ASID needed a turnkey solution including walk around talent, musicians for a VIP reception, and expert audio/visual event produciton.

About American Society of Interior Designers

The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) was founded in 1975, and is the only professional organization specifically for interior designers, interior design students, and vendors who support the interior design industry.

The ASID community is made up of 350 chapters across the United States, 13,500 design professionals, 6,000 industry partners, and 5,500 students.

What They Needed: Custom Production Design To Accommodate Historic Venue

Each year the association is tasked with organizing a 3-day, National Leadership Experience for its membership. The event draws over 700 attendees from across the country and world. The Conference ends with a closing Awards Gala that celebrates the accomplishments of peer-selected awardees and honories.

ASID needed a turnkey solution including walk around talent, musicians for a VIP reception, and expert audio/visual event produciton. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the venue, opened its doors on July 4th, 1876. To say it is a historic property is an understatement. Being a museum open to the public, our installation time would be limited to two hours before doors opened for the VIP Reception. What normally would have been a six hour load-in and setup was now reduced to two and a half hours.

What We Provided: Experience Reinforcing Audio/Visual, Etertainment Selection, And Large-Scale Projectors

While Vario had been the production company responsible for both the Conference and Awards Gala since 2014, we were especially honored to design, develop, and produce their 35th Annual Awards Gala at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Our lighting rig was designed to illuminate two separate sides of the museum, one side for the program and the other for the dancing which took place in the latter part of the evening.

As part of the planning process it was imperative for Vario to understand the overall experience the event organizers wanted to create for the attendees. We decided on talent that fit the Museum motif, human statues, living trees, string quartets and a cappella performers who could take advantage of the resonate acoustics. We also incorporated a dance band on a satellite stage that kicked off as soon as the program was over.

Our lighting rig was designed to illuminate two separate sides of the museum, one side for the program and the other for the dancing which took place in the latter part of the evening. We also had over 100’ of throw distance between our projectors and the projection surfaces, two large walls. Therefore, 20k projectors and long throw lenses were required.

What Makes Us Different: Unique Challenges Solved Through True Partnership

Time constraints, scope of services, and a historical venue were three main factors that Vario was tasked to overcome. Not only were we able to accomplish all of these goals, but we also solidified our relationship with ASID, and have received numerous requests for service from chapters around the country to provide similar services.

Here’s what ASID had to say:

“Vario really outdid themselves. I knew I could trust them to pull off a miracle, and that, they did. We were so worried that the logistical challenges of the venue, and the unique needs of our planning committee were outside of the scope for any production company, but we were so happy with the outcome and will continue to call on Vario for any and all challenges we can throw at them.”

— Marty Covert, Meeting Planner