We coming up on 60 days before our next show and my client an I have a challenge: finding an exhibit.
My client's problem is common: every few years on their show schedule there is a conflict between two major shos. Both demand the use of the custom properties, but one market prevails.
One way to deal with it would be to ship the exhibit between shows (from site to site). However, in this case, one show ends in New Orleans on the 7th and the next one opens in Vegas on the 9th. Too little time to ship too much and still get it down and up.
What else can we do?
Take a look at what properties you have in your invetory. Can you piece together parts to make a workable exhibit?
Can you rent something that fits your needs and doesn't compromise your brand?
Both are viable, but we are choosing the former. We have enough, but may have to build to add to the inventory.
I'll keep you posted in this space on what transpires between now and when the NEw Orleans show opens on May 6.
Stay tuned. What would you all do?
TTSG
Showing posts with label exhibit houses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label exhibit houses. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Cost-cutting ideas
Let's ring in the new year with some ideas on how to save and make your exhibit marketing dollar (peso, euro, lira, drachma) go further.
There are several ways you can make your investments and expenditures go further. Here are three ideas:
Streamline current processes. Take a look how you are spending your money. Are you asking your vendors to do things you could be doing? Is there something that's being duplicated for each show that could be done once in the year? One of our clients, when she came on board as TSM discovered that her predecessor had had the exhibit company buying exhibit space and marking it up! Do you have a similar example?
Review your freight plans. Do you have several shows in a row using the same properties in close geographic proximity? That is, is that 20x20 at the January show in Las Vegas going to be used within 2 weeks again at a show in LA when the shipment originates at your warehouse in Dallas? By planning ahead on configuration, routing and packing, you can save freight (no back and forth) and pull and prep charges by your exhibit house.
Standardize configurations. Do you use the same properties for all of your configurations? Is the 20x20 configuration different each time? Does it have to be? Or can it use the same properties (cabinets, headers, walls) each time? Is the 20x20 the core of the 20x30 and 30x30? By using the same properties for each configuration, you standardize the pull and prep costs and the shipment size.
Lesson Learned: a simple review taking a few hours could yield a savings of many dollars over a year's time.
Happy New Year!
TTSG
There are several ways you can make your investments and expenditures go further. Here are three ideas:
- Streamline current processes.
- Review your freight plans.
- Standardize configurations.
Streamline current processes. Take a look how you are spending your money. Are you asking your vendors to do things you could be doing? Is there something that's being duplicated for each show that could be done once in the year? One of our clients, when she came on board as TSM discovered that her predecessor had had the exhibit company buying exhibit space and marking it up! Do you have a similar example?
Review your freight plans. Do you have several shows in a row using the same properties in close geographic proximity? That is, is that 20x20 at the January show in Las Vegas going to be used within 2 weeks again at a show in LA when the shipment originates at your warehouse in Dallas? By planning ahead on configuration, routing and packing, you can save freight (no back and forth) and pull and prep charges by your exhibit house.
Standardize configurations. Do you use the same properties for all of your configurations? Is the 20x20 configuration different each time? Does it have to be? Or can it use the same properties (cabinets, headers, walls) each time? Is the 20x20 the core of the 20x30 and 30x30? By using the same properties for each configuration, you standardize the pull and prep costs and the shipment size.
Lesson Learned: a simple review taking a few hours could yield a savings of many dollars over a year's time.
Happy New Year!
TTSG
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Choosing an exhibit house
I was reminded of this process and experience recently when a business acquaintance told me he had to make some changes to his program. Whether it's cost-, geography- or personality-driven, sometimes a change has to be made.
Moving your exhibit properties is a big deal--or not Others in the industry have written exhaustively (and well) about this topic, among them Candy Adams and others on the staff of Exhibitor Magazine. This not meant to be an end-all or be-all, rather a starting place. Remember these three points when considering a new exhibit company:
1. Do you like them?
2. Are they convenient?
3. Can they do what you ask?
Do you like them? My chamber of commerce friends all live by the axiom, "people do business with people they like". It's true. If you don't want to meet the account executive or any of teh staff, why bother? That interpersonal relationship will drive just about everything else. It's like everything else in life: it's all about timing and chemistry. This also includes do you like the quality and type of their work.
Are they convenient? This doesn't necessarily mean that they have to be around the corner, but access is important. When I sold exhibits, one of the biggest obstacles to engaging a new client was where you were located in relation to where their program was managed. However, access and convenience can also mean where your properties are in relation to where you major shows are, the cost of storage and transportation in Texas versus California versus New Jersey, or the proximity of other vendors (graphics, van lines) to the main location. It also means do they have FTP sites, can you see photos of your properties or manage them from on-line, and other access measures.
Can they do what you ask? If you need a rental property at the last minute in a city you're not familiar with, can they come through? How many passes of a graphic revision does it take to get to production ready? Do they understand your properties well enough that if you call and ask about the "graphic that fits into the light box of the 20x20 we used at the NACS show" they will know which graphic you are talking about? Are they consistent about delivering what you ask regularly, on time and within your budget parameters? Do they ask and then confirm what it is you want before doing it and then sending you a bill anyway? This really goes back to point one.
If you do decide to change exhibit companies, always, always do it with professionalism and class. Don't burn the bridge because you never know when you will encounter these folks again. Be sure to settle up your bills, ask for and get what is yours and make a clean break.
Lesson learned: doing business with people you respect and like for a cost you can afford will always result in the product you need and want.
TTSG
Moving your exhibit properties is a big deal--or not Others in the industry have written exhaustively (and well) about this topic, among them Candy Adams and others on the staff of Exhibitor Magazine. This not meant to be an end-all or be-all, rather a starting place. Remember these three points when considering a new exhibit company:
1. Do you like them?
2. Are they convenient?
3. Can they do what you ask?
Do you like them? My chamber of commerce friends all live by the axiom, "people do business with people they like". It's true. If you don't want to meet the account executive or any of teh staff, why bother? That interpersonal relationship will drive just about everything else. It's like everything else in life: it's all about timing and chemistry. This also includes do you like the quality and type of their work.
Are they convenient? This doesn't necessarily mean that they have to be around the corner, but access is important. When I sold exhibits, one of the biggest obstacles to engaging a new client was where you were located in relation to where their program was managed. However, access and convenience can also mean where your properties are in relation to where you major shows are, the cost of storage and transportation in Texas versus California versus New Jersey, or the proximity of other vendors (graphics, van lines) to the main location. It also means do they have FTP sites, can you see photos of your properties or manage them from on-line, and other access measures.
Can they do what you ask? If you need a rental property at the last minute in a city you're not familiar with, can they come through? How many passes of a graphic revision does it take to get to production ready? Do they understand your properties well enough that if you call and ask about the "graphic that fits into the light box of the 20x20 we used at the NACS show" they will know which graphic you are talking about? Are they consistent about delivering what you ask regularly, on time and within your budget parameters? Do they ask and then confirm what it is you want before doing it and then sending you a bill anyway? This really goes back to point one.
If you do decide to change exhibit companies, always, always do it with professionalism and class. Don't burn the bridge because you never know when you will encounter these folks again. Be sure to settle up your bills, ask for and get what is yours and make a clean break.
Lesson learned: doing business with people you respect and like for a cost you can afford will always result in the product you need and want.
TTSG
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