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Creative Day Technologies provides technology and logistics management for the third consecutive MPC
The Detroit Regional Chamber (DRC) is one of the region's oldest, largest, and most respected chambers of commerce in the country, having served the business community for over 100 years. As the voice for business in the 11-county Southeast Michigan region, the Chamber’s mission is carried out by creating a business-friendly climate and providing value for members. The Chamber is dedicated to powering the economy of Southeast Michigan and carries out its mission through economic development, education reform, regional collaboration, and providing valuable benefits to members. The Chamber also hosts the nationally recognized Mackinac Policy Conference (MPC).
The MPC convenes more than 1,700 of Michigan’s top leadership for participation in breakout rooms, media interviews, general sessions, and networking events. The 2023 Conference focused on “the Power of &,” which invited dialogue among speakers and attendees on why Michigan needs an “and” approach instead of “either-or” policy solutions. The “and” approach aims to create a healthy, productive tension among leaders with different points of view. When it comes to Michigan’s most outstanding issues and opportunities, “the Power of &” brings otherwise polarized sides closer together to provide the needed stimulus for leaders to bring nuanced thinking to problem-solving.
Partnered with The Detroit Regional Chamber for this project since 2019, Creative Day was approached once again to support their production on Mackinac Island. The Chamber takes over the entire Grand Hotel for this endeavor, hosting the General Sessions in the Theater, and supporting breakout rooms in the Brighton Pavillion, Lilac Room, Grand Pavilion, and a Tent in the Garden. While the 2022 MPC had received wonderful feedback, the Chamber wanted to bring back the impression and excitement of the 2019 MPC’s design in the Theater.
Creative Day provided full event technology support, including video, audio, LED display, staging, and lighting design for all rooms. Additionally, a Creative Director was utilized to translate the asks of the DRC to the many technical players involved in the production. The Creative Director also designed the stage in 2019, improving on it for the 2023 design and delivering a virtual flythrough for the DRC to prepare their presenters on what to expect on the stage.
The event took place over three show days, four setup days, two rehearsal days, and two loadout days. Mackinac Island is a logistical challenge for event production; the island is only accessible by ferry and barges and no motorized vehicles are allowed on the island since 1898. For this feat, Creative Day had two semi-trucks and a 28ft box truck loaded with equipment for the Conference. All of the equipment was unloaded and carried on horse-drawn drays from the island’s dock to the Grand Hotel at the heart of the island. The unique challenge of loading a full production into the Island never deters our team, and they repeatedly set off the production smoothly.
The LED wall was sized at 90ft wide and 10ft tall and was made up of 2.6mm pixel pitch and over 12 million pixels overall, it also include a moving LED tiled doorway where the presenters entered the stage. The LED wall was fed by an E2 and video playback was run on Millumin. To mesmerize the audience even more, Creative Day proposed a moving section of the wall to act as an entrance and exit point for the presenters.
The stage was 15 ft x 48ft, decked over the existing house stage with a 2ft x12ft radius thrust. Presenter support on the stage included two (4) 65” downstage confidence monitors.
All audio in the Theater was run through a PM3 audio console. Audio also included:
Lighting was another crucial piece of the design. The purpose of the lighting design was to provide an immersive atmosphere. Creative Day’s design included:
The breakout rooms were all outfitted with event technology support: monitors, staging, lighting, and audio. The Brighton Pavillion was used for breakout room, and overflow viewing from the Theater. This room also included four monitors (two 86” and two 65”), eight (8) channels of Axient for audio support, a custom printed backdrop, and additional lighting design.
The Lilac Room hosted an especially important hybrid breakout session that included streaming the presentation live to members of the press that were not able to attend on Mackinac Island. Creative Day was able to quickly react to the changing requirements of the session and seamlessly integrate our production and streaming technology with the client’s virtual meeting solution, in this case, Microsoft Teams. To help the client avoid a potentially ballooning budget for this session, Creative Day implemented cutting-edge solutions like IP-based communication to cut down on the final overall cost.
The Tent was used for afterglow parties and social gatherings. The technology inside included truss mounted display, audio, staging, and flown lighting via a “truss arch”. The stage had four 75” monitors. The audio was designed specifically for the outdoor tent space and includes eight (8) channels of wireless microphones.
As the tent was a center point for the social part of the Conference, Creative Day also designed lighting to compliment the environment and set aesthetics for daytime and evening gatherings. The stage design included a 32ft by 8ft custom-printed lightweight framed backdrop.
Creative Day’s and Detroit Chamber of Commerce’s efforts were well received. The serpentine wall made the desired impression on attendees in both the design and the quality of the pixelation and graphics. The Chamber’s executives were blown away by the results and the presenters appreciated the replica of the design they had seen virtually a few months prior.
Client: Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce
Date: May 26, 2023 - June 3, 2023, Show days May 30 - Jun 1, 2023
Location: Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island, MI
Service: Live Event Technology, Logistics Planning, Production Support
Results:
