GES is launching a major creative activation at this year’s AEO Conference, designed to both celebrate and shine a light on the people, personalities and ideas shaping the exhibition industry.
‘GES Live… from the AEO Conference’ will see GES create a fully functioning broadcast studio at the Vox, Birmingham, on 3 September, interviewing speakers, VIPs and industry leaders live from the heart of the event. The activation has been created in partnership with the Association of Event Organisers (AEO) and underlines the brand’s support for both the conference and the wider industry.
The studio will have the feel of a sporting broadcast, a place where the action comes back to the studio, conversations continue, and the people behind the event get their moment on screen. Interviews and reactions will be captured throughout the day, with selected content broadcast across GES and AEO social channels during the conference and more released in the days and weeks that follow.
Anna Golden, chief executive, AEO, said: “GES is a great partner to the AEO and have really embraced what the conference is about this year. GES Live will give us another way to celebrate the brilliant people and thinking within our industry, while creating content that can take those conversations beyond the day. It’s a fantastic example of a partner bringing its ideas and expertise to the event and making the experience richer as a result. We can’t wait to see the studio go live.”
GES Live GES Live has been created using VICO, one of the four designs within The Edit, GES’s curated range of premium stand concepts launched last year.
Designed to offer exhibitors a more considered, design-led presence, VICO has been reimagined for the AEO Conference as a live broadcast studio and content hub, extending its role beyond the exhibition floor to become a platform for content, conversation and industry insight.
Penny Banks, creative director at GES, said: “We’re incredibly proud to support the AEO Conference, not just through sponsorship, but by actively contributing to the event experience itself. The exhibition industry is built on great people, great ideas and great conversations, and GES Live is our way of helping bring those moments to life to share them with a wider audience. Using VICO as the foundation for the studio felt like a natural fit. It’s a great example of how thoughtful design can be adapted to serve a completely different purpose.”
GES are also planning one more reveal for the day too, with conference attendees the first to get a sneak peek at a new creative identity ahead of its wider launch post-event.
GES Live… from the AEO Conference will broadcast from the Vox, Birmingham, throughout the AEO Conference on 3 September 2026.