NBAA delivers wow factor

A number of people at NBAA’s Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) said the same thing to me: “This is a really important show for us.” Given how vital it is, I paid extra attention to the way the 1,100+ exhibitors presented themselves at the recent show. Here are a few of my faves and some takeaways.

The best booths immediately differentiate their brands visually. The vast majority of exhibitors use blue hues, so Dubai-based Jetex Flight Support steals the show with its bold, branded school-bus yellow booth. Excellent, large-scale design makes this exhibit a head turner.

Activity drives engagement. Clay Lacy Aviation scored with Stacy Weltzner, a Sunni Brown artist, covering a wall highlighting Clay Lacy’s amazing aviation career. You couldn’t look away. And people would return to the booth to see how the mural infographic was progressing.

Embraer drew me in with a wave of a virtual-reality headset. Like many others, I eagerly slipped it on and set to work designing an aircraft interior with my virtual wand.

Lufthansa Technik puts its completion and overhaul services on exquisite display. A scaled 3-D model (updated from the 2015 design concept), virtual presentation, and cabin-surface material samples showcase the Mercedes-Benz-style VIP aircraft cabin. It’s modern luxury at its most intelligent.

HondaJet continues to wow with its smart booth design. Honda’s years of car-show expertise pay off in everything from mood-setting lighting and monumental scale to interactive touch screens and bold pops of color.

No Plane No Gain ramped up its messaging with illustration-based floor signs throughout the convention center. Yes, we like those real-people, photography-based testimonials, but these aviation fun facts displayed graphically mix things up in a good way.

Honeywell keeps its booth simple and standout with its distinctive red wordmark, black type and lots and lots of white.

With the calendar so populated with shows these days, exhibitors have several opportunities to perfect their presentation. I’ll be watching.

This column ran in the November 17th issue of BlueSky Business Aviation News.