SILVER AWARD
	Category: Island Exhibitor: RL Solutions Design/Fabrication: MG Design Associates Corp., Pleasant Prairie, WI, 262-947-8890, www.mgdesign.com Show: American Society for Healthcare Risk Management, 2010 Budget: $84,000 Size: 20-by-20 feet Cost/Square Foot: $210

L Solutions wanted to eke every ounce of effectiveness out of its 20-by-20-foot booth at the 2010 American Society for Healthcare Risk Management show. To impress attendees, the company hoped to pack its exhibit with the types of elements that are typically only found in larger booths - multiple demo stations, a semiprivate meeting room, and even a dedicated reception area. So to help create a big-booth feel in its relatively small space, RL Solutions turned to MG Design Associates Corp., which strategically filled the exhibit with functional features.

From the back of the exhibit rose a 20-foot-tall wall that served as one support for the ceiling, which stretched the length of the space. Made of aluminum with a custom fabric case stretched over the frame, the one-piece, wall-and-ceiling element featured the company's name and logo as well as its slogan, "Software for safer healthcare."

Beneath the 16-foot-high ceiling structure sat the nucleus of the booth: a semiprivate meeting room that Exhibit Design Awards judges called "the exhibit's pulsating heart." Built of plywood and opaque Plexiglas, the 8-by-13-foot room could comfortably accommodate up to six attendees.

Just outside the conference room and inside the 20-foot-tall exterior wall stood a reception desk. A custom-installed fridge inside the desk kept beverages cold for VIP attendees, while staff members escorted other interested visitors from the reception area to one of four video-monitor kiosks. Located two apiece on either side of the conference room, the kiosks showed an interactive video presentation on the company's software solutions.

In the end, MG Design devised a big-booth concept for RL Solutions' small-space dilemma, resulting in a 400-square-foot exhibit that was far more functional than many structures twice its size. e