Spend less on Drayage - But don't compromise Marketing Impact

One of our lovely colleagues brought in a delightful treat today – Paczki’s. Paczki’s, a doughnut/pastry of polish/french origin, are sold only one or two days each year. Apparently, doughnut restaurateurs do have a conscience when it comes to your waistline.

Why is it, then, that some exhibit houses have fewer scruples when it comes to the weight of your exhibit, or the SIZE of your material handling bill? Why is one of the most consistent features of a custom exhibit- heavy, bulky materials – a surefire way to clobber your drayage budget?

A modern exhibit design should be designed around some basic constraints – weight being a significant driver in that equation. When you look at a design, pay attention to materials. You may have to ask some pointed questions to get down to brass tacks on this aspect of a company’s design (sorry for the heavy-handed reference to fabric, one of our favorite weight-loss measures).

While aiming to reduce weight is among the chief goals of an exhibit house’s construction methods, this can become a double edged sword: Read the rest of this entry »

Share

Solar Power International in October 09 - Rental Exhibit

Here’s a question I’ve been asking myself lately (and yes, I *do* hear voices):

“Would I prefer that exhibitors gave me a separate budget for their exhibit (show-services not-included), or one, all-inclusive budget?”

You see, the former means that I can give my designer one-price to design towards. Client says we have $20-25,000 to spend on their 20×30 ft. exhibit,  and they have a separate budget for I&D, Drayage, Shipping, etc. SIMPLE.

The latter means I need to “back-out” the cost of the exhibit. My designer is building an exhibit based on a price that is in-flux: we can’t estimate services until we have a design. And as the exhibit increases in scope, so do the services!

Except that this is 2010… Read the rest of this entry »

Share