PROJECT WOW // NYC EXPERIENCE // INTERNAL WORKING DOC // 12 MAY 2026
The $250K Path - NYC as Foundation
Henry has $250K and wants a June 24 launch. Per his note, scope lands closer to Option 2 / Phase 1. NYC becomes the foundation that London and the end-of-year activation build on. Deck reduces to four slides: Pivot, Footprint, What We Are Adding, Timeline.
The frame: NYC HQ is build #1. London and the end-of-year event are build #2 and #3 - future scopes that extend what we prove here. We are not selling them everything at once. We are setting the foundation everything else stands on.
Go-live target locked: June 24. The installation will be operational by that date. June 24 through June 29 serves as a burn-in window - the system runs continuously so we can verify technical stability and calibration, with the team making tweaks and refinements throughout that week ahead of the June 30 World Cup tentpole. Bridgewater technical staff will be on-site through go-live and burn-in to support the room and stand behind the experience.
Decision needed from client: live demo display approach. Two options to put in front of Nielsen:
A. Live demo runs on the main LED wall via picture-in-picture - one canvas, fully integrated, story and demo share the same surface.
B. Live demo runs on a dedicated secondary display in the demo zone - main wall stays cinematic, demo gets its own focused screen.
Recommend A for narrative continuity. B is cleaner for hands-on software walkthroughs where the host needs full screen real estate.
Slide 1 - The Pivot
What changed since the last review.
What Was
Original Plan
- Standard video monitor wall as the main visual surface.
- Reflection Lounge as a separate room for product demos and debriefs.
- Story experience and live software demonstration lived in two different spaces.
- Single Intelligence Core monolith. Linear playback. Limited interactivity.
- Guests experienced the story in one room, then walked out to see the product in another.
What Is
The June 24 Build
- 31' wide x 6.5' tall LED wall, raised 1' off the floor (7.5' total height). The wall follows a curved arc across the room, assembled from faceted flat LED panels that step around the curve. One centerpiece canvas.
- Reflection Lounge dissolved. Wall opens into the main room.
- Live product demos move onto the main LED wall. Story and demo share one space.
- Interactive trigger: a future-forward fingerprint scanner embedded into the Intelligence Core lets the host or guest launch the experience. The tap kicks off The Noise - the room fills with the overload of media signals before reorganizing into the Signal that follows.
- One coherent journey: hallway → story → live demo. No room change. No reset.
Headline for the client: the experience is no longer a series of separate moments. It is one continuous space that builds from noise, to signal, to live proof - all on one wall, in one room, triggered by the guest.
Slide 2 - Footprint
The physical and technical shape of what we are building.
Slide 3 - What We Are Adding
Where the $250K goes. Each add answers something the original plan could not deliver.
Canvas
31' LED Wall
Replaces the original monitor wall. The room is now built around a single cinematic surface.
Story
Full Guest Journey
Entry tunnel, fingerprint activation, story beats (Noise, Signal, Cultural Moment, Audience, Creator Innovation), live demo. One continuous arc.
Demo Integration
Live Demo on the Main Wall
Picture-in-picture system. Host walks the guest through Nielsen software live, on the centerpiece canvas. No room change.
Interactivity
Guest-Triggered Start
Fingerprint scanner launches the sequence. Stable, repeatable, built for daily use over the next year.
Build
Demo Zone Construction
Reflection Lounge wall demolished. Integrated demo zone built in its place. After-hours site access required.
Programming
Scripted Scenes
VO narration triggered by the guide. Lighting and audio scene programming across all room states.
Production
Show Production and Programming
Additional show production and programming required by the integrated experience: picture-in-picture demo system, fingerprint trigger sequence, content sync between the main wall and cubes, scene switching across experience, demo, and dwell states. Off-site tech rehearsal at Bridgewater Studio Chicago before crating ships east. More complexity, more development time, more integration testing.
Content
Content Development
Original story content produced for the seven sections of the room: entry tunnel, The Noise, Signal Emerges, Cultural Moment, Audience, Creator Innovation, and live demo treatment. VO recording, animation, motion design, and storyboards all built against the locked script. More content, more rounds of review, more production hours.
Equipment
Additional Hardware and Integration
Equipment beyond the live demo PC: dedicated lighting control PC, integration cabling, HDMI infrastructure to bring the client-supplied PC into the main wall, signal management, and the AV gear required to run picture-in-picture content sync. More gear in the room, more cabling, more integration work.
Future Scope
Build #2 and #3 - London and End-of-Year: the NYC foundation is what those projects will extend. Distributed cube system, corridor welcome moment, expanded interactivity, and the gallery sensibility Sascha called out are scope candidates for future builds, contracted separately when the time comes.
Slide 4 - Path to June 24 Go-Live
What we need from Nielsen to hold the date.
What we need from Nielsen
Production timeline
W0 · May 12–13
Sign SOW, order LED wall. Project kickoff confirmed. Long-lead items released. Demo zone build scope locked.
W1 · May 14–17
Design pass to Nielsen IT. Fri May 15: Script and VO user-experience lock. Bridgewater delivers locked script, VO scratch track, storyboards for every section, and an animatic example as a tone reference. This is the hardest lock in the schedule.
W2 · May 18–24
Design lock. AV orders placed. Content production starts. Client review window May 18–20 for script, VO, storyboards, and animatic. May 21: signed off, final VO recording begins, sectional production starts against locked deliverables.
W3 · May 25–31
Fabrication. Content build. Sections 01, 02, 03 first cuts delivered for Round 1 review. Show programming and production begins on picture-in-picture system, fingerprint trigger sequence, and scene switching.
W4 · Jun 1–7
Bench test. Content review. Round 1 returns on 01, 02, 03. Sections 04, 05, 06, 07 first cuts delivered for Round 1 review. Demo zone construction begins on-site (after-hours NYC access required).
W5 · Jun 8–14
Round 2 reviews on 01, 02, 03. Round 1 returns on 04, 05, 06, 07. Tech rehearsal at Bridgewater Studio, Chicago: mock setup, show flow run-through, programming integration tested. Crate and ship to NYC.
W6 · Jun 15–21
On-site install at Nielsen NYC. Round 2 reviews on 04, 05, 06, 07. Full assembled cut delivered for one full-piece review. June 17 (Wed): Content lock - all video, VO, and audio final.
W7 · Jun 22–23
Dry run and final calibration. On-wall color, audio tuning, sync programming. Host run-throughs. Client walkthrough.
Go-Live · Jun 24
Project WOW goes live. Burn-in window runs through June 29 with tweaks and refinements.
World Cup · Jun 30
FIFA game. Full support coverage on-site.
Framing for the call: these are the decisions Nielsen owns over the next few weeks. Our team is moving in parallel, but their inputs are what unblock content, IT, and procurement. The earlier these arrive, the more buffer we hold for the inevitable changes that come up later in production.
Sections in scope for content production
Review rules of engagement
- Two rounds of review per section after the locked first cut. Round 3 only by mutual agreement, and only for a major direction shift.
- Review windows are 2 business days. Consolidated notes from the Nielsen team in one response per round - no partial or trickling feedback.
- Bridgewater turnaround between rounds is 4 to 5 working days per section.
- May 15 script + VO lock is the hardest deadline in the schedule. Changes after sign-off compress a review round or push content lock past June 17.
- One full-piece review of the assembled experience happens the week of June 15, separate from sectional Round 2 reviews.
Why this cadence: Nielsen sees every section twice before it locks, gets a full-piece review of the assembled experience, and lands a content lock one week before launch. That buffer is what lets us calibrate on the wall in NYC instead of finishing the video on the wall.
Dates assume SOW signed by end of week and script delivered Friday May 15. Any slip cascades through review rounds, the Chicago tech rehearsal window, and on-site install.