Lab Work: Why Event Companies Invest in R&D GlueLab, Production Glue's international R&D incubator, is located in the basement of the company's new New York office. Photo: Courtesy of Production Glue As more companies and brands try to impress consumers by using innovative technologies to broadcast their events, event companies are becoming increasingly creative in their ideas, execution and strategy - all done in-house. Instead of relying on a third party, event companies are experimenting and creating live streaming technology in their own labs. Here's an inside look at how three event companies develop their own technology - Production Glue, LDJ Productions, and Wondermakr - with a look inside their labs.Employees are allowed to tinker.Production Glue has offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, and has established a research and development incubator called GlueLab. Laboratory area of 800 sq. feet is located in the basement of the company's New York office. Her work focuses on the integration of applied technologies in event management. It was launched in 2014. Her staff includes producers and technical directors of the company. A team of 2 people manages technological processes and spatial programming. In the course of the work, a variety of tools are created that are necessary to implement ideas and produce technology prototypes for the event industry. It also allows employees to tinker on their own, bringing their ideas to life in the areas of experimental design, equipment design and image-building. Recent projects released by the lab include the “Visit Mars” concept for National Geographic in New York in 2016, in which invited guests operated a space glove in zero gravity; and a yacht simulation game for AMC's Fear the Walking Dead event at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International, which featured 5 zombie-themed attractions. At the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, the company created a video coffee machine for sponsor Nespresso, where visitors could watch a series of videos about the history of the brand's coffees by pressing a specific Nespresso coffee button on the machine. Kurland says the company works together throughout the entire cycle, from idea to implementation. “When we work together, we connect realization with the world of creativity. For us, over the years, the creative component has taken second place after implementation,” she explains. “Since everything is fundamentally about design and implementation, the need to develop and creatively implement client ideas requires us to have exactly this set of skills. Creative execution means we need to transform the client's creative idea into a real-world experience."Technical ideas are carefully selected.Founded in 2001, DJ Productions produces WME/IMG New York Fashion Week and other events for clients such as L'Oréal, Reebok, Viacom, and The New York Times. She immediately shook up existing approaches to events in the event industry, carefully selecting new technical ideas for new projects. In June, the New York-based agency announced plans to launch a startup accelerator program called Futures NYC. Like a venture capital fund, LDJ accepts startup applications (or seeks them out), conducts a financial analysis of the companies, invites them to demonstrate their technology, and then selects one to participate in the accelerator program for 6 months. LDJ gives the selected startup $10,000 in exchange for a 4% stake, as well as a workspace in its office and access to clients, workshops and mentorship. After 6 months, companies can demonstrate their product to LDJ clients. Danelle DeZhao, project manager at LDJ Productions, says launching such a project (which was just announced as the first investment in local augmented reality company Candy Lab AR) was a logical next step in their R&D process. “We always have clients who ask us to do something that no one has done before, and we always try to make it happen. We are constantly looking for the latest technology that can enhance our events and serve a purpose in the long term,” says DeZhao. “It's our job to bring these ideas to them. We want them to be able to make choices easily rather than having to do the research themselves.” Laurie De Jong, Founder and C.E.O. LDJ, adds that Shark Tank-style projects also benefit the company in the long term. “These young minds will develop a new product in our office because they automatically receive funding. It’s great for us too, because all these companies will be under our umbrella, in our office.” Futures NYC will have its own startup space at the agency's new West Village headquarters, which will have an open floor plan, with staff desks around the perimeter and four large desks in the center for group work. The startup accelerator program will officially launch its first 6-month program in January and will also host its own events, including The Women at the Tech Summit in May 2018, hosted by LDJ.Interactive technologies are created for the client.Toronto-based creative tech agency Wondermakr, which has been producing events for brands since 2016, has made a name for itself with its customized interactive experiences. “When we work with global brands, they have a basic idea of what they want to achieve or a technology that might intrigue them,” says Mark Stewart, the company's president and chief innovation officer. “We do rapid testing and prototype, and then apply all our experience to make these technologies work in trials. Next, we refine the created technical solution to achieve the client’s main goal.” The Wondermakr laboratory, where creative technologists work full-time and produce prototypes, creates new equipment and technologies for the implementation of ideas and innovations, as well as mechatronic products. Stewart says the lab is adjacent to the programming and development offices, allowing the company to easily connect physical and digital components. Recently, at the debut launch of the Design Exchange's Expo for Design, Innovation and Technology, which took place in Toronto in September, Wondermakr created a “drawbot” for festival sponsor Rogers Communications. The bot created real-time keyword clouds based on questions visitors asked on social media. To realize this idea, Stewart says visitors could see a control panel and computer, which intentionally took some of the mystery out of the technology. “We're always looking at what technologies people are playing with and taking it to the next step,” says Stewart. “We have electronic and mechatronic workshops. It’s really all about finding the right technology and doing what the client wants.” Future projects will use R.F.I.D. (radio frequency identification technologies), topographic design and biometrics with music. “A lot of the things that challenge us allow clients to escape the ordinary,” he says. This article was published in winter 2017 in electronic versionBizBash.
