No Worries Please!

There is so much to a Tradeshow Booth that to tie it all together in an icon is kind of silly.   Show Services, Logistics, I&D and a hundred other things to worry about.  But for the tradeshow to be a success our clients do worry.   About a lot, but not their tradeshow booth! 

The great thing here at Exhibit Associates is we sweat the details on items so our Tradeshow Manager clients  worry about other things.   "Wait...What?"

Our focus is getting your tradeshow booth there, set up and ready to go.   All our client has to do is show and "take the keys."  9 out of 10 of our Show Services clients ship us their product samples and marketing materials as well.   This way it truly is turn key.  

Then at the end of the show our client just hands the keys back.  In the middle of the "key exchanges" our client has worried about staffing levels, # of badge scans, lead collection and swag inventory.   Prior to the show travel flights and hotel reservations is something our client's worry about.   And after the show it is about making And the service we provide it gives them the space and time to do so.

So - if you are worry about your tradeshow booth - maybe you should call 816-474-5333 or email us.  (Just saying.) 

Setting A Tradeshow Booth

A Tradeshow Booth Just doesn't happen.

From the day the client sits down with their Exhibit House to discuss the concept a lot has to happen.  The concept can be just an idea, a simple sketch or a fully flushed out design created by your marketing department.   From the clients concept stage to a rendering to reality the tradeshow booth will go through adjustments, but it will get built.   Once built it has to get shipped to the tradeshow.

But wait, prior to the shipping our client appoints their Exhibit House their EAC.  The Exhibitor Appointed Contractor will fill out forms, make arrangement for any rentals at the show site, arrange electricity, ensure I&D is planned and a host of other items as well.

After the show your EAC will audit bills and ensure accuracy from the vendors at the show site.  (Well as an EAC that is what Exhibit Associates does for its clients.)

Once the crates are shipped then the wait begins:  How soon can we be there to start setup.   We like to go as soon as we know the crates will be there.   Of course one thing that has to happen prior to the padding and carpet is laid down is that the electricity is the correct spots.   Nothing like "fishing" cords under the carpet to make adjustments! 

Once that occurs it is Game Time.   The clock is running to get that tradeshow booth set up.  Plex, Fabric, A/V Components, AGAM and a host of other materials come into play.   As a Set Up Crew we need to know what HDMI and SEG are, and the difference between metric and SAE allen wrenches.   Of course your "Set Ups" should be clear and understandable.    (If we do them, they are.)

So the Set Up is almost done, time to trouble shoot.  Are all the lights lighting up?   Are the play backs working for the A/V?  Are the touchscreens working?   Are their any adjustments that need to be made due to unexpected conditions at the tradeshow?

What if the space next to you is open and they turn it into a "rest area"?  Do you adjust the booth at all to take advantage of that fact?   Exhibit Associates has turned a tradeshow booth 90 degrees due to unknown tradeshow conditions.   Of course with the client's  permission.   But as a good Exhibit House one has to be flexible, and be able to respond on a dime!

Yes - respond on a dime, not react.   "We've seen a thing or two" is how the insurance commercial goes, and an experienced Exhibit House has also. 

So the tradeshow booth is ready, Show Time!

Now it's time start thinking about breaking it down, and getting it back to the Exhibit House! 

OC! Part 2

Well - The Show Went off without a hitch....almost.

 

The week here in Kansas City was busy with the Global Entrepreneurship Week.  Over 170 events and this presentation was one of them.  I myself attended 3 other events.   One I wanted to see standard being set by others.  And of course to learn.  

The picture of this tradeshow booth in a hand is the capabilities of our new design software.  (Expect to see more of this type of image.)   The theory is "If it was this easy, you wouldn't need Exhibit Associates!")  

Well we had 90 minutes.  I was asked to fill a certain amount of time up.   Well I planed to fill up my allotted time, but something happened along the way.   We got started late, and the two presenters in-front of me from the Kansas City Chamber and the Department of Commerce had great content and went just a little bit longer than expected.   So I had about 50% of my allotted time.   (Oh Crap!) 

But I did something that was wrong in the journalism world - I buried the lead.   So I pushed fast and hard to get to the "punch line."    I got there, and then had some time for questions.     I covered some truths, The Four Rules, and some absolutes when it comes to tradeshows, and then got asked questions.  Some great, some made me think and some made me wonder.   But to get the opportunity to speak about what it takes to put a tradeshow booth together at the tradeshow exhibit hall was great.    

If you need someone to speak about tradeshows, just let me know! 

Oh Crap! (OC! Part 1)

Show Time!

Next week is Global Entrepreneurship Week.  It is a global coordinated event with activities around the world.  Kansas City has a bunch of events going on.  One event I get to present at!

Oh Crap!

So people are going to file into a room, and then listen to me about tradeshows.

Tradeshow Cycle, Marketing, Unions, yadda, yadda, yadda will all be on the table.  But I need to be entertaining.  What the hell does that mean?    Advice from pros in the speaking world tell me to "connect on a deeper level", "balance between content and style" and "watch your 'ummms'".   All very helpful.  All very useless.

So yes this post is a little different.   Stay tuned for updates!

A Better Mousetrap

Spoke with a Co-Worker.

Well not really a co-worker,  but a company like Exhibit Associates.  It was a meeting of the minds.  Talking about this mousetrap called business.

One part of the conversation was Process.  How do we stop giving away design and time to companies that do not buy?  We once did over 10 versions of design for a company that went to a competitor.  How much design time, estimation and miscellaneous time was spent for nothing?  What is

At Exhibit Associates we have three rules:  No talking about Design without a designer, No detail design development without a financial commitment from the client and Operations owns the time lines.

Operational Timelines are easy.  Why?   Account Management can't make promises they can't keep!  If a client wants a 10x20 inline booth in a week, there are only so many options we have to get that done.  If they want a fully customized 20x20 booth in a week, that is not getting done - ever!

So the Account Management Team knows where to say yes, and where to say - Let me check!

Design Meetings are another thing.  Napoleon stated - "Every French solder carries a marshal's baton in his knapsack."  Everybody is a designer.   Well that is true to a certain extent - but real design takes real work.  So the concept drawn out on a bar napkin can turn into reality, but usually not by the guys at the bar.  Designers hear things different.  It provides a quicker, more effective process, which benefits our clients in the end.

The money rule - well that just get's commitment from the client.   Concepts are one thing, when the conversation moves into detail discussions and design - well, that is every company that does design's bread and butter. 

The co-worker in this situation looked at me like I had just come down from the mountain with items etched in stone.  (Trust me I do not get that look that often/at all.) 

It is a process, it a culture.  While concept of 4DX is important it is the team executing on 4DX that counts.  The three rules just back it up.  Just part of the mousetrap.

#BrandingWorks

I recently went to see our Kansas City Royals play! Great game until the bullpen started to collapse.    

But while there you can't help but notice all the brands being advertised. Local, National, Big, Small, B2B and B2C. So this week Exhibit Associates will (from one photo) highlight the brands that are working in the "K", our MLB stadium.

These brands have event spaces, graphics, and experiential marketing going on as fans come into the park.   Why? Because it works! And as we come up on Tradeshow Season - is your brand being represented best by the graphics in your tradeshow booth? Is an update necessary?

If you can't answer Yes! then maybe it's time for an update.  Contact your Exhibit House today.

#KansasCity #tradeshow #booth #display #design 

August 2nd 2018 ! What a Day!

Most people Thursday August 2nd came and went without much fanfare.   And at Exhibit Associates it should have been uneventful as well.   Now as a company that designs and builds cool things you would think we want "eventful" - but in reality we plan, and we plan some more and then we execute.

But on Thursday we had a chance to excel thanks to a couple of clients.

The Operations Team was overseeing some I&D work at Bartle Hall.   I&D is "Installation and
Dismantle" of tradeshow booths on the tradeshow floor.   On Thursday we had some "issues" to overcome.

First the humidity caused parts of one tradeshow booth to expand just enough so it would not fit together.  Yup - it was such a tight fit that the expansion due to humidity made it so there was no making it fit.   So from the tradeshow floor at Bartle Hall back to our shop (a mere two miles) to sand the wood pieces down to fit correctly.   We thought that was the only issue with that tradeshow booth.   Nope - lights.   New strips, new power strips and a little soldering fixed all that.    When the tradeshow opened at 5PM the booth was good to go! 

You think that is it?   Hang on.

Graphics are important.  The 2nd Exhibit Associates team is setting up tradeshow booth #2.   After it is set we take a picture and send it to the client.  Wrong Graphic!   The right graphic is being overnighted but will not show up until after the show opens.   "Can you get us a new graphics?"   Let's see - we don't have an image, we don't know the size and we have 2 1/2 hours to get it done.   Can we do it? 

The Design Team is now in on this.   The Operations Team is the I&D team.  We have already involved the Fabrication Team for the adjustments to the wood - so why not include the Design Team.  A phone call from the client's graphic team to Exhibit Associates and the decision is made - We can do it!.    At 5:03 PM - actually 3 minutes after the show opens we installed the temporary graphic!   Then we wait for the overnighted graphic and  installed that this morning.

So it was a Team Effort - everyone worked together and got it done for our clients!

Now during an standard "I&D" there are always issues.   But yesterday presented some unique challenges.   So that is why it was quite a Day!

Execution!

That is what it is all about.  When it comes to tradeshows our clients expect their tradeshow booth to be set up and "ready for business" Day 1, Hour 1, Minute 1 of the tradeshow.   

Exhibit Associates has been doing "this" for 40 years.   We have seen it all!  And what we did yesterday might work tomorrow, but it doesn't stop us from trying to improve.  

Process Improvement is something every company should look at.   We here at Exhibit Associates have had turnover due to retirement in some key roles so we are in the middle of a Process Improvement Project called "4DX" or "The Four Disciplines of Execution."  That little diagram in the corner is the overview.   4 Parts.  That is it.  Sounds Simple.

But implementation and success is a process onto itself.   Currently we are having twice weekly meetings, everyone has a copy of the book and we are moving forward.  It is a team effort.

"How can we get better at execution?" is the main question.    Here is the Implementation Process.  ( A little more complex than "4 Parts." )

This is an investment in people.  This is worth it.  Why?   I was told a long time ago once you stop learning, you start losing.  

Our team wants to do great things.  Account Management has to know what is expected of Design, and Fabrication has to know what is coming from Design and Operations has to tie it all together.   But if all four teams are not working together - well that is like an engine with the timing out of whack:  It runs, but that is all you can say about it.

So stay tuned.   Great things to come here at Exhibit Associates! 

Why We All Work For Lily

To understand Lily you have to understand what makes up Exhibit Associates and the people of Exhibit Associates.   

The owners of Exhibit Associates use to have a dog named Franklin.   Franklin was a rescue dog and on the first weekend they had him they bought a toy mouse.  (They named the mouse Timmy.)   Franklin was never far away from Timmy - ever.   And if you ever came around the house Franklin would bark at you, then he would want to get petted by you, and they he would run and get you Timmy - a gift.  Considering it was the only thing he owned they believed it meant a lot for him.   Well most vacations both Franklin and Timmy were left behind.   Friends would dog sit.  They loved Franklin.    Well Franklin got up there in years and finally had to go to that great dog park in the sky.  

Well "The friends" decided to get a dog - and you guessed it, that dog is Lily.  And guess who gets to dog sit - that's right - the owners of Exhibit Associates.   And instead of leaving poor little Lily alone all day, they take her to work.    And then it started.   One or two pictures on Twitter.  Then Facebook, and everywhere.   And the response is amazing for a little brown dog.  And because we know we all work for our pets, we all work for Lily.  #weallworkforlily

So yes we are about tradeshow booths, corporate displays and museum exhibits.   But we are human as well and we like to have fun and enjoy our work.   Just a small insight to Exhibit Associates.

It's simple.

Exhibit Associates, www.exhibitassociates.com is a team.   And we have 4 teams that make up our team.

• Account Management
• Design
• Fabrication
• Services

That is what the new logo is about.   Those 4 hexagons represent our teams. 

Rentals at Exhibit Associates

Rentals!   Systems!

Whether you are looking for a table top display, 10x10, 10x20, 20x20 Island Tradeshow Booth Exhibit Associates can handle all you tradeshow booth rental needs for your show in Kansas City.

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Now - We do rent for our clients for shows in Orlando, Chicago, Vegas, Denver, Dallas, New Orleans, but we recognize we are in a unique position to rent for Kansas City Area Tradeshows.

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If you have a tradeshow in the Kansas City area that you are exhibiting in, and designing and purchasing a customer tradeshow display isn't in your budget, Exhibit Associates offers a variety of custom tradeshow booth rental options.

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Recognize that having a tradeshow booth that looks professional and represents your brand is important.    Our focus of "Your Brand Our Business" applies to our rental options as well.

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Contact Karen Hawkins at khawkins@exhibitassociates.com to find out more about how a solution that involves rentals can give you and your company the impact your brand demands at a price your finance team can handle.

Got to http://www.exhibitassociates.com/kc-rentals to find out more!