Creating the Concept

Create a theme around the venue/location and the whole place becomes the experience.

The mission of the SME 23 Conference was to underpin the collaborative position of AMEX as a key team member for any Small or Medium Enterprise.

So why set it in Nashville?
One could argue that is a relatively central location to all the major AMEX USA offices, but I liked to think that it had a deeper meaning than that.
And creating a theme that links the location and the project, turns the whole city into the experience!

Welcome to Music City

Music City, like the aims of an SME, is a place where talent can rise to fame and success.

So the design was to create a musical playground – with the main ballroom becoming a stylised recording studio, with changing lino-cut posters across a large panoramic screen. Though it wasn’t a full panorama – budget couldn’t stretch to a full LED wall, so I placed gaps within the vista, allowing for guests to arrive on stage from different points.
The traditional playbill poster design underpinned the graphic look and feel I designed for keynote presentations, speaker bios and motion graphics.

Conclusion

It’s always a problem/challenge that, when you create something so popular and immersive for the attendees, that they want something bigger and better next year (but for the same amount of money!!!)