The attendee-driven experience tantalized the senses with stimuli of their choosing, subtly shepherding visitors through a personalized exercise in how Freeman could give them exactly what they wanted. Freeman, an experiential marketing company, suspended a canopy of resin cones above the 20-by-30-foot exhibit with hidden light bars that illuminated the display in alternating hues of blue, green, gold, and fuchsia. Attendees could take turns selecting those colors, as well as the sights, smells, and sounds that filled the booth. "The space needed to show rather than tell what Freeman could do for them," said Molly Casey, vice president of brand marketing at Freeman.

Staffers explained how the colors and experiences in the booth symbolized Freeman's brand pillars: strategy, creativity, innovation, and logistics, then, at a central Experience Table, asked them to choose their preferred booth environment. Instantly, an aroma drifted down from overhead, soft strains of music emanated from speakers in the Experience Table, projected images washed across the floor, and the cones overhead radiated intense color, all based on the selections made by individual attendees.

Touchscreens and iPads touted Freeman's experiential-marketing expertise, and a half wall with a thin circuit board covered in LED lights scrolled through phrases such as "Who said a convention had to be conventional?" The overall result was one Exhibit Design Awards judges called extraordinary. "The effect of the design and changing colors is very impactful," said one judge. "The fact that the structure itself was part of the experience makes this an excellent example of a truly experiential exhibit." E