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Archive for 2010

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Word on the Street — March 1st thru March 5th

March 7th, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates!

But should your trade show exhibit buying experience be?

For starters, yes I did just watch Forrest Gump. And YES, I do think life is like that. Meaning, you never know what you’re gonna get in many situations.

However, when buying an exhibit, things should be predictable. What you see is what you get. Well, lesson learned. Within the next three weeks, the Sacagawea, Perfect 10, and Magellan kit prices will include all the fabric and direct print graphics shown in the renderings. It will take a few weeks to re-price these kits. However, we expect to complete it by the end of March. It’s not done yet . . . so don’t jump the gun. We’ll announce the new prices once we’ve updated the PDF and online sheets.

Back to the movie . . . the “box of chocolates” line made me understand how frustrating the experience of buying an exhibit can be for an end-user. Just spend a little time looking at many online trade show exhibit sites. They’ll show a 10 x 10 hybrid with nice graphics, a couple of backwall pedestals, and a front freestanding pedestal. All for only $3200 (or something nutty like that).

But if you dig a little deeper or open the box of chocolates, this is what you’ll find.

In reality, that $3200 price tag includes just the backwall and the canopy header. Once all the elements shown in the rendering are included, the exhibit really costs $7500. Seems sort of deceiving to me at best, and “bait and switch” at worst. If I were an end-user, I would be saying, “What the hell?!”

forrest-gumpI may be making a mountain out of a mole hill. I don’t know. But just this week, I had three distributors ask how a competitor could sell essentially the same configuration that we show in Exhibit Design Search for $4000 – $5000 less! Only after I took them to the online site and walk them through the math did they realize that their customer had been hoodwinked. In all three situations, the end-user came back to the Classic Distributor expressing their frustration that the “other” company had “misrepresented” the price and that they would be ordering a Visionary Designs Hybrid from Classic . . . and not the “cheap” hybrid the other company was offering. What do you think — Mountain or Mole Hill? Or would you agree with Forrest that, “Stupid is as stupid does”?

Have you seen any “Bait and Switch” practices online?  Click on the comment link and share your experiences.

Oh yes . . . For the next 10 days, watch for my Twitter and this blog postings as I share our our EXHIBITOR 2010 journey. We expect this to be our most successful EXHIBITOR SHOW EVER!

If you are coming to the show, see us at booth #929 and join us in our Hospitality Suite on Tuesday.

–Kevin Carty

http://twitter.com/kevin_carty
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-carty/3/800/32a

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Recent Changes to EDS — Caterpillar to Butterfly

March 3rd, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS
EDS Detail Page with Tab Menu

EDS Detail Page with Tab Menu

If you spend anytime at all in Exhibit Design Search, whether on Classic’s site or on your own version of EDS, you’ve watched it change from a caterpillar to a butterfly over the past 30 days. Nearly every day, there have been small but important changes either to the functionality or to the User Interface.

Print Button:

We added a print button to the Design Detail page (upper right-corner). If you use this button, rather than the IE, Firefox, or Safari print command, you’ll get an organized page showing both the design and details.

User Interface (UI):

Lots and lots of changes . . .

  • New Design Detail Page with Organized Tabs
  • New Accordion-fold Commands for Filter & Sort and Product Galleries
  • Streamline Gallery Buttons on the Exhibit Design Search Home Page
  • Top 12, Photo, Quick Ship, Exhibit Specials, and Trade Show Tips buttons have a new look and are organized into a convenient bar at the top of the page
  • Streamline “Enlarge” Feature for viewing the main product rendering
  • Embedded Product Videos (where available)
  • “See Photos” link to the corresponding design photos in Past Five Days
  • Accessories and Options Links (we’re still working to add these)
  • Clearer terminology in the menu commands such as “Back to Product Gallery”
  • Cleaner UI for the My Gallery pages

Code:

I’m not going to pretend to describe this in any detail except to say that the underlying code has been re-written and streamlined. This means the pages load faster and future site changes will be much easier. I’ve also seen, although I can’t claim this is happening to your site, that the search engines are having an easier time indexing it.

As always, we welcome your suggestions on how we can improve EDS. We view it as an ongoing work in progress, which means we are always receptive to change. Let me know if you would like to “test drive EDS” at EXHIBITOR. Kevin, Reid, or I would be happy to give you the 0- to-60 “Hold on to Your Dentures Grandma” version. Or, just give me a call. I’m always happy to take EDS out for a spin.

Thanks.

–Mel White
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
mel@classicexhibits.com
Classic Exhibits Network (LinkedIn)

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Aero Portable Table Top Display — Setup Video

March 2nd, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS

This creative video by Mike Swartout, the Classic Design Director, shows how the Aero Table Top assembles. Every Aero Table Top assembles with push-button connectors. The lightweight aluminum frames are then wrapped in tension fabric graphics.

Aero Table Top Displays are designed to be beautiful, adaptable, and recognizable, whether it’s for a trade show or special event. Choose from 14 imaginative designs such as the TF-404, TF-407, TF-411, and TF-414. Aero Displays are economical to own, simple to assemble, and easy to maintain.

To see the full line of Aero Table Top designs, visit http://www.classicexhibits.com/aero-table-top-displays.

To see the video on YouTube, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqx9lLP_3ck&fmt=18.

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Word on the Street — February 22nd thru February 26th

February 28th, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Sometimes Getting a Bloody Nose Can Be a Good Thing

Not literally of course, but every now and then we overlook the obvious, or we get too comfortable with the status quo.  When that happens, it’s how a company or an individual reacts that defines who they are or where the future leads. At least you hope so.

This week we were faced with a client frustrated with a feature (or absence of a feature) in Exhibit Design Search. And if you know Mel and me, you know we hold Exhibit Design Search near and dear to our hearts. Mel especially and rightfully so . . . it was his brain child and is his baby.

That being said, you can sort of put your armor up when someone critiques your baby right!?

But we would both agree, after taking the time to listen to this customer and their reasoning why they were frustrated with a recent experience.  It really opened our eyes to how we can improve EDS and make it an even better tool for distributors and for their customers. It’s not a major change, but it will be a time-consuming one.

Sorry I am being vague about the issue, but we plan to implement the changes immediately.  But I will say that it really highlights what can happen when you become ingrained in something. You become blinded to solutions that are obvious to others, especially others that are new to our side of the trade show business.

So, while you may never know the issue or the client, let me say this — this is one of those punches in the face you need every now and again. So thanks! 🙂

Click on the comment link and share your thoughts.

–Kevin Carty

http://twitter.com/kevin_carty
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/kevin-carty/3/800/32a

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That Annoying Plastic Screw is Gone

February 23rd, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS
A10 Knob for Sacagawea, Magellan, P10, and Visionary Designs

A10 Knob for Sacagawea, Magellan, P10, and Visionary Designs

Let’s take a quick and entertaining quiz:

Question:  What’s the name of the part that holds the plex wings on Visionary Designs, Sacagawea, Magellan, and Perfect 10 displays?
Answer:  A10.

Question: What do you dislike most about the A10?
Answer:  The annoying plastic tension screw that requires a flathead screwdriver (or dime) to tighten.

Final Question:  How much would you love us if we eliminated that annoying tension screw?
Final Answer:  I WOULD LOVE CLASSIC A LOT, A LOT, A LOT!!

Effective immediately, the annoying plastic screw is gone . . . unless you want it for an island display. We have replaced it with a clear plastic knob that requires neither tools nor spare change. We have black version as well, but if you want the black knob you’ll have to request it. Our default choice will be the clear one unless you tell us otherwise. Should you want to order replacement knobs for your current A10’s, they are available at $2 retail per knob. Contact Customer Service for details.

Why did it take us so long? Fair question. It was not for a lack of trying. On and off for nearly three years, we searched North America and Europe for an off-the-shelf knob with the correct thread and knob head. About six months ago, we finally found one in the Netherlands but at a price, even buying in bulk, that would have made gold a better investment. So, we did the honorable thing. We bit the plastic bullet, designed a custom knob, and paid for a mold.

classic_knob1

Yes, it’s a small change but an important one. One more incremental improvement at Classic made with you and your customers in mind. Now you no longer have to borrow a dime on the trade show floor or request a screw driver from the labor pool (and get hit with a four hour minimum).

Now, say it with me, “I Love the knob. I Love Classic.” Thanks. That’s very sweet.

–Mel White
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
mel@classicexhibits.com
Classic Exhibits Network (LinkedIn)

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