Introducing Harold Mintz
Harold Mintz, a Classic Regional Sales Manager, compares visiting trade show distributors 10 years ago to visiting them now. Most of the folks I’m meeting don’t know me. Maybe they’ve heard my name, but most are unaware of me or my experience in the industry. This is a constant reminder of the old axiom, “What have you done for me lately?”
Our Gravitee One-Step Federal Trademark Registration
Earlier this year, we received a utility patent for the Gravitee One-Step Modular Wall System. Today, we receive our federal trademark registration for the Gravitee logo. For anyone who’s ever sweated over a logo with all the opinions and iterations that accompany it, you know this is a big deal.
Classic Exhibits — 2019 Event Marketer Fab 50 Award Winner
Each year, Event Marketer Magazine selects the 50 Best Custom Exhibit Builders in North America. Otherwise known as the Fab 50.
The Best Strategies for Trade Show and Event Giveaways and Promotional Products
Few trade show tasks are as fun and frustrating as selecting the appropriate giveaway. Gone are the days when the options were limited to pens, mugs, stress balls, and calculators. There are thousands of promotional products from thousands of vendors. So how do you choose?
Up Your Game Newsletter — December 2019
Each year, Event Marketer Magazine selects the 50 Best Exhibit Builders. Otherwise known as The Fab 50. It’s a tough list to make, and we are delighted to be one of the honorees. It’s our fifth time!
Up Your Game November 2019 Newsletter
In January 2020, Classic Exhibits will introduce Symphony, a portable system with over 30 mix and match configurations, seamless graphics, and dramatic shapes.
6 Smart Reasons to Partner with Classic Rental Solutions
Our size and in-house capabilities give Classic Rental Solutions six distinct rental advantages that benefit Classic Distributors and their clients.
Walking The Produce Marketing Association Show
Recently, my friend Jason Cornatzer from 2020 Exhibits invited me to attend this year’s Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit 2019 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Up Your Game Newsletter ~ October 2019
In this month’s Up Your Game Newsletter, we share videos, blog posts, and a 1960’s car ad from Classic Distributor Partners. In other words, something different.
(2) Videos from Empire Display Solutions at Natural Products East
Matthew Houck of Empire Display Solutions shared two professionally edited trade show exhibit videos from Natural Products East.
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What Makes a Custom Exhibit a Custom Exhibit?
When is an exhibit custom? Now more than ever, it seems the term “custom” is fluid. Is it based on materials, project dollar size, or who builds it? Is it an original design, not one based on prior concepts? Or does it matter as long as your client views it as custom?
The More Perfect, Perfect 10 Hybrid Display
Hold onto your dentures Grandma, we just made the Perfect 10 — More Perfect! The Perfect 10 and Perfect 20 feature the exclusive 100-Day Return Guarantee. If for any reason your client doesn’t like the Perfect 10 within the first 100 days, they can return it for a refund, minus graphics and shipping.
Wait… There’s MORE! ALL Perfect 10 Portable Hybrid Displays are ON SALE through November 27. Every. Single. One. There’s never been a portable display like the P10. No tools. Distinctive shape. Options galore. Download the literature below or in the Perfect 10 gallery in Exhibit Design Search.
Three Clever Trade Show Infographics
I’m a sucker for a clever, creative, well-designed Infographic. It reminds me of my childhood browsing through over-sized books about history, science, or sports where the graphics engage and educate.
I don’t have the patience or the talent to create infographics so when I find one that hits a bulls-eye about trade show marketing, I feel compelled to share. This week, I hit the jackpot and discovered three, all created by Megan Lemmons at Mostre Design/Advent Exhibits. My thanks to Megan for sharing with the Classic Exhibits Network.
Controlled Chaos: Word on the Street — Sept. 21st thru Sept. 25th
If you have kids like me, you know the difference between “chaos” and “controlled chaos.” Here is how I explain it as a parent: You know those big trampoline havens? The indoor trampoline park has quickly replaced Chuckie Cheese as THE place to have a birthday party.
Well, these trampoline parks are located in massive warehouses. But within those spaces are sections or what I call Kiddie Play Prisons, divided into areas with guards. Instead of wielding a gun, they are armed with a smile and a walkie-talkie to communicate with the other guards.
The Sale That Got Away
Sales are funny that way. We are so conditioned by “sales success” that we tend to ignore “sales failure.” So we congratulate ourselves on what we did right to land the order. Not on what we did wrong that kept us from getting it. It’s easier to create excuses. To blame the situation or a person.
John Zipay: Six Month Update (or What I Did During My Summer Vacation)
Wow! I can’t believe it has been six months since I joined the Classic Exhibits Family as the General Manager for Exhibits Northwest!
Where to begin… The Northwest is fantastically beautiful with postcard views in every direction. The folks here are down-to-earth, extremely health, and environmentally conscious. Professionally, my daily challenges haven’t changed very much, and the overall industry feel is more or less the same. Just like you, we use our experience to recommend the best exhibits and services to our customers.
Share, Rent, Borrow, or Buy Your Next Display?
As a parent, you teach your children to share — share their toys, their candy, their whatever.
At Classic, we’ve seen this rental trend since 2008. At first, it was driven by necessity. Exhibitors were committed to a show and/or committed to trade show marketing and their budgets were slashed. Now, however, that trend has less to do with slashed budgets and more to do with personalization, capacity, ownership, storage, and design.
How to Speak Graphic Designer (Infographic)
28 Design Terms Marketers Should Know
Wow! Two sensational infographics within a week. This one should be printed, framed, and hung on the wall next to every graphic designer and marketing manager. No more misunderstandings about leading and kerning. No more wasted conversations about web-friendly fonts. No more confusion about UI and UX.
10 Steps to Trade Show Success (Infographic)
Some infographics can be confusing… But not this one! An outstanding infographic from Bag of Ideas, a promotional products company in the UK. This is one worth printing or forwarding to your tradeshow clients. Bag of Ideas — A pat on the back for this clever and practical message. Well done!
Trust Me!
I receive Seth Godin’s daily blog post. To say “I receive” his posts doesn’t do them justice. They’re always the first or second email I read in the morning. This one was especially relevant.
Here’s a simple marketing strategy for a smaller company trying to compete in a big-company world:
Choose your customers, trust them, treat them well.
Say yes. Bend the rules. Show up on time. Keep your promises.
Don’t exert power merely because you can.
Be human, be kind, pay attention, smile.
Not everyone deserves this sort of treatment, not everyone will do their part to be the kind of customer you can delight and serve. But that’s okay, you don’t need everyone.
Deep Thoughts from the E2MA Red Diamond Congress
I attended the E2MA Red Diamond Congress in Boston last week — my third time at this annual two-day conference. The RDC is a small, but growing, group of stakeholders in the event and tradeshow industry which includes show organizers, general contractors, associations, distributors, tradeshow managers, suppliers, and labor.
When Technology Bites: Word on the Street — July 20th thru July 24th
I love technology! But sometimes, I fear, we miss the basics, the commonsense in our effort to make things more efficient and streamlined — like what makes sense. For example…
Last week I met with a transportation company, one of the well-known Big TWO. At the beginning of 2015, this carrier introduced a slick handing system in their sorting facilities replacing the old system that required someone to manually check measurements on larger packages.
Mid-Year Review: Word on the Street — July 13th thru July 17th
I am writing this a few weeks late, but in fairness, there’s a lot going on at Classic Exhibits.
It’s been an exciting 2015, thanks to you, our loyal and creative distributors. Orders have been ALL ACROSS THE BOARD. So let’s review the highlights, identify some trends, and share a few stories.
The year started with a bang. January set the tone after a busy late December. It was clear we were going to be in for a wild ride filled with growth, unique challenges, and a mixture of tradeshow, event, retail, and permanent install projects.
Under $3K to $25K Display Brochures
I’m getting old, but not too old to learn from my mistakes. Over the past year, I’ve largely ignored printed sales collateral as a tool for Classic Distributors. That’s not to say we haven’t created high quality PDF’s (such as Tablet Stands and OTM Neo and Express Furniture), but they have been mostly promotional sheets, not product line sheets. My feeling was — It’s all online on the Classic website or in Exhibit Design Search.
New Charging Stations — Q&A Video with Kevin and Mel
When we introduced our newest Charging Stations at EXHIBITORLIVE, we expected them to do well. Our definition of “well” should probably change to “Yowsa!” They’ve been a big hit. As with any new product, there are questions so Kevin and Mel sat down for a casual Q&A video about the charging stations.