Displays

Harold Mintz “Walking the Produce Marketing Association Show”

“Let me start by stating something obvious… If it grabs your attention from an overcrowded aisle, it’s probably a good thing. Every time I found myself stopping to notice a particular booth it was bright yellow (thank you, Chiquita), a backlit booth (yes, Katina, lightboxes are still a thing), or a graphic that made use of high contrast graphics (colorful fruits and vegetables against a white background was quite the popular look).”

bright-colorful-tradeshow-display-graphics

 

 

Oh boy, Harold! I would expect nothing less than this key observation and so many more from a guy who wears the most stylish shoes in the industry. I have had the pleasure of working along side Harold in a previous industry position and always welcome his unique insights and perspectives. His recent re-cap of the Produce Marketing Association Show:

  • Truly acts as a reminder to us close to these projects of the challenges faced with being an effective exhibitor
  • Offers helpful insight for companies looking to participate in trade shows for the first time or organizations that may need a new direction for existing properties

Have a look at the rest of Harold’s insights and let us know what you think.

Tony

Large, colorful, high contrast backdrops like this one draw attention!

Backlit booths get you noticed! Take it from Harold, it worked on him!

Creating Value with Portable Booths

Portable inline booths can be incredibly effective. If you are strategic about the way you lay out and staff your booth, you can enjoy the savings and ease of setup that comes with having a modern inline exhibit with the return on investment of a much larger booth.

We recently ran into an article in one of our favorite trade show publications, Exhibitor Magazine, about ways to maximize small exhibits. Read more in the article, Strategic Small-Booth Designs. This is an incredibly useful guide for those wishing to exhibit on a smaller scale. Below you will find an info-graphic that provides a quick checklist of features to include in your booth, depending on your goals.

It so happens that we are having a sale on our portable exhibits as well. Please visit our IDEA GALLERY for 10% off our portable inline exhibits.

inline trade show portable exhibit

Museum Exhibit Updates Reflect the Audience

It’s easy enough to spot the daily wear and tear on interactive museum exhibits. Display units will also show some wear over time or simply go out of fashion, which means that they’ll need to be updated as well. However, it’s harder to know when exhibits are no longer engaging with patrons. Over time, identifying and providing engagement becomes an even bigger enigma for museums because exhibit updates need to appeal to an increasingly informed and demanding contemporary audience, while also recouping the expense of those often expensive updates.

The important thing to keep in mind is that the exhibits themselves can help museum directors expand their reach into the communities they serve. Diversifying the mix of people visiting the museum increases the percentage of the community members supporting the mission. And, when each visitor can say they had a good experience, the museum will establish an even stronger relationship with the greater community.

museum exhibit updates 7

The Star Wars exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts St. Petersburg appealed to a wide variety of people of all ages. Plus it was such a pleasure to help design and build.

Strategies to Capture More Visitors

There are four different exhibit orientations that provide opportunities for capturing a visitors attention:

  • Exhibit as artifact on display
  • An exhibit that communicates ideas
  • Interactive exhibits
  • An immersive environment

Any updates to an exhibit should follow these closely and fulfill the participant’s expectations. If an exhibit is not well matched with the audience, then they may not be enthusiastic for another visit. So, it’s in the museum’s best interest to provide the widest range of exhibit orientations without straying from their mission. Performing some research into the audience and opting to create ever-green, lasting exhibits can help create a strong foundation.

Audience, First

When reaching out to new audiences, it will be easier to place them into segments, rather than large ethnic or socio-economic groups. Understanding the target segment provides a greater opportunity for connection. Focusing on only one exhibit orientation may have a negative effect with these new segments. Do some research into your community and use your local Chamber of Commerce as a resource to access data about the community. Consider focus groups as a way to assess your community’s mindset and specific needs. We’ve actually participated in a focus group for a local St. Petersburg museum. It was quite interesting and we noticed that the programming and special exhibits have become more and more spectacular since they started the focus groups. It’s definitely worth the investment, as long as you use the resulting data to take action.

museum exhibit updates 3

This exhibit appeals to a particular audience segment – children. Being that it is the Suncoast Youth Conservation Center, it is only appropriate that the content and style are geared towards kids.

Quality Does Matter

Quality design of exhibits and space will capture more interactions with visitors. According to the Smithsonian, the quality of a museum is largely based on the exhibit’s:

  • Use of authoritative presentations
  • Easy-to-use technology
  • Easy-to-do interactions
  • Graphic design
  • Educational focus

There is also a greater expectation that museums provide a more quality experience over other community attractions, even though they are not necessarily in the same category.

Exhibit to Promote Learning

Engaging museum exhibits can facilitate personal and group learning. A good exhibit links to past experiences and everyday events. Any updates to interactivity can promote more identification with the exhibits, as well as the proper interpretation of the exhibit. This will integrate a broader range of audiences and create deeper, developmental experiences.

ADM Two custom designs museum exhibits. We are experts on design, fabrication, and exhibit technology, so give us a call at (813) 887-1960 and one of our knowledgeable staff can assist you with your museum exhibit design and planning. Also, check out some of our other articles to get more information on museum displays.

Backlighting Displays Improves Visibility

Exhibiting at a trade show is a major investment of time, energy and money. That’s why you need to be as visible as possible. But all of the major trade shows have hundreds of exhibitors vying for everyone’s attention. How do you make your booth stand out from all of the others around you?

Research has shown that backlit displays increase visibility, delivering more return on your investment. The video below, Benefits of a Backlit Display, will tell you more about the many benefits and uses for backlit displays.

Simple design elements, like backlit displays and signs, attract more attention and create a buzz about your brand. But a successful trade show appearance does more than increase brand awareness. A compelling booth design becomes a stage where your company engages with more potential customers. They will want to learn more about your products and services. This quickly translates into more qualified leads.

If you’re looking to update or upgrade your exhibit with backlit displays, the ADM Two staff are experts on display design and fabrication, so give us a call at (813) 887-1960. No matter where your event takes place, one of our knowledgeable staff can assist you with your trade show needs. Also, check out some of our other articles to get more information on trade show booth layout and trade show graphics.

Et Cultura Festival Wrap-Up

For the second year in a row, we sponsored Et Cultura Festival in St. Petersburg, FL. This festival is full of interactive sessions, film, music, art and crafts. There was something for everyone! We attended several of the five-day festival’s events, but there was so much going on that we couldn’t possibly see everything. It was a great time, very educational, and lots of fun.

et cultura festival sponsor signage banners trade show

As we walked around, we saw lots of our banners and signage all over the event. These pieces really added color, helped to brand the festival in public spaces, and helped people get around! There are many purposes for signage, especially in the case of Et Cultura, since the footprint of the festival spans much of downtown St. Petersburg and beyond.

et cultura music festival charging station

This year, there were presentations about plant-based nutrition by leading experts in the field, there were gardening showcases and presentations, presentations about elevating education in low income urban areas, affordable housing, and youth development. At one point, they set up a half-pipe and had professional skate boarders and BMX bikers doing tricks. We provided signage and banners to spice up the half pipe. There were concerts at some of the largest venues in St. Pete, including The State Theatre and Jannus Live. Award winning documentary films were screened at Sundial Muvico, and art shows were held at the Morean Center for Clay, the Morean Arts Center, and The Gallery. Needless to say, St. Pete came alive for those five days, and we can’t wait to see what Et Cultura holds in store for us next year.

ADM Two are experts in event signage and displays. Next time you have a music or film festival, give us a call for your signage and VIP area needs.

ADM Two Hosts Ultimate Mixer Tampa Bay

We had the idea to host an event, but wanted to really make it something interesting and unique – not your average mixer or networking event. After a lot of brainstorming and some reflection, we remembered something that used to be pretty big (and exciting) in the Tampa Bay Area – The Ultimate Mixer. The Ultimate Mixer is a collection of all the area’s creative and marketing organizations in one room – truly the ultimate mixer!! So we decided to get everyone together again for the first time in many years for another Ultimate Mixer.

Because we are a display designer and fabricator, we had to bring our “A Game” when it came to the presentation of the space. Just a few of the accouterments that we put together to transform our warehouse from rugged workspace into elegant night club:

event design UltimateMixer-21

  • We printed each organization’s name on our favorite display tables – they are standing tables that have a taller profile and with the logos printed on the front rather than table throws or cloths, we were able to keep a uniformity of appearance for this row of tables that was super streamlined and pleasing to look at. Organizations included Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS Tampa Bay), American Advertising Federation (AAF Tampa Bay), American Institute of Architects (AIA Tampa Bay), Ad 2 Tampa Bay, Legal Marketing Association Tampa, and Public Relations Society of America (PRSA Tampa Bay).

SMPS Event Table

  • We partitioned the space with super long, dark curtains with up-lighting for a dramatic effect.
  • We had floor stickers with marketing and architectural facts to cater to the many organizations that had a presence.

floor decals event

  • We sectioned off some areas using carpeting and couches to create mini-spaces within the larger spaces, almost like living rooms.
  • We had games! There were two places to play Giant Jenga and there was a corn hole section.

branded corn holesleek elegant event furniture

  • Our bars and much of our furniture were sleek white or gray, which was beautiful and elegant in combination with the multi-colored accent lights and the various colors of up-lighting.
  • We provided a step & repeat for photos so our guests could feel special for the evening.

step and repeat printed graphic

  • We brought a natural feel to the environment with some greenery – large green shrubs on either side of the step and repeat, which always adds a warm feel to any space.
  • Large printed wall graphics added a beautiful backdrop to the entire space, making it feel lively and fun.
  • Printed signs hanging from the ceiling added geometry to the overhead space.
  • The DJ Booth was on a glowing stage with a large screen behind – adding to the club-like atmosphere and giving this side of the room a focal point.

digital signage screen

The choices we made for the interior design of this event were both a way of welcoming our guests and helping them feel at home, as well as a showcase of our abilities. We don’t just design great trade show booths – we can transform any space into an inviting, beautiful space for events, conferences and meetings.

ADM Two staff are experts on event space design and fabrication, so give us a call at (813) 887-1960 and one of our knowledgeable staff can assist you with your design, no matter where your event takes place. Also, check out some of our other articles to get more information on trade show booth layouttrade show graphics, and etiquette.

How Cutting-Edge Interactive Displays are Improving Human Resources

Anyone who’s been to a trade show in recent years knows booths and exhibits have never been more interactive and high-tech.

Now it appears all kinds of companies are developing a taste for using similar whiz-bang interactive displays in offices and other workplaces for human resources-related purposes. Indeed, when St. Petersburg, Florida-based national electrical contractor Power Design, several years ago, was looking for a better way to teach employees about all aspects of what the company does and why, it turned to local exhibit designer and builder ADM Two Exhibits and Displays.

Though mostly known in years past for its museum and trade show exhibits, the firm is fast finding a new (and growing) niche in creating interactive exhibits used to educate company employees about all manner of goods and services. The female-founded and led company has recently fashioned everything from high-tech “membership experience rooms” for credit unions, to “employment engagement” areas for health care outfits aimed at helping keep staff up on changing HR-related issues.

“Interacting with HR used to mean you were in trouble,” joked Shannon Bennett, vice president of sales and marketing at ADM Two. “But these days, employees are coming to realize that HR is really about helping employees be as good at, and happy with, their jobs as possible. And interactive display technologies are fast becoming one of the best ways for HR to do this.”

Fast-growing Power Design’s task for ADM Two: help them find a better way to keep their 8,000 employees current on all manner of innovations in electrical contracting work, as well as bring new hires quickly up to speed.

Power Design Interactive Displays

The result is Power Design’s new Best Practices in Action Training Center. Occupying the better part of several large rooms, the interactive display training center uses everything from large computerized touch-screens, to mock-ups of various electrical wiring scenarios, to instruct employees on all aspects of the company’s design and work. With umpteen interactive quizzes, and videos of real and augmented-reality depictions of technical tasks, the center takes participants from concept to completion of every type of project the company handles.

Interactive Display

Read more on HR.com.

Hybrid In-Line Exhibit Case Study: Sunz Insurance

We often meet with clients who have a trade show exhibit that they have outgrown. This was exactly the case with Sunz Insurance – they needed a flexible booth that could be used both 10×10’ and 10×20’ size spaces, a fresh look, and lots of space for interchangeable graphics. We immediately thought a hybrid in-line exhibit was the solution to their problem. They wanted to debut the new booth at the FAIA show in Orlando in June 2016, and then they will also be using the new booth at NAPEO in Austin in September 2016.

sunz insurance in line hybrid trade show booth

The rendering shows the booth with blank walls as a template for versatility.

Exhibit Layout

One of the main challenges we faced was designing a booth that would allow Sunz Insurance to easily change out graphics to focus on their different brand specialties, all within a constrained budget. We also needed to keep the booth simple enough that the show services costs didn’t skyrocket. The client wanted to remain within their previous show services budget, so complicated, lengthy installation was not an option. The hybrid in-line exhibit was the perfect choice to keep installation simple, allow a lot of wall space for graphics, and be flexible enough to fit into both space dimensions. For easy previewing, we created a rendering as an all white model so we could interchange the different graphics to test them on the layout.

Why Hybrid In-Line Exhibit?

The rental furniture provided the finishing touch for the booth. Sunz Insurance decided to rent furniture from our inventory because they wanted to test out the performance and attendee response. This is the beauty of the hybrid option – it allows our clients to test-drive different elements before committing to permanent pieces. The rental option also gives variety to booths on a budget– clients can have their own permanent foundational graphics and structural pieces, and with rentals they have access to a multitude of other pieces that they can mix and match to spice things up. For Sunz Insurance this was a cost effective solution and kept their trade show exhibit cost below the national average.

The hybrid in-line exhibit was the perfect flexible solution for Sunz Insurance.

The hybrid in-line exhibit was the perfect flexible solution for Sunz Insurance.

Sunz Insurance provides innovative and personalized workers’ compensation solutions. Their personalized service and flexibility in creating solutions is the hallmark of their organization. This consultative approach sets them apart from the competition. For more information, visit their website at www.sunzinsurance.com.

 

Production Display for Clare Controls Case Study

Clare Controls is a personalized home automation company that offers some pretty exciting technology. Take one look at their sleek website and you know you’re working with a cutting edge tech firm. Technology on this level can be a bit difficult to visualize, so Clare Controls needed us to help create a production display that would streamline their sales process, but more importantly, allow their customers to experience and understand the value of this technology that they have the option to purchase.

production display clare homes

The production display looking sharp, sleek, and simple to understand.

As Clare Controls described to us, the process for selling their technology involves multiple levels of communication with different team members, all about a product that the customer could not experience firsthand. This was an obstacle for the sales reps as well as the consumers. If the consumer decides not to purchase the tech because of lack of understanding, they could be missing out on a beneficial technology that could improve their lives, simply because communication was restricted. Creating the production display opened communication by allowing interactivity to be the main form of sharing information.

production display fabrication

One of the technology package options, with interactive, functioning assets.

This was an exciting project for both the client and us, and as usual, we took the time to fully understand the product, the workflow, and the goals. We feel that we cannot create the best displays if we don’t have a complete picture. One of the challenges in this particular project was compressing a lot of important technical information into simple to consume silos or options that could be displayed side by side for comparison, overview, and interaction. With user interfacing technology like this, it is important to perform testing to make sure the user experience is optimal, so we built some test units. We used feedback from these units to inform our final adjustments, ensuring that our solution was comprehensive yet straightforward.

The end product is pretty impressive. We love that this seemingly simple presentation is full of complexity behind the scenes. Take one look at the reverse side of the production display and you realize how complicated it is. However, looking at the front, you see a very sleek, easy-to-understand, beautiful interactive display that allows you to process and comprehend the technology within moments.

production display clare homes trade show

Behind the scenes of the production displays.

Clare Controls creates simple to operate home technologies that offer options for security, comfort, and entertainment. For more information, visit their website at www.clarecontrols.com.

ADM Two staff are experts on production display design and fabrication, so give us a call at (813) 887-1960 and one of our knowledgeable staff can assist you with your trade show booth, no matter how tight your budget or how challenging communication is – we will make it work. Also, check out some of our other articles to get more information on trade show booth layouttrade show graphics, and etiquette.