BLOG ARCHIVE | Stacking The Deck In Our Favor

Returning to tradeshows was a big item on Worldwide’s to-do list for 2023. After years of laying low to keep employees safe during a pandemic, Worldwide’s comeback to conventions started with ProMat 2023 in their hometown of Chicago.

Worldwide returned to the show floor with a brand-new look, some brand-new product, and a bigger set-up than ever. Just to add a little more flare to the excitement, Worldwide invited special guest, Bryan Berg, a professional card stacker and Guinness World Record holder.

Bryan's challenge was pretty straight forward: Build the Chicago skyline entirely out of playing cards during the show. The twist?... It had to be built on Worldwide’s own punched deck, also known as ProDeck50.

This may sound like an attainable goal for a professional card stacker, but the challenge becomes clear when learning that ProDeck50 has a 50% open surface area. This feature, which is typically a big selling point in the world of material handling, was not exactly ideal when building something as sensitive as a house of cards.

After 4 days of work, despite many nerve-wracking gusts of wind and even pulling an all-nighter, Bryan completes his impressive build using hundreds of card decks and hours of intense focus and precision. It turns out the 50% open surface area was no match for the world record holder! 

Featuring the Willis Tower, The Hancock Building, and Marina Towers, the card stacked cityscape was complete by Wednesday afternoon and guests were eager to help Worldwide knock it all down.

After the crowd gathers and tries their hand at shooting rubber bands at the card structures, Bryan breaks out a leaf blower to show everyone just how strong his architecture really is! The faces in the crowd reflect a childlike wonder as the structure comes tumbling down in front of them for the biggest game of “52 card pick-up” that we’ve ever seen.
 

Relive the excitement through our new time lapse video of the whole thing – available HERE!