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Posts Tagged ‘Club 815’

What Goes Up . . . Hopefully Comes Down!: Word on the Street — September 9th thru September 13th

September 13th, 2013 Mel White COMMENTS
What Goes Up...Hopefully Comes Down!: Word on the Street -- September 9th thru September 13th

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Club 815 Powered by The EDPA Foundation Rides Again!

It’s mid-September in Oregon. Right now, there are clear blue skies, 88 degrees, sunny . . . and not a lick of wind in the forecast. Sounds pretty nice huh? And lest I forget to mention, not an ounce of humidity. September is always a banner month in the Pacific Northwest and one of the reason I love living here. I am saying this in hopes it will stay this way for the next two weeks.

In two weeks, a group of friends will be gathering in the Great Northwest, the Columbia River Gorge to be specific. We are gathering to ride for a good friend and colleague once again. And privileged to do so.

Many, if not all of you, know Mike Swartout (our Design Director) and his courageous story. And can easily see why a group of sub-par cyclists feel compelled to go on an 85 mile ride, through 50 mph winds, and up 7000 feet of climbs to raise money for Mike, his lovely wife Janet, and awareness for Prostate Cancer. And just in case you don’t, please follow this link to learn more about Mike and about supporting us on our ride this year.

Charity of Choice

https://mycharityofchoice.com/campaign/profile/336#.UjMxvhacevQ

Joining me this year are:

  • Greg “Marathon Man” Garrett
  • Mel “Crash Happy” White
  • Dave “Weird Science” Brown
  • Joel “Grumps” Roy
  • Grant “King Of The Mountain” Murrell
  • And Kevin “White Cheeks” Carty. Don’t ask because I won’t tell

We appreciate any help, even just kind words of encouragement. 🙂 We will be posting via my Twitter account as we ride for those who want to follow the merriment–and pain–along the way. Here are a few photos of our journey from last year.

Hope you all have a great weekend with your family.

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

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Upcoming Events for The Classic Exhibits Family: Word on the Street — Sept. 10th thru Sept. 14th

September 16th, 2012 Mel White COMMENTS
Upcoming Events for The Classic Exhibits Family

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Not only is this “the busy” season, but this is also a busy time for events at Classic.

First, Club 815 Fundraiser

The time is finally here. The Fundraiser Ride for Mike and Janet Swartout is this Saturday, September 22. Yes, it’s the culmination of months of training, but more importantly, it’s the culmination of your tremendous support for Classic’s Design Director, Mike Swartout, who is battling cancer. Thanks to those who have been so very generous by contributing to the team that includes Joel Roy from Creative Dimension, Greg Garrett from Greg Garrett Designs, David Brown from Optima Graphics, Tony Ricci from Optima Graphics and his lovely wife Betsy, Mel White, Charlie Shivel and me from Classic, and my step-father Grant Murrell.

Your donations and support have been nothing short of humbling. Many have been asked us to resend the information so you can still donate. It certainly is not too late. Jut click this link to support our team. And remember to let us know if there is anyone in your life that we can ride “In Memory of” or “In Honor of” as we scale Mt. Hood next Saturday.

Club 815 Fundraiser: https://ssl.charityweb.net/echelongranfondo/hood_river/club815poweredbytheedpafoundation.htm

Special note to our team –Guys and Gal, I truly am honored by your participation and really look forward to spending a couple days together riding, hanging out, and recovering. It’s going to be fun. And I know I speak for Mike and Janet when I say “Thank You” for your inspiring willingness to take on this challenging event.

Shared Knowledge University (SKU)

After the ride, Shared Knowledge University starts at Classic Exhibits Monday morning September 24. The training will be two comprehensive days for experienced and new Classic Distributors.

Like the last SKU event, we will cover everything from product training to procedures to design to project management for Classic Exhibits, Classic Rentals, Eco-systems Sustainable, and ClassicMODUL.

Optima will be there to give a graphics presentation. And you will have the opportunity to spend time and meet all the Classic Exhibit employees that you work with everyday on the phone.

Like any event, it can’t all be work. 🙂 We have two evening events planned that the attendees will really like. Both located at very unique and very “Portland” venues.

To those who are registered, I am really looking forward to seeing you and showing why I think Classic Exhibits and its employees are simply the best.

A little teaser . . . To those distributors who have Exhibit Design Search on their website, expect BIG, BIG changes this week. The new EDS is done, Version 3.2. You can see it on Classic’s website now. It will appear on your website sometime this week. Expect a blog post from Mel in the next day or two detailing all the changes.  They are significant!

Hope you all have a great week ahead. Be well.

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

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What the Summer Brings: Word on the Street — June 25th thru June 29th

July 1st, 2012 Mel White COMMENTS

The sales doldrums of June, July, and August always bring uncertainty and opportunity. Like you, we try to use the time wisely to finish lingering projects and untapped challenges.

So far this summer, we have been busy (enough), especially with non-trade show projects, but that hasn’t prevented us from checking off items on our “To Do List.”

New Hires and Personnel Moves

  • Tony Bennett — Web Developer (who many of you know already. See the blog post). Tony will be managing our Web Development Department, a service available to our distributors.
  • New Set-up Instructions Project Manager — We are welcoming another new staff member this Monday, Cynthia, who will  lead our Set-up PM Department. We are excited for the skill set she brings to the group.
  • An Additional Project Manager – Jeff Garrett, our Set-up PM Lead, is moving into a full-time Project Manager position. Jeff has proven to be very skilled in his current role, but clearly he has the motivation, personality and talent to become a great PM in Customer Service (in a department already filled with great project managers).

On the Road

  • Reid Sherwood — As many of you know, Reid is staring in his own version of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles this summer visiting distributors throughout the East and Midwest. According to his reports, many of you are busy and there is renewed optimism for the fall.
  • Red Diamond Congress — I will be in Chicago for an EDPA Board Meeting on the 9th of July and will also be attending the Red Diamond Congress on the 10th and the 11th. Looking forward to reporting back on both meetings. If you are attending the Red Diamond Congress, please let me know.

Internal Projects

  • Going in Style

    Graphic Dims — I am most excited about the Template/Details Project that the PM’s are working on. They are working to complete many of the Graphics Dim Sheets and Detail Sheets, making Exhibit Design Search even more comprehensive beginning this fall.

  • Remodeled Bathrooms — Admittedly you may not care about this, unless you visit us and need to use the loo, but thanks to Vitaliy and Alex, we have newly remodeled bathrooms, complete with a shower for the runners and bike riders at Classic.
  • Lighting Upgrades — We installed new high efficiency lighting complete with sensors that are triggered by our many skylights. This means that when the daylight is bright enough, the lights turn off. Other areas are now controlled by motion sensors and only come on when there is activity. Pretty cool, responsible, and saves up to 50% on our electrical bill in our shop.

Designs

  • Design Projects — Our designers have been hard at work on new Custom Hybrid Inlines. You’ve seen them featured in Design Monday recently. For much of July and August, we will shift our attention to a series of new Island Exhibits.
  • Other Projects — Retail and semi-permanent displays have been the topic of the day for the past six weeks. Some very cool stuff for some very large athletic companies. Also, two new initiatives related to semi-permanent, multi-location, and multi-function kiosks. More on those in the next few weeks as they are completed. Very cool and exciting projects.

Other

  • New Extrusion Depot — We are only about four short weeks away from the announcement! This new depot will provide not just a location that you can access full sticks of ClassicMODUL extrusion, but also one where we will do a lot of production as well. I am itching to tell you all about the location . . . soon!
  • Shared Knowledge University (SKU) in September — The dates are set! September 24-25 (Monday and Tuesday) at our facility here in Oregon. We will send out full details later this month. I am looking forward to seeing 20-30 of you. Take a look at your schedule and see if you can arrange to attend. Obviously space is limited so reserve your spot now by sending an email to me or to Mel. Classic pays for your lodging and food while you are here.
  • Training, Training, Training . . . on our bikes that is. The guys from Club 815 are hard at work preparing for our upcoming Century Challenge for Cancer in support of Mike Swartout. Please check out the details and don’t forget to send in your support! Please donate at the link above. A little means a lot.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Be well! Happy 4th of July.

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

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