The conference has a dual purpose: to educate attendees and to inspire their support for a strong U.S.-Israel relationship," Singer says. "We created a fully branded environment to carry the client's message and to create a strong emotional connection to the client's cause." The branding permeated all elements ranging from large hanging banners and a ninety-foot-wide stage set to the smallest details of printed programs and nametags. Smith, who is also Singer's husband, led the team in incorporating the branding into multimedia "billboards" displaying an ever-changing portfolio of client-supplied historic images used throughout the conference. Adds Smith: "We focus equally on two things: a great attendee experience and branded visual assets for post-conference marketing." Smith took care to ensure that the client's name appeared in images taken at the event. "We had to think about photography from all angles," he says. "When [Israeli President] Shimon Peres, [U.S. Vice-President] Joe Biden and [former House Speaker] Newt Gingrich addressed the conference, the client wanted to make sure there was beautiful, branded imagery in the still and video images taken by the news media and broadcast worldwide."

Singer and Smith's treatment is a study in balance. "The small space and the huge space are equally important," says Smith. "For the media, the small number of square feet surrounding the speakers needs to be balanced with the scale of each image and the typography relative to the whole stage for the people in the room." Singer adds, "AIPAC is a bipartisan organization, and we have to be very sensitive to that." The banners throughout the main floor show a balanced mix of American and Israeli political figures from across the ideological spectrum—each underscoring the importance of one-on-one relationships in advocating for their cause. Attendees, too, could get in on the act; as the conference progressed, photographs from each day were interspersed with a revolving multimedia slideshow of more well-known faces. "The purpose was to demonstrate that it's not just relationships between leaders that matter, but also the relationships YOU make," says Singer. Adds Smith, "Your picture is up there with Henry [Kissinger] and Golda [Meir]!" Relationships matter, indeed.

In such a massive physical space, attendees can easily get disoriented. "We always employ excellence in design, but it's just one piece of the puzzle," says Singer. "You can find yourself drawn in with the aura and atmosphere, but you also need to know where to check in, where to get a bite to eat and how to find the bus back to your hotel at the end of a long day."  Singer and Smith credit AIPAC's communications director, Renee Rothstein, with making it a truly collaborative process and encouraging them to use the big space in a bigger way. Of the event, which took six months from conception to actual staging, Singer says, "Seven thousand attendees see—and feel—our work and get energized. It's exhilarating to be a part of that."