The Great Exhibition: Blueprints from the Past

We’ve come a long way since 1851, but what can we learn from the exhibitors of the past?

Recently, I embraced my love for research and decided to do a deep dive into the Great Exhibition of 1851, often lauded as the “First Expo” of its kind, showing off the fruits of the industrial revolution that England saw itself in the middle of. Inviting exhibitors and attendees from all around the world to showcase their achievements, one can’t help but draw the parallel between the modern day trade show industry hub of Las Vegas, and the hotels that house event pros at all times of the year.?

The Great Exhibition itself was a response to the Great Exhibition of Products of French Industry, and served as a precursor and cornerstone of how we now recognize trade shows and expositions–competitive spectacles, designed to intrigue and inform the masses. Prince Albert and Henry Cole dedicated their efforts to the planning of the Exhibition to create a scion that represented England’s achievements, sparked by fears of being viewed as inferior in a world of revolution. After a competition for the hall designs (much alike to how exhibit houses bid for attention), a 900,000 square foot Crystal Palace, made of 293,000 panes of glass came to life.?

Hosting over 6 million people over its six month span, modern exhibitions look small in comparison. By the numbers, last year from May to October, Las Vegas reported 2.5 million convention attendees. In the age of modern travel and technology, with all of the variety of industry, we still cannot yet eclipse the draw power of novelty. Or so we think.

Today, exhibitors are welcomed into neon lit Sin City, rather than idyllic Hyde Park, but the grandeur found in the Crystal Palace prevails with towering buildings, five star hotels, and technological advancements worthy of Victorian’s space age dreams. At the heart of it we flock to what intrigues us–what better a place to create excitement about innovation than one filled with sights, sounds, and competition? One where you know that you will be the best sight, the most appealing sound, and the strongest competition.

England’s spotlight was not only from their duties as host, but from the meticulous way they designed the Exhibition to speak to their strengths. Dividing the hall into Britain and their colonies achievements, and the foreign exhibitors, mass impact had a factor, with attendees swimming in a sea of English excellence. With over 100,000 objects on display, half were a product of Her Majesty’s Empire–the real draw being that the curious populace could see how the products and machines of their home country operated and were made, what they were working for and on, and how it cemented them on the world stage.

Industry titans follow these footsteps, booking out blocks of square footage to highlight their entire family of brands. When I went to Pack Expo last spring, the robots almost outnumbered the people–label machines echoing the printing presses that they evolved from. Brands bring the best of their best, with sales teams to match the fever pitch of the crowds, clamoring for information to take home. The biggest impression that the Great Exhibition left was the one of novelty and excitement, the fact that for the first time, innovation was at the fingertips of the general population.

Today’s exhibitors can take this into consideration with their current activities–maybe not by displaying dressed up taxidermy and gem encrusted statues, but by using the technology from today to bring the energy of excitement from the past. Instead of postcards to share with neighbors that prove they went to the Crystal Palace, create a booth that is worth Instagramming with a hashtag.

My favorite antidote from this research? The plans for the Crystal Palace were altered from the originals in order to encapsulate the three elm trees on the site, as they did not want to remove them. The moral? Work with what you have and get creative in order to achieve the vision you have. And–sustainability pays. The trees that were once an obstacle, are now a talking point and were themselves part of the spectacle.

Now if only someone wanted to bring a time machine to the next CES and let me do a live report of the Great Exhibition!