Casestudy-Red Hat | Exponents

Red Hat – AWS re:Invent 2018 – Las Vegas, NV – Industry: Technology

Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of enterprise open source solutions, including high-performing Linux, cloud, container, and Kubernetes technologies. They help companies, including many of the Fortune 500 enterprises, solve business challenges, align their IT and business strategies, and prepare for the future of technology.

Our Role

Red Hat, the conference organizer, partnered with Exponents when planning this groundbreaking event. Our task was to handle booths for their sponsors, managing all aspects related to shipping, logistics, installation, and dismantling. They required

The Challenges

When Red Hat came to Exponents for help with their event, AWS re:Invent 2018, they had big things in mind. After all, Red Hat had just acquired another company and their presence at the Amazon Web Services annual user conference was crucial.

AWS re:Invent 2018 brings together attendees from the global Amazon Web Services community, which is constantly growing. The high-attendance conference is dedicated to cloud strategies, IT architecture and infrastructure, operations, security and developer productivity with a focus on AWS products and features.

As an AWS partner, Red Hat challenged Exponents to create a 400 sq. ft. an exhibit that would stand out amongst competitors and potential future partners attending the event.

Main Challenges:

To incorporate their logo into the structural design of the exhibit while also maximizing space for visitors
In addition, Red Hat also required a cost-effective solution for audio-visual presentation space accompanied by ample attendee seating
To incorporate cost-effective rental elements

Our Solution

Exponents was excited to be given the opportunity to design and manufacture an exhibit for a growing tech company with both a unique logo and striking colors. Together, Exponents and Red Hat worked diligently to finalize an exhibit design that would solve the basic and most complex challenges.

After 5 engineering and design revisions, the end result included the following cleverly-designed solutions:

A color-themed exhibit complete with red fedora’s, inspired by the company logo, hanging from the fabric canopies that soared over booth attendees
Built-in LED lighting and a backlit reception desk
Modern-inspired, space-saving cube seating for the presentation area
Rental demo stations complete with laminated surfaces and Hi-Definition SMART TVs

This was not Red Hat’s first trade show exhibit. In fact, they used to exhibit with a large custom booth, which they owned, but wanted to switch things up this year and opted for a rental exhibit instead.

The deciding factor for a rental vs. purchase was that rental exhibits allow for branding and messaging changes and structural updates without incurring substantial additional costs. A mix of rental components with custom additions such as the built-in LED lighting on the canopies provided a perfect combination.

The Results

At the end, a cost-effective and premium exhibit design was engineered, which met all of Red Hat’s budget and design objectives. The red fedoras were a huge hit, offering a memorable backdrop for the booth.

In addition, the uniquely-shaped hanging sign stood out amongst competitor’s standard-shaped versions. Red Hat was a first-time client, which meant it was imperative that we create an experience and provide quality service that would leave a lasting impression.

With Red Hat signing up for upcoming tradeshow events and agreeing to partner with Exponents on future designs, we knew the exhibit design and client service we provided coupled with the exhibitor’s high booth traffic, were truly a success.