v051226-2
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 (June 3 launch)

What Is

The June 24 Build

The experience is no longer a series of separate moments. It is one choreographed journey through the space - hallway, threshold, reveal, proof, demo, dwell - that builds from noise, to signal, to live proof. The LED wall is the centerpiece, not the whole room.

The journey across zones - on the big screen through video

The big screen is the canvas for the journey. Each zone unfolds through video content choreographed with lighting, audio, and the host - so the wall carries the narrative arc while the room programming wraps around it.

The Approach
Hallway entry tunnel. Ambient soundscape, drone synths, heartbeats. Nielsen history and artifacts along the walls. Builds tension before the room opens. Sets up the journey the wall is about to deliver.
The Threshold
Fingerprint scanner embedded in the Intelligence Core. A tactile, personal trigger that hands the guest agency. The wall wakes in response - the guest's tap initiates the video journey.
The Reveal
The wall opens with The Noise. Video carries the chaos of the media landscape across the full 31-foot canvas, paired with lighting and audio that flood the room. The guest feels the problem before anyone names it.
The Proofs
Three story beats unfold through video on the wall. Lighting and audio shift around the guest, cubes pulse and sync, the host narrates lightly. The wall delivers the journey - the room carries the mood.
The Demo
Live software walkthrough integrated onto the same canvas via picture-in-picture. Video transitions from story to live demo on the wall. Same space, different mode of attention.
The Dwell
Wall settles into a quieter video state. Host conversation, cubes as gallery objects with physical artifacts, lighting softens. The room gives the guest a moment to sit with what they just saw.

The wall is the strongest single surface in the room. The journey is the choreography of light, sound, space, and tactile triggers around it. No single zone carries the experience alone.

Slide 2 - Footprint

The physical and technical shape of what we are building.

LED Wall
31' wide x 6.5' tall, raised 1' off the floor (7.5' total height). Follows a curved arc across the room, assembled from faceted flat LED panels stepped around the arc. Replaces the original video monitor wall.
Main Room
Reflection Lounge wall removed. Integrated demo zone in its place. Story experience and live demo share the main wall.
Entry / Hallway
Existing tunnel approach. Ambient soundscape, Nielsen history and artifacts along the path. Threshold moment before the room opens.
Activation
Future-forward fingerprint scanner embedded into the Intelligence Core. Host or guest taps to launch The Noise - the opening beat where the media landscape floods the room before reorganizing into the Signal.
Intelligence Core
Existing monolith stays in place and houses the fingerprint scanner trigger. The three existing Live Data Moment cubes - lit boxes, not video LED - are folded into the Intelligence Core system, treated as part of the Core rather than one-offs, supporting the story narrative and setting the foundation for the expanded distributed cube system that becomes part of a future London or end-of-year build.
Wearables and Gallery Zone
Tucked into the space alongside the Intelligence Core. Physical display moments for Nielsen wearables and historical artifacts, presented on the existing cube plinths and adjacent surfaces. Gives the guest a tactile, gallery-style layer to the room - something to look at, touch, and linger on between video beats - and supports Sascha's instinct for the space.
Host Control
Wired tablet. Mode switching between experience, demo, and dwell states.
Tech Stack
BrightSign players remain the backbone of the show presentation system. A dedicated PC may be added for lighting control. A client-supplied PC handles the live software demo and integrates into the main video system via HDMI to support the picture-in-picture demo and content sync. The client-supplied PC becomes a permanent, always-on fixture in the installation - accessible from the Bridgewater-supplied tech, but kept on a separate Nielsen network, siloed from the show presentation system for security. Chris Austin (Nielsen IT) coordination once specs are confirmed.
Lighting + Audio
Scripted, timed scene programming tied to experience, demo, and dwell states.

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

Today, May 12
Verbal alignment on June 24 launch and Phase 1 scope.
Wed, May 13
SOW countersigned.
Wed, May 13
Internal stakeholder alignment, events team looped in on June 24.
Thu, May 14
Script framing input from Mariko and Henry, buyer vs seller.
Fri, May 15
VLAN provisioned, managed switch model confirmed by Nielsen IT.
Fri, May 15
BrightSign AI security review kicked off (decision target May 20).
Wed, May 20
Demo content sources and references for the live demo overlay.
Wed, May 20
AI security review decision returned.
Fri, May 29
After-hours site access approved for install week.
Fri, Jun 5
Nielsen sign-off on content version one.

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.
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.

The content - one continuous piece

The video runs as a single journey from the moment the guest taps in to the moment the host steps into the demo. Seven beats, one arc, no pause between them. We produce it, review it, and ship it as one piece.

The arc
Entry Tunnel → The Noise → Signal Emerges → Cultural Moment → Audience → Creator Innovation → Live Demo. Ambient signals open the room, the media landscape floods every surface, data points cluster into meaning, FIFA sponsorship value gets calculated in real time, streaming and cross-platform measurement assembles as a living data narrative, cross-platform creator measurement carries the forward-facing beat, and the host steps into the integrated demo zone for the live software walkthrough. Each beat builds directly into the next, with VO, lighting, and audio choreographed across the full piece.

Review rules of engagement

Why this cadence: Nielsen sees the piece twice as a whole journey before it locks, then once more fully assembled the week before launch. That sequence 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.