Displayit.com's Blog - Trade Show Displays, Booths, & Exhibits

Trade Show Displays: Buy, Rent, or Refurbish?

The slow economic recovery continues to affect many companies' bottom lines. While marketing is vital for drumming up new business, the marketing budget is one of the first to be cut when money is tight. Trade shows are a great way to get your company's name out there and engage with existing customers and sales prospects face-to-face; however, sometimes trade shows can be quite costly. Don't worry...if you've got a show coming up and can't afford to buy a new display outright, you can still exhibit!

The results of EXHIBITOR Magazine's 2011 Rental/Refurb Survey are in, and the respondents agreed: exhibit refurbishments and rental displays are great alternatives when you're on a budget.

We couldn't agree more. Displayit seeks to make exhibiting affordable for everyone, regardless of his or her budget.

If you're brand-new to exhibiting and you want to "test-drive" a display before committing to it long-term, consider renting a display. If you have an awesome new promotional campaign, but you're not quite ready to replace your exhibit hardware, then you can still give your booth a fresh look by updating your graphics. 

Whether you need a new display or a rental, a refurbishment or just some plain old advice, Displayit can help you with your trade show needs. Schedule a free consultation with a Trade Show Success Coach today!  

Are You Ready to Give "Green" Displays the Green Light?

Although the green movement is certainly not a new concept, it seems like "being green" is on lots of people's minds these days, and not just environmental activists. Legislators. Corporate executives. Filmmakers. Architects, engineers, fashion designers; the list goes on and on. Green is everywhere. Concerns about global warming, environmental toxins, and gas shortages have driven people to look for alternative forms of energy and alternative ways of creating and designing the products that we use in our everyday lives. 

The trade show industry has definitely been impacted; we are seeing more and more manufacturers offering green exhibiting and event marketing products, and they are also incorporating green design when manufacturing those products. We think it's great that more and more people are having discussions about being good stewards of our environment. 

EXHIBITOR magazine recently published an article that discussed the importance of using green graphics, and they listed five of the best-selling green substrates available on the market today. Here's what made the cut:

• Coroplast
• Honeycomb boards
• Styrene
• Jet 220
• Showcard

Click here to read the full article. 

We have seen the demand for environmentally-friendly products continue to grow, and we have answered that demand by offering our clients a number of sustainable exhibiting solutions to choose from. Our selection of eco-friendly displays and event marketing products includes banner stands, table covers, table top displays, modular exhibits, and counters. 

Our Eco-Systems products use a number of green materials, such as recycled aluminum extrusions, sorghum board, 100% recycled soda bottles, biodegradable carpeting, and water-based, low-VOC (volatile organic compound) or VOC-free stains and finishes.   

To view the full list of our sustainable, environmentally-friendly trade show displays and exhibit products, click on the preceding link, or enter the word "green" in the keyword search box, which is located at the top of our homepage.   

The Value of Simplicity in Trade Show Displays

   Have you ever heard of the "K.I.S.S. principle" or Occam's razor? Both stress the importance of simplicity. 

   When it comes to face-to-face marketing, finding a great trade show display is only half of the battle. You also need to make sure that you're using compelling, effective graphic design.

   Did you know that you only have 2-3 seconds to get prospects' attention? That's an incredibly short amount of time to entice someone to come and talk to you.

   We want our clients to have a successful show from beginning to end. Purchasing good display hardware isn't enough to set you apart from your competition. That's why we've written an article called, "The Prime Directive of Trade Show Graphic Design: Keep it Simple." Read on for some great information...   

Shipping Your Trade Show Display: How Items Get From Point A to Point B

   

   When shipping items to your event, you typically have two options available to you: advanced warehouse and direct-to-show. What does each method involve? Read on for more details.   

• Advanced Warehouse – Show materials are shipped to the event a few weeks before it begins. Your items are stored at an off-site warehouse until show setup starts. Once set-up begins, a show contractor transports your items from the advanced warehouse site to the event.

• Direct-to-Show Shipping – Items are shipped directly to the show for a pre-scheduled delivery. This option is much riskier; you'll have to ensure your items are delivered on a specific date, within a very specific time frame. Show organizers typically charge more for direct-to-show deliveries as well. 

   Money-saving tip: If all of your materials are portable enough, ship the items directly to the hotel where you're staying. Hotels typically don't charge fees for receiving the items, and you'll eliminate warehousing and drayage expenses altogether!  

    Drayage? What's that? It's the cost of moving exhibit items from the shipping/receiving dock at the show to and from your booth space. The price of drayage is based on the size and weight of your trade show display, and it can be quite costly.

 

The Art of the Matter - Improving Image Quality for Trade Show Graphics

  

   When it comes to artwork, we encounter two issues quite often: 1) poor image quality and 2) confusion about differences between rasterized and vectored art.  

   It can be difficult to find pictures suitable for use on a large exhibit, especially specific product images. Hiring a photographer to take high-resolution images of your products is ideal; however, if a photographer isn't in your budget, you can use images from a stock photography site (such as iStockphoto or shutterstock images). For most of the exhibits we sell, images that are 100 DPI (dots per inch) at full size is sufficient.   

   We also deal frequently with confusion about the difference between raster images and vector images. Any "real-life" photo is going to be a pixelated, or “raster” image. Vector images are comprised of shapes that contain all of the elements of the image. The shapes, which are outlined like blueprints, can be scaled to sizes as large as needed without compromising image quality. We recommend “outlining” fonts in this manner as well. Outlining a font is the process of converting letters into a vectored format to ensure the desired font shows up appropriately; therefore, you wouldn't need to send a separate font file when submitting artwork information to a trade show display vendor.

   Questions? Contact us. We're ready to help.

 

Displayit.com Relaunch - Simplifying the Way You Buy Trade Show Displays

Check out the all-new displayit.com. We're excited to unveil our new logo and present our customers with a more organized, streamlined layout. Our thanks to Matt at 9Ball Design for his help with this enormous project!

New features: 

Improved navigation - Product categories have been simplified and reorganized, making the search for a banner stand or a modular display far less overwhelming.  

Tips and tricks - Articles loaded with information, including product specs, the latest industry trends, and advice on creating more dynamic displays.

 Tabs - Find the information you need more easily - from general information to available fabric and print colors.

 

What do you think of the new site? Leave a comment below, or share your feedback with us on Facebook or Twitter.

 

 

 

                         

Exhibiting 101: Using Pre-Show Marketing for Trade Show Success

You've decided to attend a trade show. So how do you get people excited about the event? Better yet, how do you let people know you're attending? The answer: pre-show marketing. 

Pre-show marketing is targeted advertising directed at attendees prior to start of the trade show. Pre-show marketing, if well-executed, is a great way to generate excitement for the show and increase your odds of a successful sales campaign. Below are some ideas:

• e-mail blasts

• promotional products (such as company-branded coffee mugs)

• telemarketing

• press releases

• promote your presence at the trade show or event via your website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

• offer coupons for a free item; prospects redeem the coupon when they visit your booth at the show

Remember: all pre-show marketing should relate to your overall message for the event. Will your message be the same at each of the trade shows you plan on attending? Is your message a general brand message? Keeping these questions in mind will aid you in honing your pre-show marketing strategy, choosing your exhibit graphics, and determining what kind of trade show display is right for you.

  

                                 

Walking Forward with Displayit: Replacement Graphic Purchases to Benefit Charity

We are nearly one month into our fundraising campaign, and we are happy to announce that we have raised nearly $2400 for WFEM!

A big "thank you" to all of our incredible customers who have helped make this possible.

It's not too late; you too can help. Purchase a replacement graphic during November or December, and 10% of your purchase will benefit Kenyan children in need.

Learn more about Walking Forward with Displayit here.

      

Are You Out of Line? Converting Fonts for Trade Show Graphics

When you're designing trade show graphics, it's important to be conscious of how your art will look once your display is enlarged to its final size.

Many people are aware of the importance of using vectored illustrations; however, text sometimes falls by the wayside.

Once you outline text, it's converted into a vectored format. Vectored text can be scaled infinitely without any loss of image quality, which means that your text will appear smooth and crisp at any size or resolution.  

Another advantage of outlining your text is that you are able to send all of your art to your graphics printer at once; no need to send the font as an additional attachment.

For more information, read our article on how to outline text in Adobe Illustrator, and visit our Graphic Design Services page for additional resources.

 

Xpress Yourself with an Xpressions Graphic Backwall Display

Xpressions displays have taken the trade show industry by storm, and it's no wonder: the design possibilities are endless!

Fabric graphic panels are set up on two planes, creating a striking, three-dimensional look, and the portable, lightweight frames set up in less than thirty seconds.

Displayit has a wide assortment of frame sizes available, ranging from table top, pyramid-shaped displays to 5 quad, X-frame displays  and 10 quad pyramid frames.

Visit displayit.com to view the full line.