EXHIBITOR 2012…What a SHOW!: Word on the Street — March 5th thru March 9th

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Goosies!

To steal a phrase from J-LO (yes, I said J-LO) . . .  EXHIBITOR 2012 gave me goosies! 🙂

Let’s start on March 5 at 11:30 am. Normally the Classic Crew would be standing in the booth waiting for the doors to open and for the first attendees to arrive. But we weren’t! We weren’t because starting at 10:30 am we already had other exhibitors in our booth looking around, admiring the Classic Exhibits booth, and eager to learn about what we were showing this year. To be totally honest, neither Mel nor I noticed when the show opened because we were busy from 10:30 – 3:30 non-stop.

The Booth

This year’s booth was designed to show all aspects of our business. In the past, we have succeeded in showing slices of what we do at Classic Exhibits — portables, custom modular, rentals, extrusion. But we have never been able to actually show it all. So this year, we handed that design challenge to Mike Swartout and Erik Frost. And man did they deliver!  Our exhibit showed how well we can build Island Hybrids, probably the first thing you noticed when seeing the exhibit. But it also highlighted our capabilities within ClassicMODUL Aluminum Extrusions, such as our one-of-a-kind bending capabilities of TSP profiles for SEG graphics. It also illustrated our extensive custom rental offerings. But the cherry on the top was the elevated retail display windows showcasing four hybrid displays:  Sacagawea, Perfect 10, SEGUE, and Visionary Designs.

Again, to Mike and Erik, very well done! And to our graphic designers at Flying High Creative Resources, thank you for nailing the “Be Better” theme throughout the booth. Like I said in the beginning of this post, the comments by visitors and friends regarding how we really hit a home run on the design not only made me very proud but also gave me goosebumps.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg28g_3WmUM

The show overall was solid this year. Kudos to John Pavek and crew from EXHIBITOR. You did a wonderful job putting together this year’s show. I did not hear a single negative comment regarding any aspect of the event. For Classic and crew it was just another year where we left the show feeling very proud to be part of EXHIBITOR.

Walking the floor proved to be a real challenge this year I must admit. Post show, we all compared notes and neither Mel, Jim, Reid nor I was actually able to see the entire show floor because we were so busy. But, for me, on Wednesday I had the privilege to work the EDPA booth for an hour. The booth was on the other side of the hall, so walking to and from the booth I took different routes just so I could see some of the other exhibits along the way. Everyone looked very good, and considering it was Wednesday, it was great to see exhibitors engaged with customers which is not always the story on the last day.

Other “Classic Exhibits” on the Show Floor

For the past several years, Classic has been very proud to help design and to build portions or all of the exhibits for many of our tightest vendor partners. This year was no different. This year we built the ClassicMODUL portion of Optima Graphics exhibit, the CORT Furnishings Island Exhibit, the New Leads 10 x 20 Sacagawea, The Immersive Realities 10 x 10 rental, the EXHIBITOR 10 x 20 Visionary Designs rental, the DS&L 10 x 20, and the ELITeXPO 10 x 20 Custom Visionary Designs Hybrid. I mention that unit last because it deserves special recognition. Thanks to Dave Mihalik and his whole team for really showing off what we do at Classic! It was an amazing structure with more curves than a county road in Eastern Kentucky. There were several other ClassicMODUL Aluminum Extrusion structures at the show as well, designed and built by custom houses. We can’t take any credit for these, except to personally thank them for choosing ClassicMODUL (which we did at the show).

Old Friends and New Friends

As in past years, it was wonderful to see you. It’s always such a great time and reminder of the great partnerships and friendships we have made over the years. For me, it’s always an opportunity to connect with many of the friends I have met over the past seventeen plus years. This year was no different.

Part of that came during our Annual Distributor Appreciation Event, held this year in the Vista Suite in Mandalay Bay in conjunction with Eco-Systems Sustainable Exhibits. We had 200-250 people come through the afternoon and evening. It was a lot of fun to see you and to meet some of the new faces we have working with over the past year.

On a personal note, after missing the show last year, it was exhilarating to be back on the show floor and to see those folks who have been so supportive over the past year. Reid, Mel, Jim and I always say, “At the end of the day, we want to do business with friends.” We are very fortunate and blessed to be able to do so daily. So “THANK YOU!” to those customers and vendor partners we saw over the past week. Along with our great staff, you make Classic Exhibits a great place to come to work to everyday.

One final thanks to Tim Patterson and Marlys Arnold for contributing their knowledge and time to our booth this year. We would not have been as successful without your pre-show marketing and in-booth contributions. We appreciate and thank you for all you did.

I am curious to hear your experiences and thoughts about EXHIBITOR 2012. Please share.

Be well!

–Kevin Carty

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