Trade Show TalesBlog

Archive for 2011

The Classic Exhibits Video — Who We Are!

April 4th, 2011 COMMENTS

For EXHIBITOR, we create this two minute video, which played on the monitor above the faux fireplace. Not only does it offer a summary of current designs, but it also does a terrific job of highlighting the core values, services, and personality of Classic Exhibits. We thought you might enjoy seeing it if you didn’t happen to attend EXHIBITOR this year. Get ready to start tapping your toes to the beat. It’s a happy, happy tune!

Here’s a link to photos of our booth with the “Your Home” theme.

As some point, you can expect to see a version of this replace our current flash rotation on the Classic Home Page.

Word on the Street — March 28th thru April 1st

April 3rd, 2011 3 COMMENTS
EXHIBITOR 2011 Follow-up

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

EXHIBITOR Show Follow-up

To those who attended EXHIBITOR in Las Vegas, I hope you had an enjoyable time.

This past month was a very exciting one at Classic. I am delighted to announce that March will be the second largest sales month in Classic Exhibits’ history! Thanks to you, our distributors and friends, for your support, your orders, and for believing in our “Shared Success” philosophy.

Since I did not attend EXHIBITOR this year, I hope you will share your feedback and reactions via the blog. The Classic Team had only positive comments about the show: great traffic, quality leads, and an overall upbeat tone.

As you may have noticed if you were at the show, Classic Exhibits, ClassicMODUL, and Exhibits NW were fortunate to have built not just our own booth but also several others on the show floor.

Here are just a few. Let us know what you thought of these designs:

Cort Furnishings. The island display included ClassicMODUL black anodized extrusion, Aero Overhead Hanging Structures, and tension fabric graphics from Optima Graphics . . . and of course all the beautiful trade show furnishings from Cort.

Display Supply and Lighting @ Exhibitor 2011Display Supply and Lighting (DS&L). This inline included Silicone Edge Graphic profiles from ClassicMODUL, SEG fabric graphics from Optima, and some truly amazing LED lighting from Display Supply. Check out the picture, but don’t miss the video. Great work to Rob Cohen and his team. And additional kudos to Steve Pinette for a stunning design.

EliteXPO at Exhibitor 2011EliteXPO. This inline had a very cool lounge theme. It included several ClassicMODUL profiles, large format Duratrans and tension fabric graphics from Optima Graphics as well as LED backlighting panels from Display Supply and Lighting. Kudos to Dave, Lara, and Chuck. I heard a lot of great feedback from attendees on your booth design and theme. Nicely done!

New Leads 10 x 10. A great example of a Classic Exhibits 10 x 10 Sacagawea hybrid! Take a look. Turned out very beautiful and highlighted a very functional design. New Leads at Exhibitor 2011And special thanks to New Leads for allowing us to use their lead retrieval technology which runs off iPads. Very easy to use.

Optima Exhibitor 2011Optima Graphics Island. Not only was there a nice ClassicMODUL Tower in the booth, but did you see that Aero Hanging Sign structure?  Well done Jim, Dave, and the whole team at Optima.

EXHIBITOR Magazine. EXHIBITOR’s inline booth was a custom rental exhibit from Classic Rentals with a dynamic A/V presentation. The display demonstrated our flexible rental inventory and design capabilities. This was no kit. It was built using their design requirements for the show. Exhibitor2011_Booth

Classic Exhibits / Eco-systems Sustainable. And last but not least. I hope you enjoyed OUR booth: Your Home for Exhibits. Take a look at the pictures. What you might not know is that the structure is a Rental Exhibit! It highlights the true custom nature and capability of Jim Shelman and his whole crew at Classic Rentals / Exhibits NW. Thanks to Flying High Design for all the beautiful graphic work, to Optima for the printing, to Brumark for the carpeting, to Cort Furnishings for the comfy chairs and stools, to Nature Wall for the cool “real” grass wall in the ECO-Systems portion of the display. At the end of the day, that was probably the best overall design and display we have ever shown.

That being said, I want to say a personal thanks to Mel, Jim, James, Laura, Erik, Eric, Michael, Tim and of course Reid for their hard work last week. Not being there myself, I want you all to know how proud I am of our team and the job you did. Thanks!

Lastly, a huge thank you to our strategic partners:  Eco-systems Sustainable, Momentum Management, Cort, Optima Graphics, EliteXPO, and Display Supply and Lighting. Your guidance, generosity, and support made this year’s show particularly special.

Please share your comments about the show.

Have a great and restful weekend.

–Kevin Carty

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

Word on the Street — March 21st thru March 25th

March 27th, 2011 COMMENTS
EXHIBITOR 2011

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Exhibitor Show 2011 — #1455

Well this past week has been filled with final show prep at Classic Exhibits and a very full plate of new business.

The booth looks great! We are very excited to see your reaction to our “Home Away from Home.”

In all the chaos of final preparations, I always find myself loving the energy . . .  albeit crazy. Somehow running around like chickens with our heads cut-off dotting “i’s” and crossing “t’s” always seems fun to me. Whether it’s making sure all the graphics are just right, the electrical plan makes sense, or setting up final appointments for breakfast and dinner. The pressure the week before the big show is great if you ask me.

As I said before the booth looks spectacular. It shows a great mix of kits and custom capabilities at Classic.

I hope you all enjoy it and enjoy your time in Las Vegas this year. Be sure to stop by booth#1455 for directions to our Customer Appreciation Reception on Tuesday and for your complimentary drink ticket.

Amidst all the craziness, we are excited to announce the birth of two new future Classic employees this week: Jacob and Harper. Jacob is the new baby boy for Bob Beuhl and his wife Carmen, and Harper is the new baby girl for Tyler Poage and his wife Erin. They were both born this past week. Strong and healthy! From me and everyone else at Classic, we would like to congratulate both couples on their new beautiful additions.

Enjoy the show this week. I’ll be with you in spirit.

–Kevin Carty

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

ClassicMODUL Opens Southeast USA Extrusion Facility

March 23rd, 2011 1 COMMENT

ClassicMODUL Aluminum ExtrusionsClassicMODUL, a designer and manufacturer of aluminum extrusions and accessories, announces the opening of a Southeast USA facility.

The Birmingham, AL manufacturing and warehouse facility will stock select aluminum extrusion profiles for exhibit houses, retail designers, and museum display builders. The Birmingham facility along with the current Cheshire, CT facility serve as regional distribution hubs for MODUL aluminum extrusions.

Aluminum profiles and accessories currently unavailable in Birmingham, AL will continue to ship from Portland, OR.  With the exception of CNC bending, the Southeast facility can handle all manufacturing requests.

According to Kevin Carty, VP of Sales, “We are excited by this opportunity to better meet the needs of our clients on East and West Coasts and anywhere in between. Now with locations in the Northwest, Southeast, and the Northeast, ClassicMODUL offers much greater shipping flexibility than any other aluminum extrusion supplier. Choosing the right aluminum profiles was important, and we want to thank our distributors for their feedback. We feel confident that we have chosen the right location, the right partner, and the right group of extrusions. However, this is just the start. We will continue to add profiles to the Birmingham facility based on our distributor’s feedback and demand.”

For questions about availability or to place orders, contact Tom Jones at tjones@classicmodul.com or 866.864.8686. For more information about ClassicMODUL, go to www.classicmodul.com.

Word on the Street — March 14th thru March 18th

March 18th, 2011 COMMENTS
EXHIBITOR 2011

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

It’s Showtime!  EXHIBITOR SHOW 2011.

It is that time of year . . . and if you have been “peeking” at Peek-a-Booth, you probably already know what a creative and exciting display we have in store for the show. It’s a  “Home” (of sorts) where you can relax and learn about all the great things happening at Classic Exhibits, Exhibits Northwest, Eco-systems Sustainable, and ClassicMODUL.

The Booth

We are in Booth #1455 this year — a dynamic 20 x 30 space that will showcase all the divisions of Classic Exhibits and its sister company Eco-systems. The theme is “Your Home” for Hybrid, Modular, Portable, Rental, and Green Exhibits. Be sure you stop by so we can take you on a tour on the latest and greatest from your friends at Classic.

Customer Appreciation Reception (Tuesday)

Classic Exhibits, DS&L, and Optima Graphics ReceptionOn Tuesday, we are hosting a party from 4-6 pm in the Eye Candy Lounge of Mandalay Bay. During show hours, please come by and get your drink ticket and then join us for some good old fashioned networking and downtime afterwords. The reception is proudly sponsored by Classic Exhibits, Display Supply and Lighting, and Optima Graphics. You can get your drink tickets at any of our partners during show hours. Quantities are limited, so come by our booths early.

The Optima Graphics Reception (Monday)

Make sure you come by Monday evening for this annual event which is always an excellent place to catch up with old friends and network. It is being held in Mandalay Bay, Islander Ballrooms D and E, after the show breaks until 7 pm. Classic Exhibits is a proud sponsor of this event as well.

One-on-One Meetings During the Show

If you would like to schedule time with one of us during the show hours, please email Mel White at mel@classicexhibits.com . He is handling the scheduling for the meetings on the show floor. Take advantage of this one-on-one time!

Wondering what to expect at the show? Take a look at the blog posting Mel wrote last week regarding the recent ExhibiTrends event he attended. It is a great snapshot of what you can expect from the show overall this year.

Multiple Displays on the Show Floor

Classic Exhibits is very proud to have more than just our 20 x 30 island unit on the show floor this year. Please make sure to see our handiwork at our vendor partners booths: Cort Furnishings, Optima Graphics, DS&L, New Leads, EliteXPO and the EXHIBITOR Magazine display. Not only are they great partners of Classic, but we also built all or part of their exhibits for the show this year.

Portable Modular Summit (Wednesday)

EDPA will host the Portable Modular Summit again this year. This session will meet on Wednesday, March 30 from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in Tropics A-B of the Mandalay Bay North Convention Center (look for the NORTH Convention Center sign on the right side of the main entrance hallway, just past the Starbucks). For more information, click here.

On a personal note, for the first time in 16 years I will not attend the show this year. A combination of being busy with several large projects, being very busy at Classic overall, and managing some staffing changes requires that someone stay behind and manage the ship. So I will be doing that. I will miss seeing those who are attending and want to personally thank you as always for your continued support of Classic Exhibits.

Be well and have a restful weekend. I am sure you will need all the rest you can for your week in Las Vegas.

–Kevin Carty

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