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Posts Tagged ‘Sacagawea’

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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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Manufacturing is a Funny and Fickle Business

March 31st, 2010 Mel White 2 COMMENTS

classic_qualityManufacturing is a funny and fickle business. Products are designed, engineered, built, tested . . . then re-engineered, re-tested, and finally launched (hopefully to eager and admiring customers). Most companies do their best to get it right. They care about quality, especially on new products.

I’ve been in the trade show exhibit business long enough to have seen some oddities regarding product launches. I once worked for a company that introduced a new pop up that was an engineering masterpiece. I’m still in awe of the engineer who developed the self-locking hub. At the time, everyone, and I mean everyone, thought there were no new wrinkles in pop up displays. They were wrong. Everything about this pop up frame was remarkable . . . except for one thing:  the plastic. The engineer spec’d the wrong plastic and the brittle plastic broke within two or three months. The company bit the bullet however, despite having $50,000 in plastic parts, and modified the molds and re-ordered the parts with the correct plastic.

But what about existing products? For years there was a pop up manufacturer that sold a frame with plastic connectors. The connectors would break if you didn’t baby them. And rather than re-design the connectors, the manufacturer solved the problem by basically ignoring the real problem. Instead, whenever you bought a new pop up, they would include a repair kit which included additional connectors. I believe the term was “field repairable,” which meant that it was “field breakable.” Many companies expend all their energy on new product development and ignore existing products. After all, when it comes to existing products, it’s easy to blame the customer for not installing it correctly or not reading the instructions or simply not being satisfied with “good enough.”

You’re probably wondering if I have a point. Classic is not a “field repairable” or “good enough” company, at least I don’t think we are. But, we’re also not infallible. We sometimes make mistakes, but those mistakes are quickly rectified and then the solution is re-designed into future products.

For example, the Sacagawea Portable Hybrid Display has undergone several enhancements since its introduction about 10 months ago. We modified the base plates to make them lighter. In addition, we replaced hex key connections on the backwall with knobs to make the displays easier to set-up. Recently, we modified the horizontal spline connector, which makes the connection tighter and eliminates a small gap in the horizontal crossbar. I don’t know that anyone ever complained about it, but it bothered us and our Production Engineer came up with a slick and simple solution. We now use this solution for the Magellan Displays as well. I can’t show it to you (since I don’t want to give our competitors any ideas), but I will show you the result. See the photos below.

Modified Horizontal Crossbar on Sacagawea Hybrid Display

Modified Horizontal Crossbar on Sacagawea Hybrid Display

Now I’m generally not someone who likes to tell tales, but I do love a good story. Do you have any examples of products or solutions where you were told by the manufacturer that they were “good enough”? Or you were given a solution that wasn’t really a solution, but just a band-aid. How do you respond to that logic?

–Mel White

http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
mel@classicexhibits.com
Classic Exhibits Network (LinkedIn)

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Word on the Street — March 1st thru March 5th

March 7th, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS
Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Word on the Street by Kevin Carty

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates!

But should your trade show exhibit buying experience be?

For starters, yes I did just watch Forrest Gump. And YES, I do think life is like that. Meaning, you never know what you’re gonna get in many situations.

However, when buying an exhibit, things should be predictable. What you see is what you get. Well, lesson learned. Within the next three weeks, the Sacagawea, Perfect 10, and Magellan kit prices will include all the fabric and direct print graphics shown in the renderings. It will take a few weeks to re-price these kits. However, we expect to complete it by the end of March. It’s not done yet . . . so don’t jump the gun. We’ll announce the new prices once we’ve updated the PDF and online sheets.

Back to the movie . . . the “box of chocolates” line made me understand how frustrating the experience of buying an exhibit can be for an end-user. Just spend a little time looking at many online trade show exhibit sites. They’ll show a 10 x 10 hybrid with nice graphics, a couple of backwall pedestals, and a front freestanding pedestal. All for only $3200 (or something nutty like that).

But if you dig a little deeper or open the box of chocolates, this is what you’ll find.

In reality, that $3200 price tag includes just the backwall and the canopy header. Once all the elements shown in the rendering are included, the exhibit really costs $7500. Seems sort of deceiving to me at best, and “bait and switch” at worst. If I were an end-user, I would be saying, “What the hell?!”

forrest-gumpI may be making a mountain out of a mole hill. I don’t know. But just this week, I had three distributors ask how a competitor could sell essentially the same configuration that we show in Exhibit Design Search for $4000 – $5000 less! Only after I took them to the online site and walk them through the math did they realize that their customer had been hoodwinked. In all three situations, the end-user came back to the Classic Distributor expressing their frustration that the “other” company had “misrepresented” the price and that they would be ordering a Visionary Designs Hybrid from Classic . . . and not the “cheap” hybrid the other company was offering. What do you think — Mountain or Mole Hill? Or would you agree with Forrest that, “Stupid is as stupid does”?

Have you seen any “Bait and Switch” practices online?  Click on the comment link and share your experiences.

Oh yes . . . For the next 10 days, watch for my Twitter and this blog postings as I share our our EXHIBITOR 2010 journey. We expect this to be our most successful EXHIBITOR SHOW EVER!

If you are coming to the show, see us at booth #929 and join us in our Hospitality Suite on Tuesday.

–Kevin Carty

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

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That Annoying Plastic Screw is Gone

February 23rd, 2010 Mel White COMMENTS
A10 Knob for Sacagawea, Magellan, P10, and Visionary Designs

A10 Knob for Sacagawea, Magellan, P10, and Visionary Designs

Let’s take a quick and entertaining quiz:

Question:  What’s the name of the part that holds the plex wings on Visionary Designs, Sacagawea, Magellan, and Perfect 10 displays?
Answer:  A10.

Question: What do you dislike most about the A10?
Answer:  The annoying plastic tension screw that requires a flathead screwdriver (or dime) to tighten.

Final Question:  How much would you love us if we eliminated that annoying tension screw?
Final Answer:  I WOULD LOVE CLASSIC A LOT, A LOT, A LOT!!

Effective immediately, the annoying plastic screw is gone . . . unless you want it for an island display. We have replaced it with a clear plastic knob that requires neither tools nor spare change. We have black version as well, but if you want the black knob you’ll have to request it. Our default choice will be the clear one unless you tell us otherwise. Should you want to order replacement knobs for your current A10’s, they are available at $2 retail per knob. Contact Customer Service for details.

Why did it take us so long? Fair question. It was not for a lack of trying. On and off for nearly three years, we searched North America and Europe for an off-the-shelf knob with the correct thread and knob head. About six months ago, we finally found one in the Netherlands but at a price, even buying in bulk, that would have made gold a better investment. So, we did the honorable thing. We bit the plastic bullet, designed a custom knob, and paid for a mold.

classic_knob1

Yes, it’s a small change but an important one. One more incremental improvement at Classic made with you and your customers in mind. Now you no longer have to borrow a dime on the trade show floor or request a screw driver from the labor pool (and get hit with a four hour minimum).

Now, say it with me, “I Love the knob. I Love Classic.” Thanks. That’s very sweet.

–Mel White
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
mel@classicexhibits.com
Classic Exhibits Network (LinkedIn)

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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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