Modernizing the Event Experience Across One Million Square Feet
How L Squared helped The International Centre improve meeting signage, advertising revenue, and visitor wayfinding.
Summary
The International Centre is one of Canada’s largest privately owned conference venues, with more than one million square feet of property and more than 450 events hosted each year. The facility serves a wide range of consumer shows, private industry events, conferences, and meetings.
With such a large footprint and high event volume, the venue needed to modernize several operational areas. Existing meeting room displays were unreliable and disconnected from the master calendar. Paper-based backlit advertising posters limited sponsor revenue opportunities and consumed valuable wall space. Visitors also needed better wayfinding support to navigate the facility and find the correct event entrances.
L Squared helped The International Centre address these challenges through a phased digital signage strategy covering meeting boards, advertising displays, and interactive wayfinding kiosks.
Challenge & Solution
The International Centre faced three major signage and communication challenges.
First, existing meeting room screens were unreliable and required staff to manually enter event information in multiple systems. Second, paper advertising posters created space limitations and prevented the venue from maximizing advertiser visibility. Third, visitors often arrived unsure where to go, creating confusion at security and guest service areas.
L Squared addressed these needs in three phases:
- Retrofit and modernize existing meeting room screens with upgraded media players, cloud-based software, EBMS scheduling integration, and managed service support.
- Replace backlit paper advertising posters with digital signage that could rotate multiple advertisers on the same screen.
- Deploy large-format interactive wayfinding kiosks integrated with the event schedule and mapped routes.
The Technology
The solution included:
- Cloud-based L Squared signage software
- Upgraded media players for existing meeting room screens
- EBMS meeting scheduling integration
- Managed service with remote monitoring and support
- Digital advertising displays
- Rotational ad scheduling
- Large-format interactive wayfinding kiosks
- 2D rendered facility maps
- Animated routing paths
- QR codes for mobile compatibility and takeaway directions
Implementation
L Squared structured the project in phases to reduce disruption and prioritize the most urgent operational needs.
The first phase focused on meeting room signage. Existing screens were retrofitted with upgraded media players and connected to cloud-based software integrated with EBMS. This eliminated double entry for event staff and allowed meeting information to update more accurately and efficiently.
The second phase replaced paper advertising displays with digital signage screens capable of showing multiple advertisers in rotation. This increased the number of available advertising placements without adding more wall-mounted poster boxes.
The third phase added interactive wayfinding kiosks at heavily used entrances. Visitors could search by event name or location, view an animated path on a 2D map, and access QR codes for mobile directions.
Impact
The International Centre improved operational efficiency, visitor experience, and advertising revenue potential.
The impact included:
- Reduced downtime for meeting room signage
- Eliminated double entry for event management staff
- Improved customer service through real-time meeting updates
- Enabled last-minute meeting changes and logo support
- Expanded advertising inventory by allowing up to 20 advertisers on one screen
- Improved wayfinding for visitors across a large venue
- Added mobile-friendly QR code takeaways
- Completed phased deployment with minimal workflow disruption
The project helped The International Centre move from fragmented, manual, and paper-based communication to a more scalable and revenue-ready digital signage ecosystem.
Managing a high-traffic venue, convention center, or event facility? L Squared helps simplify meeting signage, improve wayfinding, and create new advertising opportunities through one scalable platform. Contact Us
Project Partners
- L Squared
- The International Centre
