Space is important in ways we think about and ways we don’t. Event space design is a whole big thing. In airports, walkways are purposefully designed to curve around to the left, because most people are right-handed and buy more shit presented to their dominant side. Pokemon Go? An experiment. Phone make people go to place. Look up ‘Wayfinding’ for a rabbit hole about how you are being manipulated as you go about the world.
As the Cypres Guy, I struggled a bit with the informality of the event tent interactions until I set up the interior like a bar. Across a full decade of higher education and backpacker vagrancy I worked many bar jobs and such – and know exactly how to navigate that particular negotiation of space. You and I are humans, the things on this surface right here are what we are doing. Good.
The old Vertical tent served well, but got a bit shabby and an upgrade was needed. Thanks to a lady in China called Nancy, we have a new one that is the exact same specifications as at least half-a-dozen others in the boogie rep travelling-circus. Nancy is a bit confused and thinks we all work for the same company called ‘Skydiving’, but we can join up the tents like a snake, or if we get enough together – a little moon base arrangement.
At any event the best place to be is right out where the action is – but while good for optics, being in the centre of all the human traffic is often not ideal for getting measured for a new suit – standing there in your underpants for like twenty minutes in front of people all waiting for the plane. Skydivers that want a suit know that getting fixed up by the rep is the best plan and thus tolerate this mild indignity, but a better solution was definitely required – as when things are less than ideal it is an easy thing to put it off again and again and then the party happens and it doesn’t get done.
The new Vertical tent is bigger, and when combined with the matching Cypres dome it allows enough room that the interior can be reserved as suitable privacy for getting measured or changing in-and-out of the demo gear – with shade, comfort, a curtain to hide behind, and maybe some nice music. The space serves a clear purpose, reassuring when you see it – which helps to engage with the process of choosing the right suit for your needs.
With skydiving back on in the UK now, we have already survived the first sideways snowstorm – a crucial test for one’s Europe plans when your rep really likes the mountains. Everything is maybe right now in the new world – but our plans are always growing and hopefully we will see you out there on the road sometime soon.