Yesterday, Joe Martillaro from Superior Logistics joined us for a Classic Conversation. He discussed the shipping industry and how post-COVID changes will affect trade show exhibitors and suppliers.
This video is a “must watch” for anyone who will be shipping crates and cases later this year. According to Joe, there’s been a lot of changes in the shipping industry!
Exhibition Experts predict that rentals to be HOT! HOT! HOT! once trade shows resume in Q3/Q4 2021. That shouldn’t be surprising as exhibitors restart their trade show marketing programs.
Many exhibitors will return with smaller exhibits. Others will need updated displays. Rental Inlines, Islands, and Accessories are the perfect answer to both. So if you are unfamiliar with exhibit rentals, here are 10 Answers to the most common Rental Questions. Word of Warning: Not all rental providers offer the same services, flexibility, or design capability. Do your homework and ask lots of questions (in addition to the ones below).
GREAT INTERVIEW with Katina Rigall Zipay about the Women in Exhibitions organization on Tim Patterson‘s Monday Morning Coffee. For more information about WIE, see their LinkedIn group.
By Al Mercuro, Senior Account Director, Genesis Exhibits
In recent years there has been a movement toward minimizing waste in the exhibit and event industry, from minimizing printed materials to laying down carpet tiles that can be re-used. Nancy Zavada founder and president of MeetGreen, was thinking outside the box when she found a way to donate graphic murals from the IMEX America Show, which often get trashed after one show, to a senior citizen home for use in their common areas.
But one hurdle that hasn’t been overcome is the problem of what is known as “Build & Burn.” That’s when a custom exhibit is built for a particular event and when the show is over it literally gets tossed into a landfill. I hope it’s obvious that this practice is inherently wasteful, but while it has largely fallen out of favor in the U.S., Build & Burn is still commonplace in Europe and Asia.
A few years ago, for example, one of my financial clients needed me to design and build three 20-foot inline exhibits, one for the US, one for Europe, and one for Asia. She accepted our proposal for two of the three but said she found a much lower price for the exhibit in Asia. I warned her about the Build & Burn issue and asked her whether the exhibit will be designed and constructed for long-term, multiple-event use. Well, three months later, she called me to say the vendor disposed of the exhibit after the first show.
“Even though there are increased efforts internationally to use sustainable or recycled materials in the construction of trade show exhibits, Build & Burn is still the predominant method of booth construction in many parts of the world,” says Tom Beard, Regional Sales Manager of Classic Exhibits. “It has a major impact on the environment due to the amount of materials sent to a landfill.”
There are some legitimate reasons why companies choose Build & Burn exhibits. Some shows may only happen once every three or four years and exhibitors won’t want to pay to have their exhibits shipped back and stored, especially if they’ll need new design and graphics to match the company’s future marketing messages.
However, there are eco-friendly alternatives to Build & Burn. One alternative is what some call “Euro-Booths.” They’re modular designs based on a common white-wall structure, each with the same counter. Exhibitors rent the booth and just bring their graphics. The booths are reusable and since they’re usually stored on-site or near the venue, they also cut down on shipping costs.
“Rentals are the most eco-friendly way to exhibit internationally,” says Beard of Classic Exhibits.
Some vendors, however, want a unique look that will differentiate them from their competitors. To fill that niche, some vendors are now offering custom rental solution that looks more like a custom-built exhibit with the sustainability benefits of a reusable exhibit.
As companies increasingly emphasize sustainability throughout their businesses, they’ll want to work with event partners that can support those goals through re-usable alternatives, that often also save money, rather than wasteful Build & Burn exhibits.
“From what I’ve heard, the tide is turning from Build & Burns based on awareness of the wastefulness of it in some areas and the associated shipping/labor/disposal costs,” says Candy Adams, The Booth Mom, expert Exhibit Management Trainer and well known Tradeshow Speaker, “Another cost factor is the availability of more aluminum extrusion systems/SEG (silicone edged graphic) fabrics; it’s getting to the point of being cheaper to rent the extrusion, and print it in Asia and ship it to shows, rather than building a one-time-use exhibit onsite and then trashing it.”
As we look toward the day when live events resume, let’s hope that sustainability becomes an important part of the conversation. The Pandemic Pause could provide an important opportunity to rethink the events business and move past Build & Burn exhibiting. Glenda Brungardt, Global Tradeshow/Event Manager at tech giant HP said it best. “Bottom line for me: Build & Burn may be a simple solution for a specific show. But as an event planner it is my job to look at the bigger picture and what impact my choices in the construction of a booth have not only on the environment but also on the brand I represent.”
Al Mercuro is a Senior Account Director at Genesis Exhibits. You can contact Al at amercuro@exhibitsbygenesis.com or via LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/al-mercuro-4929645/).
By Rob Cohen & Dasher Lowe & Kevin Carty
The following is from an opinion article in the Washington Examiner.
President Biden took office last month and was tasked with bolstering an economy that has struggled with the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic for almost a year. With millions of people still unemployed due to the pandemic and businesses across the nation facing continued uncertainty, reestablishing a sense of economic security will be a daunting challenge.
As Biden and his team weigh their options and decide how best to proceed, they should prioritize lifting the tariffs that the last administration made central to its trade strategy. While the tariffs were intended to level the playing field, especially in trade with China, they have actually created complex and difficult problems for U.S. businesses and consumers, especially as they navigate the struggles posed by COVID-19.
These problems arise from the very simple truth that tariffs are taxes paid by the importer to the U.S. government. They do not punish companies in China or Europe — they punish businesses, consumers, workers, manufacturers, and families right here in America.
Since the Trump administration handed down its first slate of tariffs, igniting the trade war in 2018, businesses such as ours have been forced to reckon with difficult choices about how to handle the new costs. Either we could take on the costs ourselves, which in many cases would simply prove burdensome, or we could pass those costs on to customers, regardless of whether they were everyday consumers or other businesses — as is the case with our own companies.
Many businesses, including ours, cannot simply pick up and move operations. Doing so would mean jumping through extensive regulatory hurdles and incurring heavy costs (sometimes tens of thousands of dollars for just a single product) as we work to establish new relationships and supply lines.
While there was a process for seeking exclusions to the tariffs levied by the last administration, this process was muddled, was non-transparent, and resulted in denied requests for exclusions for many of the businesses that applied, leaving them stuck with the costs of the tariffs.
While some larger corporations may be able to afford these kinds of burdens, these costs are just too much for many smaller businesses to bear. As these businesses fail, so too does the broader economy. Small businesses contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. GDP annually, and every business forced to close due to the excessive costs of tariffs represents a significant loss.
Biden and his nominee to be the next United States trade representative, Katherine Tai, have pledged to implement a trade policy that puts workers first. But simply put, that is not possible as long as we remain engaged in a trade war that has cost the U.S. more than $68 billion, whose toll grows greater with every passing day and still has no decisive end in sight. Every day that the trade war continues means greater pressure on job creators and further job losses for hard-working people trying to get their families through the coronavirus pandemic.
It was clear from the very beginning of the Trump administration’s trade wars that the heaviest losses would be felt at home, though the past administration pushed ahead, regardless. Now, Biden, Tai, and the rest of the administration’s economic decision-makers have the opportunity to right the ship and help businesses and families emerge from this pandemic even stronger.
Kevin Carty is the executive vice president of Classic Exhibits in Portland, Oregon. Rob Cohen is the vice president of Display Supply & Lighting, Inc., in Itasca, Illinois. Dasher Lowe is the executive director of the Experiential Designers and Producers Association, Inc.
