Maritz Elevate

Maritz, a prestigious leader in the meeting, event and management industry, based in St. Louis, launched its new event brand for clients, Elevate, taking place at the Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes Orlando, from September 12-14. Elevate brought together meeting executives, industry partners and relevant speakers to focus on the future of the events industry and how it will evolve to create increasingly meaningful and relevant experiences for attendees.

With a successful 15-year history of working together, PRG was proud to partner once again with the Maritz team. Providing event management, scenic, audio, cameras, video, lighting, and labor for the general and breakout sessions as well as a closing celebration at Universal Studios, PRG contributed greatly to the experience.

The event brought together key stakeholders, clients, and suppliers in one place for three days. "Elevate is about trying new things, experimenting, and ensuring we are at our best. Working with the PRG team is always an amazing experience because as companies, we’re both striving for excellence while expanding on each other’s creative ideas," said Debbie Thole, Director of Brand Experience for Maritz.

One of the goals for Elevate was to create an immersive playground for the 300+ attendees. Knowing that the traditional format where attendees sit for hours in a dark room listening to speaker presentations is widely rejected by a new generation of attendees, PRG worked with Maritz to design an innovative experience. All “non-general” sessions were centered around The Quad, which included four Learning Pods used for short “burst” sessions of timely content. The space in the middle of The Quad housed “The Lab,” where a variety of next-gen technology options were displayed, including LED, video and staging solutions, plus a sampling of fun virtual reality, augmented reality and e-gaming stations.

Carter Dunham, VP of Sales, & Business Development for PRG’s Corporate Events group, who collaborated on all production aspects of Elevate, said, "Our shared strategy was to move the production budget from the keynote and general sessions into The Quad, where the attendees essentially spent all their breaks. This created an environment for exploring innovative outlets for creativity and professional growth.”

Included in the space was a 90’ wide x 14’ high wall with integrated LED panels, a projection screen and printed graphics. Dunham wanted to show what's possible in event design while at the same time educating the attendees on the nuances of LED and projection. This wall provided a side-by-side comparison of projection, as well as average (5mm) and high (2.3mm) resolution LED. Playing the same content on all three displays at the same time in a real-world application was extremely helpful to designers and producers who are often responsible for specifying video technology for their meetings and events.

A space full of tech and innovation was the perfect backdrop to introduce InfiniForm™, PRG’s new patent-pending platform that offers endless creative possibilities in a sustainable, modular scenic solution. In addition to the large projection/LED wall, it was used in The Lab to create an LED tower for branding and messaging, a tall 4-sided kiosk with integrated monitors for gaming, and LED door arches for wayfinding. Utilizing InfiniForm™ meant that most of the scenic structures could be pre-built in the shop prior to delivery to the venue, resulting in lower labor cost for the installation.

“We couldn't do this event without a partner like PRG. They’ve been incredible, not only at this event, but for the past several years. They always come ready to go with open minds and dedication to excellence,” said Dan Sundt, Master Designer and Brand Strategist for Maritz.