Stretching your trade show dollar — Drayage.

So I was filling my car this weekend and it hit me, kind of like a frog who realizes he’s being boiled alive. $52.70 worth of ouch. Now, I know that prices have been going up and the American dollar is about as a strong as a wet noodle, but this weekend at the pump I finally felt it.

So, with financial ruin looming, what do we do? At work, how do we stretch our tradeshow dollar and in the process keep our heads off the corporate chopping block? Let’s begin with a concept called drayage.

For those who don’t know, ‘drayage’ is a service for moving your display from the truck to the show floor, and back again after the show. Drayage  also includes removing and storing your empty cases. It can cost anywhere from fifty cents to over a dollar per pound. So for every hundred pounds, that means you're paying $50 to $100 so someone else can transport your display.

Here are a few things that most people don’t know… Read the full article...

Tags: trade show, tips, sales, ken pettit

Mesh Banner (9 oz.)

Premium Mesh Banner for use outdoors as wall coverings, on scaffolding, and as backdrops for theater and television.

BIG Images announces the availability of custom printed, full color mesh banner, as an addition to its standard line of outdoor media.

This mesh banner is a 17-mil product made from polyester scrim base fabric impregnated with PVC. This coated construction allows for outstanding image quality and unsurpassed lay-flat properties. The lightweight substrate combined with reduced wind resistance makes it ideal for extremely large graphics being installed outdoors.



Available for immediate purchase, this product is recommended for the following applications:

• Outdoor wall coverings.
• On scaffolding.
• Murals.
• Backdrops.
• Outdoor displays.

Tags: products, media, trade show

Presentation Charity Checks

BIG Images announces large dry-erasable presentation checks.

BIG Images announces the availability of custom printed full color dry erase checks as an addition to its standard line of products. This products is designed as an inexpensive solution for presentations and publicity events to present money, awards, and donations. With the dry-erase laminate as an available option the product is durable and reusable, saving money and needless waste.

Available for immediate download are 7 presentation check templates. These 7 basic styles, designed at 18" x 36", can be used as starting points when designing your checks. All templates are provided in Adobe Illustrator CS1 “.ai” format. You will need Adobe Illustrator, or a program that can read the .ai file type, in order to edit the check templates. The usual caveats apply — these templates are provided as is, for BIG Images customer’s use only.

Available immediately, this reusable product is recommended for the following applications:

• Publicity events.
• Presentations.
• Donations.
• Awards Ceremonies.

To learn more about BIG Images dry-erasable checks visit the dry-erase check product page.

Tags: media, products, trade show, ideas

Congratulations Designer Sleeves!

I love my job! BIG Images often gets to work with companies just starting out, companies that find themselves at the ground level, releasing innovative new products.

Recently we worked with VRS Marketing to produce tradeshow graphics for their booths at the Consumer Electronics Show and MacWorld. They’re a small local company based here in San Luis Obispo County, but they have some revolutionary ideas.

When they debuted their new laptop bags this week at CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics trade show, none of us had any idea they would do so well; amid the chaos and fanfare they have garnered the attention of NBC, Tech Digest, and many online blogs covering the show. Here’s what one reviewer had to say about the new laptop bags… Read the full article...

Tags: trade show

As with anything worth doing, constant improvement is the only way to success. As the 2007 tradeshow season comes to a close, I felt it would be wise to discuss a few methods you can employ to help make 2008 an even more effective trade show season. Serious reflection on your company’s performance this year will allow you to improve next year. You can trim the fat. Turn your weaknesses into strengths. Turn your strengths into industry-dominating forces… Read the full article...

Tags: trade show, sales, business, ken pettit

War Stories from the Trade Show Floor — Cover Your Assets

Everyone remembers when Obi Wan Kenobi said to Luke Skywalker “You will never see a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” He was, of course, talking about Mos Eisley, the spaceport on Luke's home planet of Tatooine. However, had Obi Wan been in the trade show industry, I'm fairly certain he might have instead said “There is but one more wretched hive of scum and villainy, New York City’s Jacob Javits Convention Center”.

You see, several years ago I was managing the installation of a million dollar booth at Javits. Out of all the union run-ins I encountered at that show, this one stands out as the most bizarre… Read the full article...

Tags: trade show, tips, ken pettit

Let's face it: the tradeshow environment is not a zen garden. There, you will never find balance and peace. Instead, you'll find situations like the Samsonite luggage commercial of old. You know the one: hulking gorillas crash into suitcases with all their might, shredding its contents.


I've seen and heard of all manner of horror stories from the show floor, and they can be truly grisly. 'Bob the tattooed flowerist' drives over your case of graphics while delivering the ferns you ordered. FedEx decides your booth needed a vacation — why else would its last known location be Palm Beach, Florida?

The point is nothing ever goes as planned. So, what then? What can be done in advance to minimize the inevitable? You plan for disappointment and heartbreak, and in short, you develop a Plan B. Luckily for you, I've been there, and I've found two objects that will save your hide almost every time.

The first is what I call a Contingency Kit. It's simply a large tool box with the following in it: Read the full article...

Tags: trade show, planning, tips, ken pettit

So here we are; it’s April and many of you are in the thick of your tradeshow season. With that in mind, I decided to discuss what NOT to do on the tradeshow floor. Without fail, every time I attend a show, I see staff blunders, gaffes, and other faux pas. How do you set yourself apart in this rough and tumble world? Well, let me tell you.

Sitting

The tradeshow environment is a tough one. I know that. By the end of the day your entire body feels weak and numbed. I also know that the next day you’d rather have your legs amputated than stand on them, but buck up! When you’re sitting, you look lazy and less approachable. In that state, lead-generating opportunities will pass you by like grandma getting passed on the highway.

Talking with other booth staff

Remember: this is not the breakroom and you’re not at the show to talk with “Bob” from R&D. Save the conversation for dinner. Otherwise, if you’re in the middle of chumming it up, show attendees will not even try to interrupt your conversation to ask for information. The same goes for the cell phone as well; if you need to take a call, excuse yourself from the booth… Read the full article...

Tags: trade show, tips, ken pettit

Increase your trade show results through design consistency

Feet throbbing, calves aching, staring blankly at the ceiling as I lay on my back in my hotel room; glad this was the last day of the tradeshow. It’s amazing, the simple things a numb mind will focus on, like the fire sprinkler over my bed... Tradeshows — the three ringed circus of the corporate world.

There is one last task before I can go to sleep, however. I have to figure out what I’m going to take home. We all know tradeshows are a cacophony of chaos and these bags of cheap swag and brochures next to my suitcase are proof. This is the process (you’ll want to pay attention here):

• Cheap pens, key fobs and other useless giveaways — trashed.
• T-shirts and neat toys my boys will like — set-aside.
• Letter openers, pocket knives and the likes — trash, airport security will make me toss ’em anyway.

So, here’s the question… how do you design in such a way as to keep your literature out of the hotel room trash can? The answer is simple but implementation is not.

In order to save your marketing materials from a recycle-bin fate… Read the full article...

Tags: trade show, tips, design, ken pettit