Trade Show TalesBlog

Word on the Street — June 29th thru July 3rd

July 3rd, 2009 Mel White COMMENTS
classic-exhibits-word-on-the-street

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Rumors on the Street

Since this was a short week and many of the people I call on or chat with were on vacation, I opted to write about something a little bit different: Rumors on the Street.

There is a bit of an inside joke with this week’s blog.

Many who know me and or who have known Classic for some time know that Classic’s closest vendor partner is Optima Graphics in St. Louis. Optima provides all the tension fabric graphics for the Magellan Displays, Perfect 10 Displays, Visionary Designs Displays, Aero Table Top Displays and Aero Overhead Structures. This had led to the most asked question and assumed rumor over the past 18 months.

Does Optima and/or Jim Hoffmann own Classic Exhibits? If I told you I field this question once a week, I would be lying. Some weeks, I get that question (or a related comment) up to three times a week. Mr. Hoffmann tells me he gets the same question all the time.

Do you ever wonder where industry rumors and assumptions like this come from? I do. Most are harmless and can even be funny.

In doing my “research” for this blog, I went straight to the source, Jim Hoffmann. Here is how the conversation went . . .

Kevin — “So big bossman . . . I mean Mr. Hoffmann, do you own Classic? You know the same Classic Exhibits where I have worked for 15 years?”

Mr. Hoffman — “I get that question a lot Kev. My answer is simple. In my dreams!  🙂 Now get back to work, I am not paying you to goof off!”

In all seriousness, Classic Exhibits is not owned by Jim Hoffmann or Optima Graphics. We are, however, very close Vendor Partners that share a lot of common customers in the trade show exhibit industry.

So, how about you? Have you heard any good juicy industry rumors that you would like to share? Have you been the subject of any tantalizing rumors recently?

Have a great 4th of July Weekend with your families.

Talk to you next week.

Be Well!

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

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Building a Better Trade Show Booth – Design and Planning

June 30th, 2009 Mel White COMMENTS
Building a Better Trade Show Booth

Building a Better Trade Show Booth

What You Should Know about Exhibit Planning

  • Start the planning process early and assign someone to handle the schedule
  • Create a budget that reflects the true costs of exhibiting
  • Select the right size exhibit for your budget and marketing goals
  • Trade shows can be expensive, but it’s not difficult to maximize your Return on Investment (ROI)

“Build it and they will come”– This phrase should be your mantra when designing your trade show booth. With a carefully designed booth, you stand a much better chance of attracting potential clients, making sales, gathering contacts, and generally spreading the word about your company. Think of your booth as a microcosm of your business.

Planning and Budgeting

It is best to plan early. Assign one person to be in charge of timetables and scheduling. Assign another person to draw up the budget and to define the marketing goals. This person will have to account for the cost of renting or buying a booth, the cost of accessories such as literature racks, as well as travel expenses. Travel expenses will vary depending upon the location and duration of your stay. If you decide to rent, you should expect to budget:

  • 25% on renting your booth space
  • 20% on design and graphics
  • 15% on electrical, cleaning, and drayage
  • 10% on shipping materials to and from the trade show
  • 10% on press kits and preshow promotions
  • 20% on staffing, travel, and other miscellaneous expenses

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5 Surefire Ways to Drive Your Graphics Provider Crazy

June 27th, 2009 Mel White COMMENTS
How to Drive Your Graphics Provider Crazy

How to Drive Your Graphics Provider Crazy

Your graphics provider has it pretty easy. After all, you do all the work. You create print ready files, follow the rules for good output, and double-check everything to make sure you get what you expect from the process. All the graphics people have to do is push a button, right?

Here are some tried and true tips to assure your graphics provider rewards you with the PIA (Preferred Ideal Account) status you deserve.

  1. Submit your art and request a proof or PDF. Approve the art for output, then, 1 hour later, request a change and a new proof. Approve new proof but 2 hours later call to request another change. You can repeat this several times to impress your graphics rep about how you are both detail-oriented and a perfectionist.
  2. Every time you submit a job, deliberately exclude a link or font from your artwork. Time how long it takes before you get a phone call. Keep score.
  3. Mystery jobs are fun and exciting. Send art to your graphics company without a return address or known company name. Do not include instructions. Call the day you expect the work to ship to see how your rep will solve the case.

    4. Read the rest of this entry »

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

June 26th, 2009 Mel White 1 COMMENT
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

What’s Your Value Proposition?

This was a frequent topic of conversation this week as I traveled. Both in my meetings and in a conversation with the person sitting next to me on my flight back to Portland.

Wikipedia defines Value Proposition as: “A Value Proposition consists of the sum total of benefits which a vendor promises that a customer will receive in return for the customer’s associated payment (or other value-transfer).”

Whether you are a manufacturer trying to secure a new distributor relationship or a distributor trying to sell a new exhibit, your Value Proposition is often one of the most important deciding factors whether a customer decides to do business with you.

It does not have to be one product, one service, or one quality. As a matter of fact, it should consist of several attributes and qualities. At Classic, we try to live by several that make up what I believe is the Classic Value Proposition.

Here are two examples:

1. The first is simple and many of you have heard me say it many times, “We do what others are unwilling or unable to do.” A great example of this is how we approach our CNC metal bending process. Our competitors generally shy away from bending aluminum extrusions along the “hard edge.” A good example can be seen in the VK-1043 Magellan Hybrid Display. Often, kits like this are born from projects that came to us because an existing provider could not or would not produce the unit the way the client wanted. I am proud to say this is how we have attracted so many new Classic Distributors.

2. The second is equally important, Our Customer Service Philosophy. At just 15, I started working for Nordstorms as a stock boy. You may not all be familiar with Nordstroms. It’s a department store chain, based in Seattle, that has locations in many major U.S. cities. The renowned Nordstoms’ Customer Service Philosophy was impressed on me at a very early age. The Nordstroms Way, a book by Robert Spector and Patrick McCarthy, quotes James Nordstroms, prior to his death in 1996, telling his eventual successors, “Continue to think long-term. If we give a better value today, five years from today we will be a better company.” It sounds easy enough, and it is, if you view service “as an act of faith!” I encourage you to read the book and discover what I learned by working at this remarkable company.

These are just two of the Value Propositions at Classic. I plan to explore others in in the weeks ahead. Are these two set in stone? Yes . . . but others are not. As a company and as a team, we need to be flexible to meet the needs of our customers.

How about you? What are the core attributes that create your Value Proposition? Excluding things like your stunning good looks, great sense of humor, and expense account, why do customers do business with you? I look forward to hearing from you.

Be Well!

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

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Word on the Street — June 15th thru June 19th

June 19th, 2009 Mel White COMMENTS
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

This week started with a call from a Classic Exhibits distributor regarding an existing quote that needed to be re-addressed. The week finished by reviewing client notes from a distributor on a project quoted several days ago.

Both the phone call on Monday and the email from this morning (as well as a conversation on Wednesday) involved the buzz word “Value Engineering.”

How many of you just cringed? : – )

So I went to Google to see the current definition of Value Engineering, and the two highest results were from Wikipedia and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

 Wikipedia says . . .

Value engineering (VE) is a systematic method to improve the “value” of goods or products and services by using an examination of function. Value, as defined, is the ratio of function to cost. Value can therefore be increased by either improving the function or reducing the cost. It is a primary tenet of value engineering that basic functions be preserved and not be reduced as a consequence of pursuing value improvements.

The US Army Corps of Engineers says . . .

Value Engineering is defined as “an analysis of the functions of a program, project, system, product, item of equipment, building, facility, service, or supply of an executive agency, performed by qualified agency or contractor personnel, directed at improving performance, reliability, quality, safety, and life cycle costs.” 

As it relates to the two projects mentioned earlier, it would appear that the clients (endusers) want a blend of the two definitions. From an aesthetic and functional standpoint, they want exactly what the Distributor and Classic Exhibits designed — but for less money.

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