AOL grabbed the spotlight at this year's version of the new media jamboree with AOL Access: A New Kind of NewFront. A giant interactive block party that covered 50,000sq.ft in Manhattan's Seaport District, the AOL event featured a mind-bending blend of interactive and virtual reality exhibits, along with electrifying on stage performances by Snoop Dogg, Demi Lovato, and Years and Years. Adding to the immersive feeling at the block party was a lightshow anchored by Nexus 4x4 and Next NXT-1 fixtures from Chauvet Professional, supplied by WorldStage.
"AOL has staked a claim among digital media companies for being in the forefront of reimagining the NewFront experience for the media buyers," said production designer Michael Reese, executive vice president of creatives at Barkley Kalpak Agency, which produced the AOL event. "Our overriding concept was to present AOL as a 'block party,' with activations where the attendees could experience the brand story, instead of being 'talked to' about the brands. However, I would say that this was really more of an open experience than a party. The key message AOL wanted to deliver was that this was an open platform where you could choose your own adventure."
Indeed, the 3,500 invited guests who attended the event could choose from a myriad of adventures to experience. Walking down the cobblestone streets of the Seaport District, they could manoeuvre drones through a netted obstacle course with help from AOL's TechCrunch, practice free throws courtesy of the N.B.A., and step into a 13,412sq.ft virtual reality studio, among other things.
In keeping with the goal of creating an immersive atmosphere, the Barkley Kalpak team emphasized audience engagement in the block party's lightshow. "The concert was part of the experience we envisioned -- and the Next NXT-1s and Nexus 4x4s from Chauvet certainly were key contributors to making that vision a reality," said Reese. "We created several immersive environments within the open space, so the attendees could find the brands and activities they were the most drawn to. The stage was part of this overall experience."
The Barkley Kalpak team had 28 Next NXT-1 moving LED panels on the concert stage and FOH booms - and 30 Nexus 4x4 LED panels arranged around the stage perimeter and on the upstage wall for audience lighting as well as visual containers.
(Jim Evans)
