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Up Your Game Newsletter — December 2020

December 18th, 2020 Mel White COMMENTS

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays from Classic Exhibits

You’ve probably seen the “Match Made in Hell” commercial by the Ryan Reynold’s creative team. The only thing missing was an empty convention center.

It’s been a tough year for the exhibition and event industry, as well as travel, food, and hospitality. With the release of vaccines, there’s a glimmer of hope for a healthier 2021.

It would be easy to pooh-pooh the holidays this year. To dismiss it and move on. And yet, neither you nor Classic has taken that path. During our Classic Conversations sessions in December, you’ve talked about what you’re grateful for. For example, how the pandemic strengthened relationships, broadened your skills, and allowed you to reassess your business. And how you have learned to embrace the present and are planning for the future.

The Classic Exhibits Family wishes you a Joyous Holiday and a Brighter New Year. Above all, we are grateful for your friendship and support throughout 2020.

PANTONE Color of the Year 2021

Pantone 2021 Colors of the Year

Introducing Cheerful and Dependable | The EXACT Opposite of 2020.

PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating, a marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting. Illuminating is a bright and cheerful yellow sparkling with vivacity, a warming yellow shade imbued withsolar power. Ultimate Gray is emblematic of solid and dependable elements which are everlasting and provide a firm foundation.

See https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2021.

EDPA’s 2020 DOTY to KRZ

Katina Rigall Zipay, Designer of the Year

Please join us in congratulating Katina Rigall Zipay, Classic’s Creative Director, for receiving EDPA’s Designer of the Year Award.

The award was presented to Katina at the EDPA ACCESS Conference in San Antonio.
The Designer of the Year Award acknowledges a designer who works diligently to enhance the professional standards of experiential/exhibit designers, contributes their talents, creativity and personal time to bring innovation to experiential/exhibit design.

She was also recognized as a 2020 EDPA Future Leader. Congratulations Katina!

EXHIBITOR Portable Modular Awards

EXHIBITOR Portable Modular Awards

Earlier this week, EXHIBITOR announced the finalists for the Eighth Annual Portable Modular Awards. We are delighted to have five finalists: Greystar Worldwide, NuNaturals, Verity, Odyssey Foods, and GE Appliances. This is our eighth straight year of having multiple finalists. And, yes, we are bragging (a bit).

See all 40 of the finalists on the PMA People’s Choice Voting Page. You can vote for your favorite, once a day, until March 1. Classic has won the People’s Choice Award on several occasions, including last year (yes, a little more bragging).

We encourage you to vote and support the PMA’s.

Event Marketer Fab 50

Event Marketer Fab 50

Absolutely Fabulous! If you understood that reference, then you’re clearly over 45 and watched too much Comedy Central (or PBS) in the 1990’s.

Our thanks to Event Marketer for naming Classic Exhibits a Fab 50 company, their annual editorial listing of the industry’s top builders.

What’s even more exciting is how many Classic Exhibits Distributors made the list – 34 TOTAL. That just proves we are in good company.

This year represents our fifth year as a Fab 50 honoree. If you watch Saturday Night Live, you know the importance of being on the Five-Timers List.

A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all the Exhibit Builders on the Event Marketer Fab 50 List.

Classic’s Exhibit Design Search

Exhibit Design Search

Recently, we updated EDS on the Classic website to the format of the branded EDS sites. Over the past three years, we’ve made significant UI changes to the branded sites, such as larger gallery images, full screen optimization, hamburger menus, and a mobile-friendly format. Those upgrades are now part of the Classic EDS.

Please let us know if you see any issues or have questions. We welcome your feedback.

Some Good News: As we head into 2021, we’ve made the decision not to charge a subscription fee for your branded EDS sites for at least the first six months of 2021. It’s in everyone’s best interest. We want you to have Classic products on your website. AND, we both know you’re more likely to be successful selling portable, modular, custom and rentals with a branded EDS. It’s that simple.

This applies to all Classic Distributors with an active branded EDS beginning in 2020 or added EDS this year. We will re-evaluate in May for the second half of 2021. 

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My EDPA Access 2017 Recap | Kevin Carty

December 9th, 2017 Mel White 6 COMMENTS

EDPAHeader

Greetings from the Great Northwest

It’s December and almost Christmas, which means I am just as busy away from work as I am at work. I trust you had a great Thanksgiving and have amazing plans for Christmas and New Year’s.

Last week, I attended EDPA Access which was held in beautiful Carlsbad, California at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort. Let me say, as someone who has been a member of EDPA for more than a decade, this was easily one of the Top 3 venues ever. Great layout, outstanding services, beautiful facilities, and much more.

From start to finish, the content was on point, applicable to every business in our industry, and well organized. Our industry is changing because of how our customers do business. And it will continue to change. The next generation of exhibit marketing professionals are calling on us to serve them in different ways than in the past. EDPA started to address this change by replacing the “E” in EDPA to “Experiential” (from “Exhibit”).

CEIR

Exhibits and events, once thought to be separate things, are more and more the same. And the Exhibit/Experiential Marketing Professionals of today are largely driving this with “Emotion-Driving Experiences” being a leading theme. What does that mean? Regardless of what a person or company is buying, they expect an emotional connection with the product or the team presenting it to them.

We spend 90 percent of our day indoors. It’s imperative to design environments that create positive emotions, stimulates productivity, and inspires creativity. Not just for your employees, but also for your customers in their exhibit/event space. It needs to make them comfortable and allow them to understand who you are and how your collaborate.

Being an “Agile Organization” is increasingly important. Historically it has meant being everything to everyone. NOT ANYMORE. Today’s customers want companies that can help them with everything, but they appreciate collaboration. They expect you to work with partners to achieve the best outcome. It’s time to embrace a “Shared Purpose” in your products and solutions and celebrate it!

Classic Exhibits at ACCESS

EDPA_2 EDPA

If you were there, you saw the beautiful “Late Night” set we created. It was definitely a show stopper, not just because it looked great but because it showcased our custom wood fabrication capabilities. That was an eye opener for many who have not tapped into our custom design and wood fabrication. This segment has grown faster than any other division within manufacturing over the past two years. Yes, we still design and build modular, hybrid, and portable exhibits, but custom now represents a significant percentage of our sales.

Our Late Show theme with Kevin and Jen had a special guest — Alexa. She was everything you would expect from a star — personable, knowledgeable, and witty. Alexa provided some great laughs and many “inquisitive” looks with her questions. On a personal note, I now know Brennan Curtis’s from Mostre Design “smell preferences.” There’s no way to cleanse my brain of that information. Our congratulations to those who won an Echo Dot. We might just repeat the game at EXHIBITOR.

Once again, our thanks to those who spent time with Jen, Alexa, and me. We always appreciate seeing you. And special thanks to the entire team from EDPA HQ for putting together one of the best ACCESS events ever.

Have a great weekend ahead with your families.

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

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Posted in Classic Exhibit Systems, Custom Exhibits, EDPA, Kevin Carty, Word on the Street | 6 Comments »

EDPA Exhibition and Events Industry Labor Rates Survey

August 24th, 2017 Mel White COMMENTS

EDPA2

The 2017 EDPA Labor Rate Survey tracks the advance order rates charged to corporate exhibitions in major U.S. and Canadian cities at exhibitions, conventions, and corporate events. The rate sources are general service contractors, show producers, and venue order forms. This is the Advanced Order Rates, not the rates charged after the early bird prices or day of show.

This includes rates for General Labor, Riggers, Electricians, Plumbers, Forklift Operators, and Material Handling. The highest general labor rates are in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Los Angeles. The lowest are in Cleveland, Louisville, Orlando, and Salt Lake City. A huge thanks to the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association for completing and publishing their results.

Executive Summary Bullet Points:

  • The 2017 Labor Rates Survey of rates charged to exhibitors at exhibitions and events has found the average hourly rate in the U.S. for General Display Labor increased by just under 1% annually over the past two years.
  • The average hourly rate has increased from $101.75 in 2015 to $103.50 this year.
  • The advance order, regular time hourly rate for Riggers decreased by 2% annually over the same two-year period, from $113.70 per hour on average in 2015 to $109.23 per hour in the new survey.
  • Material handling costs for advance shipments to the official service contractor warehouse have increased by 1.6% annually over the past two years on average in the U.S. The cost of crated shipments sent directly to exhibit halls has increased by an average of 1.1% annually from 2015 to 2017.

Click the image below for the full survey.

2017 EDPA Labor Rates Study

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

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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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College Scholarship Deadline — EDPA Foundation

June 28th, 2016 Mel White COMMENTS

EDPA Foundation

Classic Exhibits Distributors and Vendors,

As many of you know, I am on the EDPA Scholarship Foundation Committee. The Exhibit and Designers Association Foundation offers college scholarships to member families who apply and qualify. It’s a great opportunity for the Association to give back to its members and a benefit to you.

For eight years, I’ve seen the impact on those families, and it has been nothing short of amazing.

The application deadline is coming fast — July 25th. If your kids are either in college or headed to college this fall, we invite you to apply. Again, it’s free money for books or classes or however they decide to apply it to their education. But they need to apply to be considered.

Basic details can be seen on the image below.

EDPA Scholarship poster 2016_final3

Go to www.edpa.com/foundation/whatwedo. Applications are confidential and are reviewed by the EDPA Scholarship Foundation Committee, a small group.

As we know, college is expensive so every little bit helps. Please don’t miss out on this great opportunity to offset some of the expense.

Have a great 4th of July holiday weekend ahead.

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

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Redefining the Custom Exhibit | Pat Friedlander

June 8th, 2016 Mel White COMMENTS

Custom Exhibits Redefined

Guest Post by Pat Friedlander

When I was new to this industry, I heard the word “Octanorm” bandied about as if it were the last ditch attempt for stingy exhibitors There was no design consideration — just how many panels and how many uprights.

However, on my first trip to EuroShop some 20 years ago, I was stunned when I walked into Hall 9 and saw the Octanorm corporate exhibit. EuroShop opened my eyes. U.S. was unique in advocating box-frame exhibits, exhibits that were crated and stored in warehouses around the country. It was apparent to me that US exhibits were different. They looked stodgy and boxy by comparison.

Systems and the Rest of the World

Between Dusseldorf and Chicago, I became a convert to systems. They looked cool, they allowed for fresh designs, and they were flexible — not hallmarks of box frame construction. Soon after, I invited my friend Kerstin Mulfinger from Burkhardt Leitner to speak at HCEA’s annual meeting about systems.

As various systems proliferated, bits and pieces started to appear on U.S. show floors. Yet the differentiation persisted that there were custom exhibits (i.e., box frame) and there were portable modular systems —  with “systems” viewed as a commodity.

What is a Custom Exhibit?

Custom Exhibits, as the industry generally uses it, is a relic. Today the distinction is anachronistic. Using the term “portable modular” ignores the fact that modularity is not limited to any one type of construction — portable, custom, hybrid, etc. Modularity is related to configuration, not to building materials.

VK-5148gAt an EDPA ACCESS 2015 session, I said, “It’s time to de-commodify systems and redefine what we mean when we say a custom exhibit.” It turned out I wasn’t alone. “Modular components and systems are no longer a commodity item,” said Jay Burkette, vice president, Expo Displays, “but represent building blocks, increasingly used by traditional exhibit houses as an effective way of helping design, manage, and maintain their client’s exhibit properties.”

According to Debbie Parrott, president, Highmark TechSystems, “Some designers are predisposed to think that modular systems should only enter their design tool kits when they are working with an especially cost-conscious client. For those designers, low-cost and creativity are mutually exclusive and systems limit their creativity. This short-sighted view shows a lack of understanding of the realities of our industry and the needs of program clients.”

“Large clients are program clients who benefit from exhibit designs that offer versatility, reconfigurability, fast installation and dismantle – exactly what modular systems address. This perspective also shows a naiveté about the design trends in the global exhibit marketplace where modular systems are used for exhibits that are stunningly creative, brand-distinctive, highly functional, and cost and time efficient. Designers in our industry need to be knowledgeable on this front, and the challenge for those who are modular system proponents is to educate and show designers both the inspiring possibilities and the compelling business case.”

How Do YOU Define “Custom Exhibit”?

Seems to me that we need to arrive at a new definition of “custom exhibit.” If the definition is not about construction methods and materials, perhaps it’s about marketing. What are the goals and objectives of the exhibit program? How does the exhibit fulfill and meet those goals? And about the exhibit:  Is it rental? Is it purchased? Should we differentiate? We plan to continue this discussion at EDPA ACCESS 2016, but in the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Pat Friedlander
pat@word-up.com
773-230-9989

Bio:

Pat Friedlander is a marketer, trainer, and writer in the exhibit industry. She has spent many days and nights on the trade show floor, and has lots of advice about shoes. She has received the HCEA Distinguished Service Award and the EDPA Hazel Hays Award. She lives in Chicago and often answers to Grandma Pat.

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