One hall leads seamlessly to the next, so that if you walk in a straight line, you will inevitably encounter every exhibitor room on the main floor. An escalator then leads down to larger convention rooms where we find popular Canadian dealers such as Audio Basics and Coup de Foudre, vinyl suppliers Aux 33 Tours, and familiar names such as Dynaudio, Simaudio, Sennheiser, and Sony. Just outside the Sony display is where I ran into SSI manager, Michel Plante. I expressed my enthusiasm for the show’s intuitive layout.
“We wanted to create a party atmosphere,” he told me, “to avoid a dry experience.” Indeed, moving through the halls of SSI 2010 is similar to walking through a dance club, new music to be heard at every turn. I asked Plante if he was concerned about hindering the overall quality of sound due to music leaking from one room to the next.
“Nothing is perfect,” he said, “but when we attempted to separate some exhibitors, they declined, preferring to be closer together.” Presumably, the decision to bunch rooms together will keep show traffic high and ever-flowing—a move that should make just about everyone happy.
In addition, the doors to exhibitors’ rooms have been stamped with “Enter” labels, matching the color of their particular hall. “We wanted to encourage a warm, welcoming feeling,” Plante said.
Mission accomplished, I’d say.
