Sector
Events &
Expos
Live events are a different kind of project. The deadlines are fixed, the audience is right there, and there's no patching things quietly after the fact. I've built interactive experiences for product launches, trade expos, brand activations, and live shows — and it's a context I'm very comfortable working in.
Hard deadlines
The stand opens at 9am whether the demo is ready or not. So you build in layers — a core that will always work, with richer features on top that can be cut if something goes sideways the night before. It's a straightforward approach but it takes discipline to stick to, especially when there's pressure to keep adding things.
The other thing that matters at events is that the tech stays out of the way. People should be thinking about the brand or the product, not the screen. That means drawing them in quickly and not making them work too hard once you've got their attention.
Late night setup, ExCeL London
Custom hardware rig, product launch
Custom builds
Off-the-shelf rarely fits what a brand actually needs at an event. Most of the briefs I get are fairly specific — a multi-screen game syncing across a room of tablets, a configurator built around a particular product, something that works with a custom hardware rig. That kind of work suits me; I find the unusual briefs more interesting to work through.
It also means working closely with event producers and AV crews, not just the client. Understanding how the physical build comes together — rigging, cabling, timing — makes the integration much smoother.
Crowd interaction moment
Brand activation, 2024
Post-show debrief
After the show
Most clients want to know what happened — how many people used it, for how long, where they dropped off. I build that in from the start where I can: session counts, engagement data, interaction logs. It gives the client something concrete to take back, and makes the next iteration easier to brief.
On the technical side, live environments need things to fail gracefully. I keep a solid toolkit for this — offline-first where possible, remote monitoring, and fast diagnostics so that if something does go wrong on the day, it gets fixed quickly and quietly.