Branding innovation at a conference

I have been to many, many software conferences, but I’m especially fond of the HR tech conference in Chicago. It has a good mix of vendors and practitioners, and is well worth a visit.

Over the years at conferences around the world, I’ve strolled the vendor booths, and seen all sorts. Some, just a desk and a couple of chairs, others vast multi-story gaudy edifices. They are all a bit of a blur. 

This week, at the HR tech conference I saw the best booth ever.

It was designed to

• draw attention
• bring delegates into an area where they couldn’t escape easily.
• be eco-friendly
• be participative (you could write on it)
• relate to the company culture and marketing message
• be 100x times cheaper than a typical stand

I give you the sonar6 minimalist box.

 

There is a software metaphor here too.  There is goodness in a common practice done uncommonly well.  At the event I saw evidence of some vendors starting to build simple applications that bring a consumer simplicity to existing, rather bloated, HR processes.