Michael Meacham

 

Driven in part by demand to attract newer clientele, more gentlemen’s clubs are implementing a “nightclub” vibe and decor. Leading this audio/visual revolution of sorts is Michael Meacham’s idesign.

(Note: This article appeared in our January 2020 issue’s Special Focus on Future Technology. All of the articles in this Special Focus will be posted to ExoticDancer.com.)

Michael Meacham has an eye for detail.

In addition to jet-setting across the globe—including the likes of Tokyo, Toronto, Miami, and Cancun—Meacham was recently tasked with constructing the Penthouse Club Mainstage at the 2019 Gentlemen’s Club EXPO.

Michael Meacham
Michael Meacham

As the founder of idesign Productions, Meacham has designed and helped construct exhaustive and labyrinthine audio/visual setups for establishments like E11even Miami, Martini Bar Doral, and The Penthouse Clubs in New Orleans and Houston, in addition to providing the centerpiece in the heart of the industry’s biggest gathering.

As those who experienced the 2019 EXPO Mainstage and countless club guests can attest, Meacham goes big when it comes to lights, sound, and visual entertainment. After all, presentation is all in the details. ED spoke with Meacham to find out how clubs benefit when the light turns on in Meacham’s mind.

ED: For a club owner/operator who may not be familiar with your company and its product, how would you briefly summarize idesign?

MEACHAM: We are a full-service lighting, video, and sound company that specializes in creative design using high-end lighting, video, and sound components to create a different sort of venue. We’re not a typical let’s-put-a-few-moving-lights-up company, we take a very creative approach to every project we get involved in, using the latest technology available to us.

The Penthouse Club Houston, photo courtesy of Richard Anderson, electricpixels.com.
The Penthouse Club Houston, photo courtesy of Richard Anderson, electricpixels.com.

ED: You’re in-tune with the latest tech as it relates to design. What new technology is bubbling to the surface in your industry that could show up in gentleman’s clubs?

MEACHAM: It’s almost there where you can use virtual reality to present ideas to a client. We work in some very high-end 3D visualization applications—one that simulates water, fire, fog, lighting, that is amazing—so we’re able to completely present our ideas in 3D, showing exactly what it’s going to look like.

That gets us when we’re using it for previsualization, meaning we’re going to pre-cue shows like any concert. So you have this 3D environment which looks just like your venue, you can pre-program everything, get everything done and do touchups when you’re physically there. With this incredible amount of power it takes to do this visualization, they will probably in the next year or so be able to have it so that it’s in VR. You’ll be able to have your client put on a VR headset and walk through the club.

Old-school lighting is not going to work in these new environments. You have to be able to give them some ‘wow’ factor and you have to be able to do it in a creative way using all the technology you have at your disposal. — Michael Meacham   

ED: You’ve talked about hybridization of gentlemen’s clubs, so how have you seen gentlemen’s clubs implement more A/V effects and a “nightclub” atmosphere rather than simply relying solely on the physical appeal of dancers?

MEACHAM: That’s getting into where we are today. It’s not for everyone; there are still going to be “standard” clubs where the entertainers are the primary source of entertainment. But more and more clubs are investing in the environment that brings more visual elements to the progressive consumer, the progressive patron that’s coming to these venues.

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Old-school lighting is not going to work in these new environments. You have to be able to give them some ‘wow’ factor and you have to be able to do it in a creative way using all the technology you have at your disposal. That’s where we come in. We don’t approach it just as a gentlemen’s club. We know if we can approach it in a way that’s creative, using different design concepts, we can push the envelope on what used to be old-school.

ED: How does idesign help bring gentlemen’s club owners into the future of their club’s operations?

MEACHAM: It takes somebody with vision that wants to go into this, an educated owner. Coming into it with the new generation of club owners, they’re more willing to take a leap of faith to push things forward.

For more information, visit idesignproductions.com

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