The Paperwork Nightmare Continues ...

		“For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.” - Alice Kahn Yes, it is true – if you want the exhibit hall light bulbs turned off – you pay for that. However, the dramatic effect you can achieve can be phenomenal and far worth the money. What else do you pay for? Here is a new one in many convention venues – you pay to give bottled water away. You are taking from the convention center revenue, so the expectation is that you will order your bottled water with your logo from catering services. You must pay for a security guard for after hour events. If you do not have a payment and credit card authorization or a method of payment form on file with the show contractor you will go nowhere fast. Without the correct forms with payment they will wait until you get to the show to do your work. Once again – always read you exhibitor manual – call if you have questions, use your exhibit house for their knowledge and never assume!      Need a pop-up display? A billboard in a bag? A table throw? Flooring? Check out the Absolute Exhibits online store at www.DisplaysandExhibits.com or call Nate Tieman at 714-685-2818 for immediate service!		Here it is 2007, technology reigns supreme and yet some things just cannot and will not change. The paperwork needed to complete your exhibit experience must be completed and in order and into the show, on time, or you will pay stiff penalties and worse yet – nothing will happen in your exhibit space until you arrive at show site. That said and this being your number one priority now that you have secured your exhibit space – what should you do? Options? a) pay your exhibit house to do this for you on their credit card – this costs approximately 25% over the show costs or b) do this gruesome task by yourself or c) work with an exhibit house that will help you through the paperwork nightmare – working with you to complete forms while using your company credit cards – so there are no additional costs.      If you choose to use the online manual be prepared to give the I.D. number and your password to your display house so that they can work alongside you to give you all the correct information. In most cases your exhibit house will not be your installation company and thus there is another layer of people who must have your onsite information. Consider working with a full service exhibition house that offers all services combined – your display, your installation team and your paperwork all handled by the same company. This is a real plus when you need to point the finger – you will have only one contact with whom you are working. There are many independent full service exhibition houses especially in key cities like Chicago, Orlando and of course, Las Vegas. Remember to shop around and ask key questions – take some time to investigate and make your decision – the show contractor is not the only full service game in town.
		The world turned upside down for us from December 5-7 at ExpoSystems 2006 - ITMExpo in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Absolute Exhibits did what we tell all of our clients to do – we took our show on the road. The largest amount of clients that work with us outside of the USA come from Brazil, working with our International Service Director, Marcos Costa. So for our first trip we went to the Exhibitor Show of Brazil. It was a very successful outing and we will plan similar experiences this year in Germany and the UK at their version of the Exhibitor Show. Now, why did it turn us upside down? Well it brought to light why foreign clients, for the most part, have so many issues in attending American shows. They have no unions, their pay rate is far less than to American laborers, and in turn their show costs are sometimes 50% less than than the USA.      Todd Koren, our president, along with Marcos Costa visited a company that produces exhibits in Brazil of a similar size as Absolute Exhibits. Except – they have 150 employees while we have 40. Yet annually we do the same amount of business. Their exhibits are all custom, they build right on the show floor, they paint on the show floor – and their designs are fabulous as witnessed in these pictures taken by the show photographer, Andres of Olhardo Andres. So what have we learned? We still must build in our shop to be ready for a 2-3 day move-in schedule – but we are going to add some of their techniques to our rental stock and offer more customized designs and new 3D signage. We cannot argue with show prices for the concrete floor, or union practices – but we can try to help our clients get the most bang for their buck. Some things in Brazil and all over Europe and Asia are standard practice like raised floors – that will be along time coming for reasonable pricing – however, we can help our clients look their absolute best – that is our New Year’s resolution.