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Word on the Street — April 19th thru April 23rd

April 25th, 2010 Mel White 1 COMMENT

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

R & D:  Seven (Not so Simple) Steps

Just writing “Seven Steps” makes it sound so simple, like it has a defined start and finish. But if you do much of it, you know it’s a living, breathing thing that never really rests. To stay ahead, you have to constantly be thinking of innovative and practical designs for your customers (See Design Monday this week for example).

Coming off my last trip that living, breathing thing was full of life. This week was all about intensive R & D planning on a series of exciting products rolling out over the next nine months. More products in a compressed time frame than I can ever remember.

So, how do you approach R & D? What are some of the steps you take? For me, I try to keep it the same and maintain a process.

My basic steps are:

  1. Develop a basic idea with a trusted team of people and partners. These can be vendors, Classic Exhibits employees from various departments, customers, or all of the above.
  2. Put the concept to paper with a great design team. I like to utilize both internal and external designers and engineers for this step. It gives you the best shot at something truly unique and infuses it with several different design perspectives.
  3. Give the designs to a trusted group of builders/creators: our Production Engineer, shop guys, and project managers. 🙂
    They know how to transform the impractical into the practical and how to re-engineer the needlessly complex into the real world simple.
  4. Get input on the initial product demos from trusted industry partners and customers. This is the tire kicking step. Will it sell and does it function according to plan? Then send it on the road to see if it’s durable.
  5. Rework it after you receive feedback.
  6. Turn over the final product details to Marketing to make it pretty on paper and e-broadcasts.
  7. Release the product to the Distributor Network.

Visionary Designs VK-1017

Now as I re-read those Seven Steps, it seems too simple, and we all know it’s not. More than anything, if you take the time to ask for input from a trusted team inside your own building and a trusted team inside your industry network, you give yourself the best chance at success. But even with all that, sometimes products never really take off  . . . or at least take a long time to take off. Look at the Visionary Designs VK-1017 for example. We spent a long time developing that kit, and it was just one kit. After we released it, it did nothing for nearly two years. Yet, when we were developing it, we were convinced that it would be a home run.

That was over three years ago. Now it sells quite well and is a very popular kit. So you never know what will be an immediate hit, what will fail, and what will take months or years to find an audience.

Take the Perfect 10 — a great example of a product line where we followed all Seven Steps to a “T.” And once released, it clicked conceptually. People loved it! Loved the design . . . loved the price . . . loved the packaging . . . loved it all.

In the end, I will always follow the Seven Steps, even though they are not so simple. I believe it gives us the best chance at success as we develop new products and designs.

How about you? What are your thoughts about Research and Development in our industry? Please comment.

Be well and have a safe and restful weekend.

–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 — March 29th thru April 2nd

April 3rd, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

It’s Evolution Baby!

Not only is it a great song 🙂 . . . but it’s a living philosophy at Classic. As a company, if you fail to evolve or fail to take chances then you stop giving people a reason to turn to you for solutions.

For example, we have reinvented our very first hybrid exhibits — the VK-1001, VK-1002, etc. You can see the first wave in Design Monday this week. We’ve made three significant changes. Two are construction related and one is graphics. And, for those of you who are wondering, the price includes ALL the graphics: dye-sub and direct print alike. As well as all the monitor mounts.

But back to the changes:

Segue Hybrid Trade Show Displays

Segue Hybrid Trade Show Displays

Change #1: We have re-engineered the uprights. Gone is the Q 914, a larger square profile, and in is the S 44, a smaller but still structurally solid upright. The smaller profile means less weight and a kit that can (and should) be packed in portable roto-molded cases with wheels.

Change #2: Like the Perfect 10, Magellan, and Sacagawea, the new kits are primarily “knob assembly.” That means less assembly time and much happier customers and much sadder show contractors. I want to cry for them but the tears just won’t come.

Change #3: Silicone Edge Graphics (SEG). To our knowledge, these are the VERY FIRST SEG hybrid exhibit kits in the exhibit industry. Going forward, any hybrid kit, lightbox, or island primarily using SEG technology will go by the name Visionary Designs “Segue.”  I’m sure I don’t have to explain the name, but I can’t help myself. Seg for SEG and Segue for the seamless transition we’re seeing in trade show graphics. Anyone who attended EXHIBITOR saw the proliferation of SEG profiles and applications. Change is coming and it’s coming quickly. Fortunately for Classic and ClassicMODUL, we have over 10 SEG profiles and can bend many of them (unlike our competitors). However, if you want to use Velcro on these kits, just let us know. It’s an easy switch.

Oh yes, one more minor but aesthetically interesting change. We have modified several of the previous “flat” designs to a gentle curve. Looks nice! Adds a really dimension to the standard units.

Lastly . . . take a look at the new, sleeker designed base plates. Pretty nice huh?

To download a PDF showing many of the new SEG profiles, click on this link:  TSP Sheet.

I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the new look Segue VK kits. Send me an email or leave a comment.

Be well and Happy Easter

–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 — February 15th thru February 19th

February 21st, 2010 Mel White 1 COMMENT
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Most Companies Fall Into One of Three Camps

Have you ever noticed that most companies fall into one of three camps when it comes to change?

  • They never change.
  • They make constant incremental changes (they tinker).
  • They make big changes every year or two or three (the grand gesture), but generally stay pat until then.

Now I need your perspective here. I see Classic Exhibits as falling in the second camp. We are constantly making small changes to our products, our services, and our marketing. Little by little, we move the bar forward. Occasionally, we have a big announcement, but those, quite honestly, don’t happen very often. For example, the introduction of the Perfect 10 Portable Hybrid was a big deal when we introduced it almost two years ago. It took portable hybrid design into a dramatically new direction. Our other line introductions have had less fanfare, such as Magellan and Sacagawea, but have been equally successful. If you spend any time following P5D, you see a constant stream of orders for Magellan, P10/20, Sacagawea, along with the ever changing array of counters, pedestals, and workstations.

people_changeWe have a slight advantage (or disadvantage) over our competitors in how we communicate changes. We take a slow, steady, and subtle approach, rather than make big announcements. We show you new designs in Design Monday, such as the PS Series in Design Monday this week and last. We send an e-broadcast about a design or product launch, but that happens three or four times a year at most. We update P5D every business day. Once or twice a month, we post a blog related to product changes. But, because so many of our changes are incremental and are introduced “casually,” I worry that we don’t get credit for them.

So, I’m going to take a moment to list some of these changes over the past nine months. How many do you recognize?

  • Sacagawea T, P, and PS Series.
  • Updated Exhibit Design Search User Interface and Features
  • New Base Plate Designs
  • Knob Assembly for Magellan and Sacagawea (backwall)
  • Upgraded Lighting for All Portable Hybrid Lines
  • Silicone Edge Graphic Designs and SEG ClassicMODUL TSP Extrusions
  • Expanded Rental Inventory
  • Addition of Eco-systems Sustainable and Optima Graphics products in Exhibit Design Search
  • Expand Use of Reusable Dye-cut Foam Jigging on All Hybrid Products
  • New Look to the Classic Exhibits Website (just happened this week)

I suppose our approach reflects our corporate personality. We are by nature “tinkerers and doers.”  When we see a challenge or an unmet opportunity we gravitate to it like a moth to a light bulb. That approach permeates our culture whether it’s in Production, Project Management, Design, Marketing, or Accounting. Obviously, we have to prioritize opportunities, but these opportunities tend to energize us since they represent something to “fix” or “improve” or “reinvent.”

change_classicPlease don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that “Big Announcements” are ineffective. Too often however, we see big announcements in our industry that are, in all honesty, incremental improvements. Or, even worse, are announcements that should have been made two years ago when they were relevant or on the cutting edge. Instead they are just sad and pathetic.

For companies in the other two camps . . . think about the message you are (or are NOT) sending to your customers. Companies that NEVER change appear stagnant or worse irrelevant in the market. Whether that is a fair statement or not, it’s the perception and perception matters. And for those who opt for BIG announcements every couple of years, why would you expect your customers to wait?

In my opinion, clients left “waiting and wanting” start to stray. I can’t tell you how many times I have conducted a presentation with a potential distributor and within 10 minutes the owner, designer, or AE will say, “Man did you ever arrive at just the right time. We have been looking for something like this or asking for something just like this from our existing vendor for the past year . . . and you have it right here. Perfect!”

As one of the faces of Classic Exhibits, I love getting that “WOW” reaction, but I also appreciate knowing that week after week and month after month, it shows that we are reacting to the market and making changes. Those changes rarely make it into press releases in EXHIBITOR or the other trade magazines, but that’s OK.  What’s important is that you know that we are constantly tinkering.

Which camp do you fall in? How about your current vendors? We would love to hear from you about how we can improve our communication with you.

Click on the comment link and share your thoughts.

–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 — January 18th thru January 22nd

January 24th, 2010 Mel White 2 COMMENTS
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously!

Those who know me, know that I don’t take myself too seriously. The same can be said about Classic Exhibits. Just look at our recent contest “Find Reid’s Head.” Clearly, we are laughing at ourselves while making a point about Exhibit Design Search. And it’s not just about picking on Reid. 🙂 While he’s a great sport about these sorts of things, so are the rest of us. Need I remind you of the AeroMan campaign several years ago. You remember, the one where I was portrayed as a cartoon superhero — Defender of Hanging Signs and Lightweight Tabletops. Sheesh!

(Still looking for Reid’s Head in Exhibit Design Search? There’s a hint in the first paragraph.)

That said, you also know we are very serious about what we do. We take our responsibility as a designer, builder, and marketer of portable, modular, and hybrid exhibits very seriously. We are dedicated to you and to your customers. But balance, just as in our personal lives, is the key to a successful work life. After all, we spend at least one-third of our lives at work or working, another third sleeping, and the remainder doing what we love in our personal lives. So our attitude, which is probably no different than yours, is that we might as well have fun when we’re at work.

AeroMan -- Defender of Hanging Signs

AeroMan -- Defender of Hanging Signs

Personally and professionally, I have no desire to be a stiff. Sorry, but that’s how I would characterize it. If I am going to spend 50-60 hours a week working, then I am going to have fun and enjoy what I do. Too many companies in this business see themselves as “corporate.”  They may have a party once a year, but otherwise they are paragons of control, aloofness, and authority. When they speak, you listen . . . silently. Laughter, silliness, and parody are not part of their Corporate Culture — especially when it comes to their interaction with distributors.

We believe that our relationship should be based on Who We Are. Does that mean that we sometimes “cross the line”? Sometimes. But it’s a risk that applies to everything we do. Without that willingness to “cross the line” there wouldn’t be Perfect 10, Magellan, Sacagawea, or the countless other designs that have defined Classic in recent years. Without that willingness to expose ourselves, there wouldn’t be Past Five Days, Exhibit Design Search, Design Monday, and the Trade Show Tales blog.

I take a lot of pride in what we do, and I often hear you comment about how easy it is to work with Classic. You tell us “we’re flexible, we’re accommodating, we’re receptive. That tells me we’re not a bunch of stiffs. It also tells me that we see each request as a chance to solve your unique display challenge and not force it into a neatly defined Classic box. Now I could be wrong here, but I firmly believe that our willingness not to take ourselves too seriously, means in some odd way, that we take your projects very, very seriously. While I don’t expect to see that rule in a Tom Peters’ management book, it works for us.

But that’s just me. What about you?

Please share your comments via the blog comment section and have a safe and restful weekend!

–Kevin Carty

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

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Past Five Days — Reviewing Photos in P5D

April 13th, 2009 Mel White 1 COMMENT
Visionary Designs Photo in P5D

Visionary Designs Photo in P5D

On 09/23/06, we started an experiment when we launched Past Five Days (P5D). We decided to publish photos  of exhibits, components, and accessories on Classic Exhibits. Mostly, we used the photos taken in our QC Setup Area, but occasionally we used photos from the Rental Setup area. We couldn’t publish every exhibit, which would be unrealistic, but we did want to show representative designs in as close to real time as possible. At the time, it seem risky for two reasons.

  1. We would be showing exhibits, not as perfect renderings or as show photos, polished to perfection just minutes before the trade show opens, but as exhibits (often) without the final graphics and the client’s product accessories and collateral.
  2. We would be sharing new designs and innovations with anyone who happened to click on Past Five Days. Including our competitors. However, we quickly realized that the benefit of sharing far out weighed the risk of espionage.

Two and half years later, P5D seems obvious. Distributors and clients want to see photos in addition to renderings, even if those photos are of displays still in production. Renderings are the lifeblood of the exhibit design process. They allow us to illustrate concepts relatively quickly, in both the purchase and design phase.  But renderings are renderings. Photos are photos. We need to see both in order to make intelligent decisions about which display to purchase and which exhibit manufacturer to purchase from.

Several months ago, we decided to make the entire P5D photo database available via a dropdown menu. Before that, you could only see photos from the previous five days. It was a good concept, in theory, since it forced distributors and customers to visit our website frequently. However, in practice, customers search for a new display when they need a new display. It’s not like window shopping for shoes or a new car, where you keep on eye on the latest trends.

You can find P5D in two places on Classic’s website. There is an image link on the left hand side, below the Design Monday and the Ask Classic image links. Or, if you are in Design Search, there is a “Photo” button below the “Show/Hide Product Galleries” link. Once in P5D, you have two options. You can browse through the gallery by week ending. Simply click on the drop down menu for “Show Week Ending” and select a week. There are “Back” and “Forward” commands on the top and bottom of each page if you want to bypass the drop down menu and scroll from week to week more quickly. If you want to view P5D randomly, you may want to use the “P5D Randomizer” which arbitrarily selects dates from the P5D database. I really like the “Randomizer” but I may be the only person who enjoys the “Do It Again” feature. You can request information about any of the photos in P5D by clicking on the “Send Me More Information” link.

What’s in the works for P5D. A search tool. Expect to see the Search Tool no later than Summer 2009.

–Mel White

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