Are you still using traditional pipe and drape as a stage backdrop at your meetings and events? What if you could extend your event’s design elements beyond the video screen? If the idea seems appealing, you might consider a cost-effective, customizable event backdrop alternative that offers a much cleaner, more eye-catching, non-drape option for finishing the room.
Meetings and events almost always use one of three backdrop solutions: stock, modified stock, or custom scenic. A stock backdrop is essentially black drape (or similar stock elements) and maybe an accent to that black drape. A modified stock backdrop is a reconfigured backdrop with texture or branding usually added by lighting or projection. A custom backdrop is one that’s built brand-new.
However, a fourth innovative solution provides the flexibility needed to handle stock, modified stock, and custom scenic options. AV-Drop is an increasingly popular modular system used to create scenic backdrops with a “wow” factor. Reusable fabric is stretched over a reusable frame made entirely of aluminum. The modular framework can be customized to meet varying height and width requirements, and the framework itself is easily configurable and simple to set up.
The AV-Drop system uses positioners to snap frame pieces together with a simple click (think of a “Lego” type construction). Velcro and clamps are designed to keep the structure rock solid.
A Simple, Reusable, Customizable Event Backdrop
AV-Drop has made scenic backdrops easier and more affordable to design and execute on a custom scale. AV-Drop includes a modular framework and reusable stretched fabric skins that can be used to create backdrops of any size or shape, allowing for both customization and reuse.
AV-Drop also provides lots of options for larger spaces that are hard to set up. Designing, drafting, measuring, cutting, assembling, and painting sets and backdrops can be a time-intensive process that begins early in the event planning stages. With AV-Drop, you can complete the space design in CAD quickly and build the set onsite. The framework itself is easily configurable and simple to set up without any tools – no drilling or cutting required. And it’s easy to build and assemble and doesn’t take up much warehouse space.
As one example, AV-Drop provides a cleaner, more seamless way to display background banners, messaging, and graphics. The stretched, taut backdrop can be printed with a repeating pattern such as a brand logo for use as a large-scale step and repeat banner. These publicity backdrops are often used for red carpet events, and attendees essentially promote your event for you when they share red carpet photos on social media.
As yet another example, high-profile events can use a custom fabric print on an AV-Drop modular frame to display your logo, brand messaging, desired color scheme, or elements of your event theme. The custom design can be laser printed on fabric (vs. stenciled or painted scenic), which can provide color-accurate scenery that matches your event design or your corporate brand standards. The result is a much cleaner, more professional, more visually appealing look.
Examples of How to Use AV-Drop
CEAVCO has invested in AV-Drop customizable event backdrop solutions for the past four years as a cost-effective, clean-finish alternative to pipe and drape. Client and attendee feedback has been extremely positive. As we’ve discovered, attendees notice when you extend your event’s design elements beyond the video screen – and they like what they see.
For example, for the third year in a row we used AV-Drop at the annual Space Foundation Space Symposium, the premier global, commercial, civil, military, and emergent space conference held at the legendary Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. AV-Drop includes a series of accessories with curved and angular shapes (including circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles), allowing sculpted corners and an endless array of different shapes and finishes. We took advantage of these advances to create a custom fabric print that captured the audience’s attention and showcased the client’s mosaic design.
To support a global partners meeting at the new corporate headquarters of a large financial services firm, we used AV-Drop to align the stage area with the design aesthetic of the space. The campus was designed with an old-world industrial feel (steel, iron, exposed brick, and large-scale windows). Instead of covering “dead space” with black drape, we wrapped much of the façade of the stage with custom-printed fabric skins that resemble rusted iron. The design integrated cleanly into the venue’s architectural design and décor and heightened the visual impact of this stunning event.
As another example, using AV-Drop enabled us to visualize event layout and design details in advance for both a global food industry giant and Colorado DECA, as well as lock down design details close to the show date without lots of preliminary scrambling. Using an AV-Drop customizable event backdrop reinforced the professional look and feel of both events while helping to manage costs, increase efficiency, and shorten lead times.
Try a Customizable Event Backdrop for Your Next Event
AV-Drop offers a more cohesive, contemporary look and feel than traditional pipe and drape while also saving money, time, labor, and space. This compact, sustainable, reusable solution offers flexibility, a seamless, brand-centric look, and value that traditional sets and backdrops simply can’t match. Because it’s a cost-effective solution that’s easy to implement, meeting and event planners can – and should – start using AV-Drop right away.
Not sure where to start? The good news is that we can help.
Production of a successful event involves detailed planning, close collaboration, and precise execution. CEAVCO works closely with our clients to help them achieve their goals and engage their audience. Our talented team is dedicated to serving meeting and event planners, event producers, and exhibit designers who won’t settle for anything less than an exceptional event.
Let’s talk about your event goals and the ways in which a customizable event backdrop like AV-Drop can capture attention and reinforce your brand and your event theme in ways that traditional pipe and drape simply cannot.
Ready to talk about ways to transform your scenic design at your next meeting or event? Reach out!