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EXHIBITOR / GlobalShop 2014 Recap: Word on the Street — March 17 thru March 21st

March 22nd, 2014 Mel White 3 COMMENTS

Kevin Carty, VP Classic Exhibits

My nose is bleeding, my eyes are burning, and I am exhausted! Yep, you guessed it, I was in Vegas for the past week. 🙂

Like many of you, the Classic Team descended on Vegas starting last Friday for both EXHIBITOR Show and GlobalShop. Since we exhibited at both shows, let me break this into two blog posts starting with EXHIBITOR.

EXHIBITOR 2014 was nothing short of spectacular for Classic Exhibits, Classic Rental Solutions, ClassicMODUL, and Eco-Systems Sustainable. I know that sounds a little “sales-ish” to say spectacular, but it really was one of the best, if not THE BEST, EXHIBITOR in my nearly 20 years with Classic.

Our “Sweet Solutions” exhibit was well received and showed WHO we are and WHAT we do. The main structure was a Custom Rental Solutions, a design that was up for an award in the Design Awards this year.

New Products

We were also showing several new products.  The new OTM Furniture debuted at EXHIBITOR. We had the portable tables and chairs in our booth as well as three other exhibits. The response could only be compared to that of the iPad kiosks we debuted two years ago. The OTM Table and Chairs are going to be a big, big hit.

We also introduced the SEGUE VK-1118 SuperNova Backlit Inline. The VK-1118 takes its cue from our very successful Visionary Designs iPhone and iPad inlines, two designs iconic to Classic Exhibits. The difference is the backlighting. While there were many lightboxes at EXHIBITOR, the VK-1118 and the 20 ft. VK-2959 are the only inlines on the market with storage, headers, standoff graphics, large monitor mounts, and accessory options. This is a game changer my friends. Inlines will never be the same going forward.

Across the show floor, we had a great presence of Classic designs. We built exhibits for PRG, EliteXpo, DS&L, Cort, Slim Furniture, and EXHIBITOR Magazine. In addition, there was a Sacagawea, a Magellan Miracle, and an eight year old Visionary Designs VK-1001 hybrid that looked brand new. We appreciate being a part of our key vendor partners look and presentation at EXHIBITOR. Thank you for trusting us with your brands once again.

The mood in the building was inspiring. There was a lot creativity, and a lot of new innovative products and services. As a whole, the industry should be very proud. Well done all. I felt a great sense of pride as I walked the show floor this year. In particular, there was more originality booth to booth and competitor to competitor. Which is not always the case.

There were a few lows, such as companies that would rather COPY than innovate through design. But I won’t dwell too much on that since a few four letter words come to mind that describe these iPad solutions copycats.

EDPA Portable/Modular/Hybrid Summit

On a personal note, I would like to thank everyone who attended the Annual EDPA Portable/Modular/Hybrid Summit on Tuesday afternoon. I really appreciate the insights by the audience. And a special thanks to the panelists — Greg Beach, Cindi Cody, Maureen Borzachello, Anita Mitzel, and Jocelyn Welles. Your perspectives we invaluable.

I do have a challenge to my fellow competitors in the Portable/Modular/Hybrid segment. So many of you weren’t there. Why? Your perspective and input matters to the growth of our segment, whether you are an F, N, S, O, L, or one of other letters of the alphabet. You had distributors at the meeting . . . but not many of you came. So, hopefully, when we hold our next meeting at EDPA ACCESS, you (and you know who you are) will participate. Special thanks to ExpoDisplays, Octanorm, Highmark, and Classic Exhibits for supporting and participating in the session. Yes, we are competitors, but we are also a community. Don’t let others chart your future and the tone of our segment.

Exhibit Design Awards

The Inaugural Exhibit Design Awards ceremony was held on Tuesday night, an event near and dear to my heart. I could do a blog on just that. What a great event! Special thanks to the entire team from EXHIBITOR Media Group. Especially Randy Acker and John Pavek. I personally appreciate that you took one company’s suggestion, truly listened to it, and then ran with it. I know this event will only grow to be bigger and better over the coming years. But for a first time event, you need to take a bow for a job very well done. Our industry is led by design on all levels, and to spend an evening celebrating the designs that are shaping the industry was a pure joy for me and the team from Classic. Finally, my congratulations to all the winners in all the categories. You have a reason to celebrate.

GlobalShop 2014

GlobalShop 2014 was happening right above EXHIBITOR this year. It ran from Tuesday thru Thursday. GlobalShop is a very different show for Classic. Those who came by to visit our booth can attest. We are a bit of an outlier in that world, but it is a market that continues to grow  for Classic. And we are seeing more and more distributors join us in that world.

The show was great, and since we do not sell direct, we focused on gathering leads for our distributors and finding new Retail Design partners. iPad Solutions, Charging Kiosks, SuperNova Lightboxes, and the new OTM Counter and Chairs were the stars.

That’s all I will say at this point on GlobalShop. Look for a separate blog. I think there are more and more opportunities for us all in that market.

Thanks

Overall, I want to say thanks to our entire team at Classic Exhibits. This past week provided huge challenges. Two shows to assemble/dismantle. Two booths to staff. Two clienteles to entertain (the easy part 🙂 ) .But as you can imagine, two of everything makes it more difficult at the shop/office. So to those who stayed back and manned the ships — THANK YOU!! We appreciate you covering for us all.

And to the staff that came to Vegas. Thanks again for making me so very proud to be a part of this great organization. We have a terrific family at Classic, and I hear from so many during the events that our “family” atmosphere really shines through at EXHIBITOR.

To all my industry friends and partners, all I can say is I wish we could spend more time together. A busy show means you get less and less time to spend with your partners at the show. But we all agree that’s a good sign for the industry. So let me say this — Our partners are a big part of the success we experience at Classic. Without you and your partnership, we would not be doing as well as we are. So thanks to you all.

Get some rest now that you’re home and more importantly get some quality time your families this weekend. They and you deserve it.

Be well.

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

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Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: Word on the Street — April 15th thru April 19th

April 21st, 2013 Mel White COMMENTS
Credit Where Credit is Due: Word on the Street -- April 15th thru April 19th

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

After nearly 19 years in this industry, I have had my fair share of gripes with how General Service Contractors and Show Management manage trade shows. And I have certainly voiced those gripes, hopefully, in a respectful manner.

Well, this past week I was in Chicago for GlobalShop 2013 at McCormick Place as both an exhibitor and an attendee. Freeman was the General Service Contractor for the event. And all I can say is — KUDOS from start to finish. It’s not like everything went without a hitch, but where there were bumps in the road, there was someone right there to help you.

I must say, honestly, I was not expecting that, even with the “kinder, gentler, exhibitor friendly” rules at McCormick. For example, we had an inline, and the new rules state that you can set your entire booth by yourself as long as you have all your own tools. I was expecting some resentful union folk roaming the floor. Not the case at all!

I don’t mean this to be sarcastic, but it was a little weird not looking over my shoulder every five seconds to see if a foreman was making my size 13 concrete shoes.

Then there was Janet Ruddy, an Exhibitor Service Clerk from Freeman’s Chicago office. I was fortunate to get her on the phone a week before the show to handle some changes. Let’s just say that there is a place for you in the Customer Service Hall of Fame Janet. Thanks!

Neilson was the producer (show management) of the show. They did an OK job as well. But, sad to say, the number of “suitcasers” allowed on the show floor day one and two was horrendous. Thankfully, the show was so freaking great that it outweighed that one very big negative.

Classic Exhibits was at GlobalShop as both an exhibitor and an attendee. As an exhibitor in a 10 x 20 space, we showcased many of the retail solutions we’ve designed and built over the past two years. That was fun, and the response was great! The ClassicMODUL aluminum profiles really shined as a retail solution! Our capabilities were highlighted in a series of backwall light boxes and an adjustable merchandising grid we’ve perfected (and sold multiple times).

I would be remiss if I did not give credit to our innovative iPad Kiosks. It’s as if they were covered in $100 bills. They drew attendee after attendee into the booth, who then stayed to hear about Classic Exhibits (which was similar to our experience at EXHIBITOR).

A special thanks to Chuck Michel and Tom Beard who joined me. Both have rich histories with the GlobalShop community and really helped me (as a rookie) understand the market and the show better. Not to mention they were great friends to hang with for three days. Thanks for everything gents.

Here are a couple of takeaways, although there were many from the week. Just like the Tradeshow World, the Retail World is alive with technology, especially interactive solutions. There is clearly a push for captivating technology in the retail experience. And large, very large, fabric graphics with engineered extrusions as the structure. That’s music to our ears and re-enforces what we have been seeing in the Classic Exhibits and ClassicMODUL divisions.

Here are some pics of the week’s events. Hope you enjoy. If you were at GlobalShop, please share your impressions in the comment section. I’d love to hear what you thought (and so would other Classic Distributors).

Hope you all have a great week ahead. Give me a call if you would like to talk more about GlobalShop.

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

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