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Email Apocalypse — The Joys of Technology

April 15th, 2016 Mel White COMMENTS
Kevin Carty, VP Classic Exhibits

Kevin Carty, VP Classic Exhibits

Bunnies and Bounce Houses

As a Classic Distributor, you know — or can probably guess — that the past two weeks have been nothing close to Bunnies and Bounce Houses around here. Why? Because our entire computer server/network came to a loud crash around April Fools Day.

But the joke was not a joke. It really happened. Our systems puked. And while we were able to recover our Accounting and CRM systems quickly, our email system struggled. Actually, our email flat-out died. And as you can all relate, there is never enough adult diapers in the room to prepare you for a total loss of information and connectivity.

Gross I know. Sorry.

ServerDownREVSREVSWell, the good news is that we have a solid disaster back-up plan that enabled us to recover all but three days of email and communications. And along the way, through the implementation of various hotspot, working from home, and good old-fashioned handwriting solutions, we were able to press through the mess and complete orders and quotes. And through this painful email apocalypse, we implemented a significantly better solution for our network setup.

But man oh man. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time! It’s freaking April in the trade show industry! One of the three busiest months of the year for us historically. This year is no exception. But again, we are looking to the future now, and I’m not going to dwell on the evenings that I set my alarm to go off once every 90 minutes to check in with the IT folks to see how the recovery was going and answer questions that they had along the way. NOPE, not going to focus on that at all.

ServerDownHappyPup

Happy Happy Clouds

We are officially a cloud-based communications business as of last Monday. Our Accounting, Purchasing, and Order Entry software will stay on local servers at Classic. But all our emails are now cloud-based, and we have implemented a better protocol for email, storage, etc.

So, our apologies and our thanks to you, our wonderful customers, for your patience over the past two plus weeks. I honestly did not get one complaint. Which was appreciated. And if you had complained, I would have probably left you a burning bag of poo on your doorstep. What can I say. I was a little moody. 🙂

And thanks to our staff for their patience. Once again, I am proud and impressed by your professionalism and perseverance.

So, back to work on our fancy and now very speedy and reliable network.

Hope you have a great weekend with your families. I know I will… finally!

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

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28 Strangers That Touch Your Trade Show Exhibit

April 13th, 2016 Mel White 1 COMMENT

Last year, TS Crew created 28 Strangers That Touch Your Trade Show Exhibit. It’s an excellent infographic because it shows graphically how many people “touch” your exhibit from the moment it leaves your exhibit builder’s dock. Simply start in the upper right-hand corner.

Now, realistically, a lot more folks handle your booth than shown, including the I&D team, but you get the point. Our thanks to TS Crew, an Exhibitor-Appointed Contractor, for allowing us to share this.  And yes, “that” should be “who,” but take a deep breath, move on, and enjoy the infographic.

28-Strangers-That-Touch-Your-Trade-Show-Exhibit

–Mel White
mel@classicexhibits.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
https://twitter.com/melmwhite

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Based in Portland, Oregon, Classic Exhibits Inc. designs and manufacturers portable, modular, and custom-hybrid exhibit solutions. Classic Exhibits products are represented by an extensive distributor network in North America and in select International markets. For more information, contact us at 866-652-2100 or www.classicexhibits.com.

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Show Your Work | Perfection vs. Good Enough

April 8th, 2016 Mel White COMMENTS

Helpful Hand

We all have our comfortable work routines, particularly in the morning. For me, there’s the mandatory cup of black tea and reading Seth Godin’s daily post. His ability to communicate timely, relevant advice in an engaging and digestible email is always inspirational.

A couple of weeks ago, he wrote Show Your Work, and I’ve found myself revisiting it again and again. I suspect that you struggle, as do we, with the challenge of perfection vs. good enough. How much longer do you finesse the design? When are the setup instructions clear and logical? Is the packaging more than sufficient but perhaps not a “work of art”? At some point, it’s time. You need to hear from your customers.

Over the years, we’ve learned that it’s OK to “release” if you’ve done your best under the circumstances. The mistake is not listening to feedback and making adjustments. And honestly, that can be so much harder for people and organizations because then it’s no longer about perfection. It’s about ego. I’ll spare you my rant about ego in the workplace. That’s a separate (and much longer) rant.

Anyway… Seth says it so much better than me. Enjoy.

Show Your Work (Seth Godin)

welcomeIt’s tempting to sit in the corner and then, voila, to amaze us all with your perfect answer.

But of course, that’s not what ever works.

What works is evolving in public, with the team. Showing your work. Thinking out loud. Failing on the way to succeeding, imperfecting on your way to better than good enough.

Do people want to be stuck with the first version of the iPhone, the Ford, the Chanel dress? Do they want to read the first draft of that novel, see the rough cut of that film? Of course not.

Ship before you’re ready, because you will never be ready. Ready implies you know it’s going to work, and you can’t know that. You should ship when you’re prepared, when it’s time to show your work, but not a minute later.

The purpose isn’t to please the critics. The purpose is to make your work better.

Polish with your peers, your true fans, the market. Because when we polish together, we make better work.

–Mel White
mel@classicexhibits.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
https://twitter.com/melmwhite

**********************************************

Based in Portland, Oregon, Classic Exhibits Inc. designs and manufacturers portable, modular, and custom-hybrid exhibit solutions. Classic Exhibits products are represented by an extensive distributor network in North America and in select International markets. For more information, contact us at 866-652-2100 or www.classicexhibits.com.

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Universal Trade Show and Event Charging Stations

March 27th, 2016 Mel White COMMENTS

chargingblogheader

 

 

 

Only $225

Our charging stations are ideal examples of how Classic Exhibits Distributors drive innovations. Several years ago, a distributor asked us to develop a charging station with two monitors. Good idea. Great product. But not very useful for most trade shows and events. However, that idea spawned other charging stations such as bistro tables, coffee and end tables, counters, pedestals, and workstations. Many with LED lights. We kept adding ideas to Exhibit Design Search, then realized about 6 months ago that just about anything could be a charging station. Literally anything as long as the USB hardware and electrical wiring could be hidden.

So, we decided to make it super easy. For $225, you can add (4) USB ports to most Classic Exhibits counters, pedestals, workstations, kiosks, displays, etc. Electrical outlets too for a little more (in the right situation). It could be a portable, modular, hybrid, or custom display. If it makes sense to you… then it makes sense to us. And unlike most charging stations on the market that look like something you’d see in an airport, ours are designed for trade shows and events (i.e., they’re attractive).

At EXHIBITORLIVE, we featured several of our most popular charging stations. What you’ll see in this video is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to charging stations. As always, we encourage you to push us even further.

–Mel White
mel@classicexhibits.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
https://twitter.com/melmwhite

**********************************************

Based in Portland, Oregon, Classic Exhibits Inc. designs and manufacturers portable, modular, and custom-hybrid exhibit solutions. Classic Exhibits products are represented by an extensive distributor network in North America and in select International markets. For more information, contact us at 866-652-2100 or www.classicexhibits.com.

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Classic Exhibits… By the Numbers

March 15th, 2016 Mel White 4 COMMENTS

P5D_EDS_TTB_BlogHeader

Milestones

In business, as in life, we celebrate milestones. This morning after adding an article to Trade Show Tips, I decide to count them — 74 articles. It’s more than I thought, but 74 isn’t 740 or 7400 so the number didn’t freak me out.

Having started down this path, I decided to look at other numbers. For example, how many blog posts have we published in Trade Show Tales? WordPress makes finding that number easy — 704 posts (counting this one). Now I have to be honest with you — that did freak me out a bit. We publish 6-8 posts per month with the first one in 2009. So by the numbers, that’s about right. However, that doesn’t make 704 seem any less daunting. That’s a lot of words and images over the years. I’m not sure whether we should pat ourselves on the back or apologize to you (“Way to go team!” or “Sorry everyone”).

What Is This Anyway?

The First P5D Photo. What Is This Anyway?

So, you may be wondering how many photos are in Past 5 Days. P5D was launched on September 9, 2006 with this image. It’s an odd image for the first P5D, but we didn’t know what we were doing back then. According to Tony, our resident web guru, we’ve published 5840 photos. Most are linked to kits in Exhibit Design Search.

I’d be impressed, but I’m actually more exhausted thinking about how each photo had to be resized, saved for the web, and described. The upside is that P5D is the third most visited section of the Classic website, after the Classic and the EDS home pages (according to Google Analytics).

Which leads us to EDS. It’s a big number so let’s filter it a bit. Some kits are shown in multiple galleries. I’d estimate around 140. Our count won’t include inactive designs (we’ve killed probably 400+ kits over the years). We won’t count the Cases, Lighting, and Flooring (149 entries).

031116 MOD1430_aTotal = 1554. Let’s put that number in perspective. Some galleries have grown substantially the past two years, such as the Rental, eSmart, and Island Galleries (because of double-digit growth). During that same time, charging stations, tablet stands, and lightbox kits were added. Plus, the Quadro Floating Graphic System is new.

Twice a year, we delete slow selling kits, or give them a second chance by redesigning them. And then there’s Design Monday, which serves as constant design funnel for Exhibit Design Search.

I’ll spare you all the numbers for Design Monday except to say that back in December we hit the 560th week. DM, more than anything else in this list, makes my head hurt.

You are probably wondering if there’s a point to this blog post, other than reaching blog post 704? Whatever you think about Classic Exhibits, you have to give us credit for persistence, communication, and creativity. That alone should tell you who we are as a company and how much we value you as a Classic Distributor. Give us a break. We have a lot to share!

Is it really time to post another P5D? Sigh.

–Mel White
mel@classicexhibits.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
https://twitter.com/melmwhite

**********************************************

Based in Portland, Oregon, Classic Exhibits Inc. designs and manufacturers portable, modular, and custom-hybrid exhibit solutions. Classic Exhibits products are represented by an extensive distributor network in North America and in select International markets. For more information, contact us at 866-652-2100 or www.classicexhibits.com.

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