The materials used in business theater may not be on the program, but the quality of their performance is apparent to critics who know where and how to look. Among the most demanding critics are those who design and produce the stage sets that must perform well in any successful production for business clients. Roccaforte of Carmel, Indiana, chose Dibond® Material as part of an up-front presence in its podium, signage, and stage design for a client’s recent sales meeting.
The client, Ondeo Nalco, provides water purification solutions for large, industrial clients. Appropriately enough, Roccaforte’s designs involved Dibond Material shaped around central waterfall features.
As the staging backdrop for the meeting, two panels of Dibond Material with waterfall feature were placed on either side of a large panel with the meeting’s theme, “The Future Flows Through You.” This theme was fashioned of letters which had been routed out of the large panel of Dibond Material (101” tall x 40” wide) and then backlit. (One of Roccaforte’s vendors, SignFab Inc., cut the Dibond material on their CNC router. SignFab painted the panels and assisted in the assembly of selected components.) Lighting, of course, is a key element in business theater, and it’s one of the factors which led Michael J. Roccaforte to select Dibond Material. While the Dibond Material is available in several colors, the material for this event was painted, and the color of the painted material was varied by use of the lighting focused on it.
Two podiums were designed for either side of the stage, upfront of the large 5-screen backdrop. Each podium also incorporated a waterfall surrounded by Dibond Material, fabricated to give three-dimensional depth and the illusion of mass, without the problem of weight. The material was simply scored and folded. “That’s one of the advantages of the material,” said Roccaforte. “It can be shipped flat and then bent on site. Available sheet size also allows us to bend the edges and still get 48” across the front.” Especially in shipping overseas, the weight and size factors are significant considerations, he indicated. While he has used foam, it can be light but bulky. Wood is heavy and requires labor intensive preparation.
Large projection screens on either side of the stage were also framed in Dibond Material. “The material is relatively light in weight, but it is rigid enough to maintain its own structure, for rigging to the ceiling,” Roccaforte said. The staging established the meeting presence, and additional elements directed guests inside the large hotel through the use of two water panels that also related the theme in a symbolic way. Dibond Material, painted gloss black, was fabricated as a dimensional frame for a waterfall insert in each sign. The company logo as well as the message of “workshops” was cut out of aluminum and applied with double stick adhesive tape. “This is the first year that I’ve tried Dibond Material,” Roccaforte said. “The success of it with this sales meeting prompted the client to request designs for regional meetings as well.” Signage and stage design is just part of Roccaforte’s work in business theater, which includes meeting planning, live presentations, video production and training.