Trade Show TalesBlog

Posts Tagged ‘Exhibitor’

Trade Show Ethics 201: Word on the Street — March 4th thru March 8th

March 10th, 2013 3 COMMENTS
Tradeshow Ethics: Word on the Street -- March 4th thru March 8th

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

As I write this, we are 10 days from the opening of our industry’s premiere event — EXHIBITOR2013. It’s no secret, if you know me on any level, that I LOVE the EXHIBITOR Show. The folks at EXHIBITOR Media Group do an unparalleled job of organizing and promoting it every year. And I, as well as everyone at Classic Exhibits, take tremendous pride in participating.

But every year I get frustrated by two problems that inevitably happen at EXHIBITOR, as well as other trade shows. While I won’t say these problems are epidemic, I will say they are very real problems that should be addressed. I am not blaming EXHIBITOR Media Group. To the contrary, it is incumbent on exhibitors to curb these problems.

Suitcasing and Outboarding

If you’re unfamiliar with these terms, let me explain. Suitcasing is the “selling from the trade show aisles without having an exhibit.” Outboarding is “taking meeting space at a hotel near the convention venue and using it for hospitality/demos/meetings/competing events.”

Now before you say, “People in glass houses Kevin” . . . Yes, Classic does sponsor a hospitality suite every year from 3:30-6:30 pm on Tuesday. As do other companies. But there is the big difference. Classic and other companies hold our events during a time when there are no “EXHIBITOR sponsored” events, like the Opening Reception. The idea being, we are respectful not to interfere with the events that the EXHIBITOR Media Group has invested money, time, and effort into on behalf of the exhibitors and attendees. Plus, we are a paid exhibitor. That’s an important distinction.

But others, sadly, do not show the same regard for the show’s management — year after year. Instead, they blatantly ride the coattails of EXHIBITOR2013 to draw people to their own private event. And they do so under the guise of creating a Partner Event that somehow is supposedly beneficial to exhibitors, attendees, and show management. I would respectfully disagree. Unless you’re in Iowa, if it smells like “you know what,” it’s rarely fertilizer.

Who’s to Blame?

Some of the blame falls on show management. They could nip this in the bud by creating an event or gala event on Tuesday evening that recognizes the “Best of the Best” over the past year. Or that integrates the Sizzle Awards. The now defunct TS2 did something similar, and it was always a highlight of the show.

But some of the blame rests on our shoulders, the exhibitors and attendees. If we did not sponsor and attend such events, they wouldn’t succeed. And, they wouldn’t benefit from all the hard work and money the EXHIBITOR Media Group has invested in drawing the attendees and exhibitors to Las Vegas. Yet, when I see the list of sponsors, I am honestly dismayed.

Suitcasing on the other hand can be curbed by exhibitors. Nothing frustrates me more than to be working our booth and have some one pitch their product or service, someone who is not an exhibitor. The condensed EXHIBITOR hours make every minute valuable and when someone distracts me from speaking with distributors, partners, or potential customers, I resent it. They are effectively stealing my time, time that we paid dearly for.

By comparison, Classic invests somewhere in the ballpark of $125k to participate in EXHIBITOR. That includes booth space, the display, I&D, airfare/hotel/meals for staff, marketing, entertaining, etc. Yet, this same individual who is pitching me their product may have invested as little as $100 to get a badge to attend the show for one day.

Might I suggest that, as a group, we make a concerted effort this year to send a message to these Suitcasing individuals.  First, do not allow them into your exhibit space. Second, get their name and company and report them to show management.  Third, do not buy their products or services. If they really want to or have a product or service worth selling, then they should take a space in the show.

Ethically Challenged

Having said all that, I recently came upon an article in LinkedIn that really floored me. This article was published by Inc. Magazine. You too will be surprised by the encouragement of the author to participate in the unethical practices of Suitcasing and Outboarding. And should any of you be subscribers to Inc., think twice about giving them your advertising or subscription dollars.

These links take you to the article and a response to the article. Be sure to read the response and the comments which are more entertaining than the original article:

  1. http://www.inc.com/don-rainey/how-to-commandeer-a-trade-show-four-tips.html
  2. http://www.twohatmarketing.com/ramblog/2013/02/why-is-inc-magazine-promoting-unethical-behavior.html

I look forward to seeing you in Vegas, and hope EXHIBITOR2013 is a great success for all!

Be well.

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

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March EXHIBITOR Magazine Ad — Sneak Peak

January 28th, 2013 COMMENTS

As you know, Classic Exhibits traditionally doesn’t advertise the “Classic Exhibits” brand. ClassicMODUL yes, but rarely, if ever Classic. This year, we decided to prime the pump for iPad Kiosks in preparation of EXHIBITOR2013. Below is the 1/2 page ad for EXHIBITOR Magazine. We’ll also have a similar full-page ad in Exhibit City News.

Several iPad kiosk models are in the New Product Showcase for EXHIBITOR. We hope this visibility will drive sales to the Distributor Network, both before and after the show.

Registration for EXHIBITOR 2013 is now OPEN! Click HERE for FREE Access to the show hall courtesy of Classic Exhibits. Enter Promo Code 4044 for the FREE Pass (waiving the credit card fee).

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

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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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2012 “State of the Company” Letter from Kevin Carty

January 19th, 2013 6 COMMENTS

State of the Company

Kevin Carty, Classic Exhibits Inc.

2012 is in the books! The Oregon Ducks are the Fiesta Bowl Champs, and the Mayans left for the golf course rather than finishing their calendar.

The basics. Q1 and Q2 were huge for Classic Exhibits with increases of 19% over 2011. Summer started slower than usual, but finished OK leaving us at a 15% increase through 3 quarters. Then Q4. Oh Q4, how strange you were. October was the second largest month of the year. November was flat. December started out steady, but the last two weeks, with the holidays falling on Tuesday, were mostly silent. In the end, we ended the year with an 11% increase over LY.

The Mix

2012 was a tale of two seasons with one common thread — iPad kiosks! iPad kiosks sold throughout 2012 in unheard of numbers thanks to you. We started with two models in February. That quickly exploded into more than 18 iPad solutions. Aside from Sacagawea, we’ve not seen a product take off and grow so fast.

MOD-1338 iPad Kiosk

But it was the MIX that was interesting. The first half of the year we sold kits. And a lot of them! Be it a 10 x 10 SEGUE, a 10 x 20 Sacagawea, or a 10 x 20 Visionary Designs. You couldn’t walk by the Set-up Area the first six months without seeing a sea of kits.

All the while, we were designing more custom island designs. Some based on older Classic designs that needed updating, but most from scratch by our talented internal team, Mike and Katina, and by two outside contract designers.

The result. In the final six months of the year, Design and Production have been busy building more custom island and inline exhibits. And Design has been especially busy designing new island projects for 2013 Q1 and Q2 shows. Just recently, we were reviewing the builds currently in Production and the ones slotted for late January. Custom Hybrid Inlines and Island Hybrids seem to be the lion share of what we we’re seeing.

Having said that, kits are still our bread and butter. Kits are projected to hold steady in the first six months. All this adds up to a great Q1 for us and for you.

Retail

Like 2011 and 2012, 2013 should be another growth year for our Retail build business. That is in large part due to your design teams reaching out into that segment and bringing these unique projects our direction. It’s been a great fit for our capabilities and a healthy layering to our normal trade show builds. This segment of our business, which gets processed and project managed through a different path than our trade show orders, follows a different cycle from our traditional business. This allows us to add capacity and volume without adding expenses. In other words, it’s a “win-win” for Classic and for our Distributors.

New Employees

Katina Rigall joined the Classic Design team in January of 2012. She has become a great face for the department while bringing exceptional design vision and talent.

Jeff Garrett joined the Classic Project Management staff in 2011 actually, but in 2012 moved from Set-up Instructions to a full-time Project Manager. The addition of Jeff’s personality and his attention to detail has given a great boost to an already exceptional team of PM’s at Classic Exhibits. To replace Jeff, we hired Cynthia Geddis, who has transitioned into that role seamlessly.

Jen LaBruzza joined Classic Exhibits in June 2012. She joined as the Western Regional Sales Manager. Her impact was felt immediately. Not just with in the network of distributors, but also internally at Classic. Her bright outlook and approach to business is refreshing, and her customers love her! But we all knew that would be the case.

Tony Bennett joined Classic Exhibits in 2012. Many of you worked with Tony in the past on Exhibit Design Search, but was on a contract basis. Somehow, Mel talked him into joining our crazy family permanently, and we are very grateful. I get comments from distributors weekly that Classic now has someone on staff to help with web-related needs. And Tony is a pro in that arena, especially when it comes to Exhibit Design Search and working with Classic distributors on their websites. It’s a service were proud to offer to Classic Distributors.

SKU (Shared Knowledge University)

Shared Knowledge University

Thanks to the 60 plus distributors who participated in onsite training at Classic Exhibits. We held two SKU sessions: one in April and a second one in September. SKU attendees were immersed in Classic Exhibits, Exhibits NW, ClassicMODUL and Eco-Systems Sustainable over a two-day period. The SKU program combines hands-on product training as well as classroom training.

We will host two SKU sessions in 2013. Please stay tuned for the dates and make plans to attend. Not only will you leave having a better sense for Classic and its family of companies, but you will also get to understand the true meaning of “Portlandia.” [Keep Portland Weird]

Custom House Partnerships

A big focus for us in 2012 was partnering with more Custom Houses as their inline, small island, rental and extrusion provider for their in-house clients. As in much of business, relationships are the key. Mel, Reid, Jen, and Jim Shelman did a great job forging new and reinforcing existing Custom Partners for Classic Exhibits this past year.

The Classic Town Calls were created in 2012 as a quarterly webinar to talk about the previous quarter and what to expect next quarter.

Kudos to Mel on this. The Town Calls are designed to be an hour long “checking in” from us to you and from you to us. It’s a really helpful way to connect off the show floor and out of the normal course of business and see what’s going on. Our goal is to provide nuggets of content that you will find useful selling Classic products and running your business in general. And, to get “immediate” feedback from you on trends and issues.

In addition to the Town Calls, Classic conducted educational webinars throughout the year on Hybrid Displays, New Designs Trends, Rental Trends, Exhibit Design Search Tricks and Tips, and Social Media.

ClassicMODUL

ClassicMODUL expands yet again! The latest ClassicMODUL depot opened in August in St Louis, MO. The new operation provides not just raw metal access to builders in the Midwest and parts of the East, but also provides CNC bending like our NW facility! This is a HUGE addition for Tom Jones and his staff, giving them an even broader reach and capabilities.

ClassicMODUL also modified its Pricebook in 2012. If you have not taken the time to review the new prices, please do. In conjunction with having material in virtually every part of the USA (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West Coast), saving you shipping dollars, the prices of many extrusions and accessories dropped a bit as well. Contact Tom if you have any questions or projects you would like to compare against your existing provider of engineered aluminum extrusions.

Classic Rentals

Island Rental Exhibit

Jim Shelman and James Sharpe, along with their great staff, should take a bow for another strong year in the Rental Division. Their success reflects their willingness to take on new challenges and innovative designs that other suppliers reject as “non-rental.” We expect the Rental Division to continue its double-digit growth this year as more and more Classic Distributors turn to hybrid rentals as a viable and cost-effective solution for their clients.

Thanks guys for all your hard work

Eco-Systems Sustainable Exhibits

In 2012, Classic Exhibits acquired an even larger share in this great company. While all Marketing, Sales, General Management, and Accounting are in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Production and Project Management has shifted to our facility in Portland. Tim Hanley is the Project Management Lead onsite at Classic and another project manager has recently been added. We expect Eco-Systems Sustainable sales to continue to grow at a rapid pace.

Much of Eco-Systems prosperity has been the result of their innovative designs. They have a unique vision on hybrid displays, one very different from Classic. They added a new Director of Design, Lisa Koskela, in 2012. Her eye for design and creative sense is continuing to chart a great course for Eco-Systems along with Eric Albery’s focus on relationship sales. We are very excited and proud of our relationship with their group.

Events

Classic participated in three major events in 2012:  EXHIBITOR, the inaugural E2MA Conference, and EDPA ACCESS.

EXHIBITOR Show was nothing short of spectacular. As a company, it was clearly our best presentation in 20 years. We showed off not just our inline creativity, but also our large scale island capability. Thanks to those who attended EXHIBITOR and stopped by to see us on the floor and at our hospitality suite. It was a pleasure seeing you and hearing your thoughts on the industry. Your input makes a big difference in how we plan our future.

The E2MA Conference was in July in Chicago. This was the first event for the new formed association, a marriage of the former TSEA and the EACA. Jim Wurm and his entire group did a terrific job of providing compelling content. But more importantly, they did a great job of listening and then taking what they heard and applying it to the association’s mission moving forward as evidenced in their recent publishing of “The Rising Costs of General Service Contractors Services” study. Very well done!

EDPA ACCESS. My favorite event in so many ways. I once again left ACCESS 2012 inspired by my peers and by the direction of our industry. I truly believe that there continues to be an “out with the old and in with the new” push in our industry which is much needed. And EDPA and all its members seem united in moving forward in a positive direction.

One more event that I would like to reflect on from 2012 . . .

On September 23, 2012 “The Club” rode . . .  Club 815 Powered by the EDPA Foundation. It was a motley crew of exhibit industry folks, and one stepdad (mine), who joined together to raise money for Mike Swartout, our Design Director at Classic Exhibits. And of course we were supported by you through your well wishes, prayers and donations. We raised a very large chunk of much needed money for Mike and his lovely wife Janet to offset their rising medical bills.

And yes, we rode up a several multi-mile hills with a steady 45 mph head wind with gusts up to 75 mph on occasion. While I have thanked all the men and women who rode with me, I want to thank you for making that event an opportunity to help out a family member in our industry. You did amazing work.

Onto 2013 and let’s get excited about it. The simple fact is that we are on a slow recovery from the recession, but we are recovering a bit at a time.

Thank you for your support of Classic Exhibits, ClassicMODUL, ExhibitsNW, Classic Rentals, and Eco-Systems. We could not do what we do or put food on our families plates without your support and trust in us daily. So on behalf of Classic Exhibits Inc., thank you for a great 2012!

Here’s to an exciting and profitable 2013 together!!!!

Kevin Carty
Vice President
Classic Exhibits Inc.

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OK, So We Don’t Always Follow the Rules

July 10th, 2012 1 COMMENT

Perhaps we should be more corporate, more dignified. But that’s not our style. Heck, we’re the folks with the ongoing Urban Exhibitionary ads in EXHIBITOR Online. A few of those ads have struck an exposed nerve, like Showgasm and Bundling. Ouch!

Here’s our tongue in cheek “Help Wanted” ad in Exhibit City News for ClassicMODUL. This is for everyone who has worked with a temperamental co-worker, supplier, or customer.

Our thanks to the good folks at Exhibit City News for allowing us to break the rules and have a little fun. Thanks Kathy and Jeff!

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

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

Based in Portland, Oregon, Classic Exhibits Inc. designs and manufacturers portable, modular, and custom-hybrid exhibit solutions and engineered aluminum extrusions (ClassicMODUL). 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.

Three GREAT Articles and One Video: Word on the Street — Feb. 20th thru Feb. 24th

February 25th, 2012 COMMENTS
EXHIBITOR 2012 Teaser Video, Part Two

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Good Reads. One Silly Video.

With EXHIBITOR 2012 looming, this has been a hectic week. Not only are we working on the final touches for our EXHIBITOR booth, but we are also processing a TON of orders! Not sure if you found yourself on the Peek-A-Booth cams this week, but if you did, you know what I mean.

A new Account Exec. from Bay Area Exhibits visited us this week for training. At about 3 pm he said while looking at very full setup floor, “So this is all stuff that has to ship this week?” To which I replied, “No, those are all orders that go out tomorrow. This morning there were 15 more that already shipped.”

Suffice to say…we are very busy (and happy and thankful). 🙂

As busy as we are, Mel and I both try to find time to read blogs, newsgroups, and industry articles. There were some great ones this past week, so I wanted to share a few with you.

Trade Show Drayage The first is a blog post by Lowell Nickens from Shopforexhibits. Lowell is an industry veteran with experience as a general contractor, a display manufacturer, and a distributor. Lowell addresses “Material Handling or Drayage” from a different perspective. Check it out. It’s thoughtful and well done. Great job Lowell!

A Definitive Guide to Understanding Trade Show Material Handling

Next is Chris Griffin who owns Trade Show Supply. Many of you know Chris. He’s another industry veteran with experience as a trainer, distributor, and show labor contractor. He writes about the “30 Things that Conspire to Destroy Your Beautiful Trade Show Experience.” Very sage advice.

30 Things that Conspire to Destroy Your Beautiful Trade Show Experience

Last, is an article from Inc. — “8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees” written by Jeff Haden. You may be surprised by what he considers remarkable employees.

8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees

I love this article, mostly because I see all of the qualities in our team at Classic Exhibits Inc. #1 and #4 happened on Friday when Charlie Shivel (Project Manager) come to my office singing the praises of our Milling Department Lead, Igor Yakovenko. Charlie wanted me to know how great Igor is because he clearly wants to do what’s best, and in this situation it meant taking off his “Milling Lead” hat and helping out in a situation that clearly had nothing to do with his day-to-day job duties.

Great stuff!

In closing, if you have not seen Part Two of our teaser videos for EXHIBITOR, check it out. I have a sneaking suspicion that my EPIC idea of edible graphics has been nixed. I’d blame Mel, but his ideas got nixed as well. Expect Part Three later this week.

Looking forward to seeing you at EXHIBITOR 2012.

Almost forgot . . . Be sure to check out the MOD-211 iPad Insert video on the EXHIBITOR New Product Showcase page (scroll to the very bottom).  Or you can see it on Exhibit Design Search.

–Kevin Carty

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

p.s. If you scrolled down this far, I’m adding one more article as a bonus. This is a much longer read (41 pages): Reading about the Financial Crisis: A 21-Book Review. It’s a fascinating review of 21 academic and journalistic books about the financial crisis. As the author Andrew W. Lo states, “No single narrative emerges from this broad and often contradictory collection of interpretations, but the sheer variety of conclusions is informative . . . .”