Over 70 percent of meeting and event organizers believe networking and engagement will be the future of events. The challenge is how to do that. LED walls are one of the most flexible technology solutions you can use to breathe new life into your programming. From creating immersive environments to transforming presentations into interactive activities, LED walls can enhance indoor or outdoor meetings and events in myriad ways.

Let’s examine some use cases and applications where LED walls can support event goals to facilitate networking and improve engagement.

How do LED walls create more engaging and immersive environments?

“The No. 1 reason why we attend meetings is to interact with people,” says Encore Product Manager Damein Futch.

Damien Futch

If you use LED to run keywords from the keynote and use it as a billboard to share critical ideas and information,” he says, “you can transform a cold space into a warmer place for people to connect to your event and each other."

“Instead of you telling me the Top 10 things I should remember, I learn because you’re using the billboard principle in the dining room.”

LED walls also allow you to change the environment without changing the space. “There’s an unlimited palette of opportunities,” Futch explains. For example, there might be a beach scene during the morning session, which turns into a sunset over a mountaintop for the general session.

event with led screens microphones and audio

“You can even put a transparent LED over a window in a breakout room.” This makes it possible to transport participants to different places, planets and emotional spaces without moving them from their chairs.

“Any time you want an interactive display behind something you want to sell or promote, you can use an LED wall,” Futch says. “You don’t have to worry about people walking through the cone of projection.” LED panels can be built to look like a product that you can transform into anything you want with striking visuals.

You may have seen LED walls used to show what people are experiencing while wearing virtual reality (VR) headsets or as a background layer for augmented reality (AR) activations. But have you heard about extended reality (XR)?

“Extended reality is a camera working with a media server and LED wall to create realistic background movement to give viewers the sense of being in another location,” Futch explains. It’s a technique used for TV/film productions to create immersive 360-degree sets. But the same technology can be used for events.

Futch says a professional meeting or event organizer’s use of LED walls is only limited only by their creativity, budget and opportunity. “The ROI of LED is exponentially greater than you see with other mediums. It costs more because it accomplishes more, and you can do more with it.“

A technology solution for all meeting types and formats

“Any time you have a screen or a wall, you can use LED,” Futch adds. “LED walls can be used in general sessions, breakout rooms, digital signage, creative elements, scenic and anywhere else, really.”

led breakout room

What does this look like in practice? The resolution and clarity provided by LED walls make them a good fit for medical meetings or any other gatherings where it’s essential to view high-contrast images. In general sessions, they can be used in place of traditional projections as scenic elements, or they may comprise the entire set. “LED walls don’t have to be rectangular or square,” Futch shares. “You can build and stagger them into any configuration you need.”

Another benefit? You’re not restricted to aspect ratios with LED walls the way you are with traditional projectors. You don’t have to worry about blending because you’re using one surface, whether it’s a window, wall, curved screen or even the side of a building. It can be as large or small as you need without compromising the resolution quality.

LED walls can also be used as creative accents. For example, if you wanted to use a projector for a presentation, you could wrap the presentation with LED walls to drive home the message.

No matter how they’re used, people’s eyes and attention naturally drift to LED walls because they’re so vivid and bright, which makes them an incredible tool for engagement. “You could even put one behind a registration desk,” Futch says. “And people will be drawn in.”

The benefits of using LED walls vs projectors

LED walls possess several technological advantages to projection equipment traditionally used, whether you’re creating scenic elements, relaying information or transforming spaces with projection mapping. These advantages enhance the participant experience and elevate the overall event.

The clarity and resolution of LED walls are one of the advantages they hold over traditional projection devices. “You’re able to achieve a higher impact with LED walls than with a projector,” Futch says. The resolution of a projector decreases as you increase the size of the projection, whereas the LED image remains the same resolution regardless of size.

Brightness is an additional advantage. “A projection always competes with stage lights or daylight,” Futch says. You never have to draw the curtains in a room with an LED wall. Examples of this can be seen within exhibit halls or outdoor venues.

Projectors are either rear-projecting or front-projecting. In both cases, a considerable amount of space is required to fit the ‘cone of projection.’ This isn’t the case with LED walls.

“You gain back seating and capacity for your attendees,” Futch informs. “You don’t have to worry about projection distance because everything is displayed on a flat surface.”

When light is projected, it bounces off a screen before it enters the participants’ eyes, making it a passive medium. In contrast, LED walls are an active medium. What they display is directly absorbed by the viewer. As Futch adds, “It is like your TV on steroids.”

It also offers increased opportunities for creative expression. “LED walls are visual LEGOs,” Futch explains. “With projectors, light [is] beamed at a source. With LED walls, the possibilities are endless when it comes to resolution and area covered.”

Think about the events you have coming up. How would you like to use LED walls to surprise and delight, educate and engage, or entertain your participants? We’d love to provide a free consultation on how this technology solution can help you achieve your meeting or event goals.

Interested in learning more? Click the button below to explore our experts’ guidance on dazzling audiences with LED technology.

Key findings from the Encore 2022 Winter Planner Pulse

With the world of events ever-changing, staying up-to-date on the latest industry trends is an essential tool for crafting successful experiences. To help ensure your event design, programming and format resonates with today’s audiences, Encore surveys meeting and event professionals quarterly to capture a closer look into today’s event landscape and to maintain a pulse on where meeting event needs are heading.

Read on to learn key insights from our latest survey.

Human connection and engagement are the most impactful values for in-person events

When it comes to the most valuable components of this type of event, networking and relationship-building topped the list.
connecting people and training
Connecting audiences to organizations’ missions and providing training and education were two other aspects of in-person events that planners ranked highly. What do these insights mean for your event? It may be worthwhile to focus on these core points with your in-person programming or weave them into the content to be delivered.
It’s worth noting that whether your goal is to drive professional relationships or deliver educational sessions, none of these activities occur in a vacuum. For example, educating attendees on an organization’s mission can help them feel more connected, give them a purpose for being there, encourage engagement with one another and inspire action. Strategic educational programming also provides a great atmosphere for learning and personal growth, which can set the stage for more intentional networking conversations and greatly enhance the overall experience.

In-person events will continue to increase with each new quarter

While meeting and event trends have rapidly evolved over the past few years, our research shows that in-person events have returned as the primary format – a trend expected to gain momentum as we move forward in 2023. This remained consistent with our 2022 Winter Planners Pulse.
Meanwhile, interest in hybrid and virtual gatherings is expected to plateau, with hybrid events forecasted to make up just 15 percent of all events held from the First Quarter of this year to the Third. Similarly, only 14 percent of all events held in the First and Second Quarters are anticipated to be virtual. This number is expected to drop to 11 percent in the Third Quarter.
Planners have not only confirmed the most valuable aspects of in-person events, as outlined in the section above. They’re also prioritizing this format’s benefits over virtual and hybrid advantages when designing experiences.

Most planners expect their audience numbers to grow this year

According to 62 percent of the planners we surveyed, audience sizes will continue to increase in numbers. Four of 10 planners believe the growth in participant numbers will be greater than 10 percent, demonstrating a surge of interest in events overall.
planner believe attendee sizes will increase

This data brings a welcome implication — people are actively interested in physically attending conferences, meetings and other events, making now the perfect time for you to invest more resources into their event design. Get ahead of the curve by ensuring you have the best solutions to deliver successful outcomes.

Six of 10 planners will see budget increases — driven by food and beverage, room rates and transportation costs

Last year saw tremendous advances in our industry despite the rise in in-person costs, driven by inflation. Luckily, the majority of meeting professionals will likely also see an increase in their budgets, with six out of 10 planners expecting their event budgets to be higher this year than in 2022.
audience sizes expected to increase in 2023
Seventy percent of these budget hikes are predicted to exceed 10 percent, with the uptick largely attributed to food and beverage expenses. Higher rates for hotel stays and transportation are secondary factors that are likely to contribute to the improved budgets as well.

DE&I is an important ESG area of focus

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives remain an opportunity in 2023. We asked planners about four major ESG issues to collect feedback on the role they play in event planning. Those issues were: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I), environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and local legislation that aligns with organizational values.

Our findings? Approximately half of event professionals (55 percent) view DE&I as the most important ESG area to consider while selecting venues. This research speaks volumes about how event professionals now prioritize DE&I when making critical event planning decisions.

When it comes to selecting a venue, event professionals regard the other ESG attributes in the following order of importance:

      • Local legislation that is aligned with organization values (45 percent)
      • Environmental sustainability (45 percent)
      • Social responsibility (42 percent)
 

In terms of choosing an AV/event technology partner, event professionals prioritize the following attributes behind DE&I:

      • Environmental sustainability (40 percent)
      • Local legislation that is aligned with organization values (39 percent)
      • Social responsibility (35 percent)

Insights-led meeting planning for more engaging experiences

Leveraging today’s top trends helps you create more successful events and empowers you to make smart decisions about how to elevate the details behind your event production and design to achieve your specific goals. Download our report today for more data-informed guidance on the factors your peers are considering when planning an engaging and memorable event. It covers the latest information you need to know about our industry’s top trends, so you have the insights you’ll need to deliver an experience that truly resonates with your attendees in today’s event landscape.

Interested in personalized solutions that can help optimize your next event? Request a free consultation with our event experts! We’d love to discuss your specific needs and help you develop a transformative experience that achieves your event goals.