As I sit on the show floor at PMA - Produce Marketing Association Fresh Summit , the annual premier show in the United States for the produce industry, I am once again reminded of the value of relationships in our industry. This year Absolute Exhibits was honored to service the needs of nearly 50 exhibitors at this world class event and we couldn’t have done it without a team behind us!

While many exhibit builders and I&D companies will speak in vein of the general service contractors, GES, Freeman, Champion, and the like, Absolute Exhibits values the relationships we have developed with these companies. As the largest supplier of rental exhibits at the 2009 PMA show held in at the Anaheim Convention Center this year, it was key for us to work in unison with the general services contractor, GES. Through careful preshow preplanning meetings and coordination with GES, the staff of Absolute Exhibits was able to coordinate early move in dates, pre-move in electrical setup, early hanging sign rigging, and extended dismantle time.

What does this all mean and why does it matter? All the planning and coordination, the pulling of strings, and the levying of the power of long fostered relationships translates into savings for our customers! Less overtime and more straight time hours to work, less time trucks sit waiting to be loaded and unloaded, and the best crews assigned to get tasks completed mean lower costs and higher savings. Tradeshow are about return on investments. Bringing in leads and closing more deals increases ROI but so does lowering costs.

While the goal of Absolute Exhibits is to make the process of transport, install, and dismantle of exhibits appear to be no sweat, the reality is that this all happens because of hard work and preplanning. Not all exhibit and I&D companies have the same relationships. Like so many things in life, it is not just what you know but who you know too!

In a weak economy, business competition is more fierce than in good times. One key to success is watching your competitors. On my bookmark bar in my web browser, I keep a folder entitled “competitors” in which I keep a comprehensive list of links to nearly fifty exhibit companies I like to keep an eye on.

Each week I visit ten websites belonging to the opposition and thus hit each competitor’s website about once a month. This routine takes me about 15 minutes each week. Often I find that not much if anything has changed from my prior visit, however occasionally you find something that sparks interest or provokes a thought. Recently I had a moment of clarity while performing this exercise. What I found is that most of our contemporaries are clearly great artists but I can’t tell if they are great craftsmen!

Interestingly, what I have found is that most exhibit company websites are full of great looking renderings of exhibits. These renderings are wonderful works of art, and very interesting concepts for tradeshow exhibits, but where are the pictures of the completed exhibit booths? At Absolute Exhibits, we too are great artists! Our design department creates beautiful computer designs and renderings that make for very nice images, however our business is to build the design - we are craftsmen.

When you browse our website, www.absoluteexhibits.com, you will find not just a bunch of artistic renderings but proof, proof that we can build high image, quality tradeshow exhibit booths. The proof is in the form of photographs of exhibits on the tradeshow floor. Updated monthly, the image galleries of our site contain pictures of exhibits citing show name, and location. Real photographs of real exhibits build by Absolute Exhibits, not just concepts that never have come to realization. We are artists but most importantly, we are craftsmen.

When we begin the courtship process with a prospective client, it is rare that we are the only exhibit company they are looking at working with. Current economic conditions dictate that we all must be ruthless shoppers, on the hunt for the best value. Not all exhibits are built the same and a rendering can be very deceiving. During the shopping process, don’t accept renderings as reality, ask for pictures of exhibits built in a similar fashion by the prospective supplier to that of what is being pitched. No pictures, no references, no deal! Be sure to work with an exhibit supplier who has done it many times before, practice makes perfect!

Todd Koren
President & CEO, Absolute Exhibits, Inc.