Top 3 Virtual Event Innovations We’re Keeping
I
t can feel overwhelming sometimes, trying to keep up with the Jetsons when it comes to knowing the ins and outs of new technology. Here at DCi, we lean on our design and entertainment teams to ensure that our clients are on the cutting edge when it comes to integrating digital elements into their in-person events.
Folks like DCi Entertainment Manager Stacy Ruffell see to it that it’s out with the banquet hall bands and in with the VR experiences.
“My job is to find the latest and greatest to bring to our client’s events. We have clients that have been with DCi for 20 years and still get excited every time they see a new proposal.”
From digital bar tops with fidget games to occupy guests waiting for their glass of pinot to digital elements that set the scenery at an event, Ruffell is letting us in on the digital showstoppers that DCi has to offer its clients.
Mirror Walls
“These walls have thousands of little metal disks with mirrors on one side and are dark on the other side, and it changes in kind of a shadow formation as the guests are interacting with them,” Ruffell says. “When you walk in front of it or wave your hands, it mirrors whatever the person is doing in front of it.”
Mirror walls give dance parties a new dimension and draw in guests to interact with events like never before. The term “Instagram-worthy” is taken to a whole new level with these fun, fantastical displays, and they add the wow factor to any event.
Instagram worthy mirror wall turned dance party
Virtual Reality
The origin story of VR lies with gaming, so naturally, DCi offers its clients opportunities to elevate event activities with VR games. One of Ruffell’s personal favorites is the climbing wall, where event-goers scale a rock wall while completing various challenges.
“With VR climbing walls, there is an LED game that’s shown on the wall that guests interact with as they are climbing up the rocks on the physical rock climbing wall,”
Ruffell says. “It’s a virtual LED digital experience that they are actually immersed in physically as well.”
Games are a great way to keep guests entertained while attending an event, but VR has the power to make customized brand messaging memorable, too. “We’ll often customize the VR experience for clients to assist in portraying their brand messaging in a powerful way,” Ruffell says. “We had an event for our client Visit California where we customized the VR for their event to take guests through what it would be like to fly over wine country.”
New Age Bar Games
Bellying up to the bar is no longer simply about ordering another round. Thanks to DCi’s innovative vendors and staff, now it’s home to lots of other types of fun and games.
“We have vendors that program a touch-sensitive bar top to have little games that people can play or a scene, like fish swimming, that guests can interact with,” Ruffell says.
Enhance & Elevate
The most important question to ask yourself before adding any digital enhancement to your next brand event: Will it delight guests and make my event more memorable? If the answer is “yes,” then we encourage our clients to continue pushing the envelope through digital elements that elevate!
DCi's Five-Day Block Party and Expo program
“These digital enhancements are trend forward,” Ruffell says. “There are a lot of entertainment elements that go into corporate events that everybody’s seen and done, but we try to present digital elements that attendees would maybe not ever experience on their own. We’re always trying to create interactive activations that are going to engage the guests and be memorable.”
