Bringing a US tech firm's new vision to life.

Picture the scene. It’s a bright February day, and the sun shines down on the contemporary Fira de Barcelona Gran Via. Over 100,000 delegates are heading to MWC - the Mobile World Congress. Attended by global tech giants and the press, it’s THE event to be at if you’re involved or interested in the mobile communications industry. There’s always something to see and learn with impressive stands, thought-leading agenda items and endless networking opportunities.

Introducing Casa Systems

It was here that Casa Systems, a US-based network solutions company, wanted to make a splash. Having gone through a series of internal changes, they had a fresh new approach, shifting from hardware-focused to software-focused solutions, specifically on their 5G offering. MWC was their first public event since this change and an enormous opportunity to impress the marketplace. 

Their Global Events Manager, Karin Quatrale was the person who had to make this event happen. She had a lot at stake and needed to substantially evolve the Casa Systems presence to launch this new vision. 

Working together

Karin had worked with Team Hoynck since 2018, appreciating the way in which, “Working with a European partner means having access to local market knowledge, the European trade show industry and local vendors”. She already had a strong relationship with Team Hoynck, having previously worked with their sales and project management teams. 

Her brief was clear. She wanted to build on the learnings from past events integrating them with Casa Systems' new 5G approach. And, of course, she needed this to be done within budget.

A collaborative approach to design

Team Hoynck’s account manager, Clifford Broekhuisen, worked with two different designers to create multiple designs that reflected the updated Corporate identity. Clifford refined the design before taking it to Karin to finalise the details. This was a team effort, “Our strong relationship made it easy to collaborate on the design, and we really feel like the new design and flow of the booth has met our objectives.” With the design finalised, Clifford costed everything, giving Karin a final fixed price for the event - an essential detail for any events manager.

An on-the-ground, trusted and knowledgeable project manager

With the stand design approved, it was time to start constructing the booth. At this point, Clifford handed the project across to the Team Hoynck project manager, Tom Dahmen, who became Karin’s key point of contact and responsible for the event’s success.

Being based in the US made it inefficient and costly for Karin to be involved in the build coordination. Even without language barriers, the time difference would slow things down – especially if suppliers needed a fast response to meet production timelines. 

Having Tom on the ground removed that complexity. As Karin explains, “If you’ve got to work across time zones it’s good to have a partner who can work with local resources and resolve any issues during the design process, material selection and subcontracting to other people.” Karin could rely on Tom to be her eyes and ears throughout the project, staying in touch with regular check-in calls. 

One of the biggest challenges of hosting a stand in another geography is working with the event organisers themselves. Karin didn’t have the time to coordinate this and couldn’t expect to tune into the small but critical cultural details that affect how smoothly a project develops. In this case, Tom recognised the need to manage the Barcelona venue tightly to ensure essential water and power supplies were provided in good time.

On-site build management

As the opening day drew near, Tom was constantly on-site to ensure the site builders had the correct plans and were working in line with the project plan. This freed Karin from travelling to Barcelona before the event, saving her time and expense. 

Karin and her team arrived reassured, confident that operational details were meticulously handled, and the construction was advancing as scheduled. Team Hoynck also organized technical support at the stand, catering, and cleaning services. This allowed Karin and her team to direct their focus towards other event activities, ensuring an exceptional experience for both their customers and visitors.

 An exceptional result

Karin was delighted by the exhibition stand and the level of service that Tom, Clifford and the rest of Team Hoynck provided. The new booth design allowed prospects to engage with the digital content Casa Systems wanted to share and encouraged valuable opportunities for the on-stand team to actively engage their prospects.

“Working with Team Hoynck is consistently positive. We have a small team at Casa Systems and can’t dedicate all our resources to these events. Knowing we have Team Hoynck on our side makes everything easier. We tend to take a new approach each year, and I know that Team Hoynck has the flexibility to help us work through all of that while recognising that budgets aren’t unlimited. This year has been great – we try to outdo our previous events every year, and Team Hoynck has helped us do that again.”