data, bloated tech stacks and fragmented attendee journeys. Diane Romualdez, senior group manager of event marketing at Databricks, believes the answer is centralization. “We’ve made an effort to centralize where all of our event data lives,” she says in reference to their all-in-one platform that now manages everything from registration and speaker logistics to gamification and surveys.
This consolidated approach allows Databricks to create a more seamless attendee experience while improving backend reporting. Looking ahead, Romualdez anticipates that the next major frontier will be increasingly sophisticated, AI-driven reporting and analysis that helps event teams generate real-time insights as dynamic as the events themselves.
Solving the Logistics Puzzle
While many project management platforms promise to simplify event planning, few are built specifically for the exhibit and events industry. Gwen Hill, senior vice president at Exhibit Force, says that’s where her company stands apart. “There are a billion project technologies in the world today, but they are not industry-specific,” she said at EMS.
Exhibit Force bridges the gap by tracking inventory, housing, staffing, financials and metrics in a way that is tailored to the real-world demands of exhibit houses and agencies. With integrated graphic and material calculators, the system empowers teams to measure success event over event without juggling multiple tools. “Our systems are more logistics-based simply because of how exhibit house companies work,” Hill explains.
Amplifying Impact through Next-Gen Displays
As audiences become more tech-savvy, traditional exhibit design is evolving into full-scale immersive storytelling. Jeremy Luther, president of Altitude Exhibits, says investment in next-gen technology is key to standing out. Altitude is one of the few exhibit houses utilizing 1.2 mm-pixel pitch video walls—some of the highest-definition panels available—as well as transparent OLED TVs, Muxwave clear LED panels and Hypervsn hologram units.
“Events stand out as a channel that AI can’t replicate.”
– Will Curran
“We have yet to see any other agency utilizing [this level of technology],” Luther said at EMS. By owning and controlling this inventory, Altitude also offers significant cost savings, which is particularly appealing as planners struggle with rising freight and union costs. “Being able to control this technology helps our clients reduce their budgets, enabling them to maximize ROI,” Luther says. The company’s lightweight modular double-deck system is another advantage, delivering a solid visual impact while minimizing service expenses.
Read More: How Technology Can Help Us Build a Greener Events Industry
Generating Instant Marketing Assets
As meeting profs look for new ways to maximize their programming, instant content creation has emerged as a powerful tool. Voxo, an event AI company represented by Vice President, Go-to-Market, USA Will Curran, is helping events transform sessions into shareable assets within seconds. One key innovation is the company’s AI-driven session summaries that are polished, visually branded and delivered the moment a speaker steps offstage. “As soon as a speaker finishes, attendees and speakers receive reports they can share with colleagues or post on LinkedIn,” Curran told me.
By instantly arming attendees with ready-to-share content, organizers can organically extend their event’s reach and visibility, turning every participant into a marketing ally. With over eight years of experience in conversational analytics, Voxo has built a trusted reputation in an increasingly crowded AI space. Looking ahead, Curran notes that events are becoming even more vital, saying, “Events stand out as a channel that AI can’t replicate—offering marketers a unique, undivided opportunity to share their message. Of course, AI itself continues to be a major trend, but that’s already on everyone’s radar.”
As technology continues to evolve at a dizzying pace, one thing remains constant: The best innovations deepen human connection rather than distract from it. Today’s most forward-thinking partners are not just keeping up with change—they’re shaping the future of live experiences. For meeting profs, the path forward is clear: Choose tech that disappears into the moment, and innovation that brings people closer to one another.
Building the Future: Inside VTProDesign’s Innovative Event Experiences
When it comes to blending technology and storytelling in unforgettable ways, few agencies are pushing the boundaries like VTProDesign. Known for crafting immersive, human-centered experiences at the intersection of creativity and tech, the team approaches every project with an innovation-first mindset.
“For us, tech needs to create authentic connections with the audience before we implement it into a build,” explained Alex Ilten, executive creative director of VTProDesign. Whether crafting a B2B brand activation or a large-scale festival installation, the company leads with story first, technology second—a philosophy that has made them a respected force in the experiential world.
Google I/O’s AI Playground
When Google tapped VTProDesign to bring AI to life at its annual I/O developer conference, the team knew they had to go beyond traditional demonstrations. The goal was to design “hands-on experiences that let people actually play with AI—not just hear about it, but experience it tangibly,” explains Daniel Mannino, associate design director.
“We started with a bunch of rough ideas like, ‘What would it look like if you could step into a moment where AI is doing something cool in real time?’ From there, we built out a range of concepts that covered everything from games to music to art,” says Adam Amaral, VTProDesign’s “Master of Shapes.”
Crowd favorites included the “Penalty Kick Challenge,” where visitors lined up to compete against an AI goalie. “People got really into it. We thought it would be a fun little moment, but folks were lining up, taking it super seriously and then cheering each other on when they hit the leaderboard. That kind of energy made the whole space feel really fun and alive,” recalls Alex Ilten, executive creative director.
Behind the scenes of the sandbox, custom apps, tactile controls and real-time server networks ensured seamless performance, even under heavy attendee traffic. “Every installation had to feel fun and intuitive, even for someone who’s never used generative A.I. before. The final experience ended up being a mix of technical experimentation and creative trial-and-error—and honestly, that’s what made it fun,” says Mannino.
Robotics Meets Art at Consensus by Coindesk
VTProDesign reimagined the idea of collaborative art with the “Living Mural,” an interactive installation that combined robotics, portraiture and audience participation. Drawing inspiration from an earlier project with Bombay Sapphire, the team expanded the concept to prioritize attendee involvement—an essential shift after years of pandemic isolation.
Read More: Case Study: Renault Uses Robotics to Heighten Audience Engagement
“We didn’t want a piece of art created somewhere else; we wanted guests to be part of the process,” Ilten explains. Participants uploaded their photos via QR codes, and robotic arms rendered each image into minimalist, single-line artworks in real time. To handle the simultaneous submissions and avoid technical bottlenecks, VTProDesign built a robust server network specifically for the installation.
By giving attendees ownership of the creative process, the project moved beyond spectacle to forge meaningful engagement. “When someone sees something shift because of their input, it stops being an impersonal spectacle and starts being theirs,” Ilten says.
The Evolving Experiential Landscape
Looking ahead, VTProDesign continues to explore how emerging technologies like AI can enhance live experiences without losing the emotional resonance that defines their work. “Every breakthrough seems to unlock ten new ways to use it,” says Ilten. While new tools are exciting, innovation always circles back to storytelling.
As they track the rapidly evolving tech landscape, VTProDesign’s mission remains clear: to create moments that are not only impressive but, most importantly, unforgettable.
This article appears in the May 2025 issue. Subscribe to the magazine here.
