Exhibitors Show Off

LAS VEGAS—Recent news indicates the exhibit design-build business is in the doldrums, what with the spate of bankruptcies and reorganizations. But you'd never know it walking the floor of Exhibitor Show, March 14-18 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

After years of trotting out the same tired old properties, exhibit designers and display houses large and small went all out this year to make a splash. And they say it's not because business is bad, but because it's about to get better – and they all want a piece of the action.

Take, for instance, Transformit. The fabric tension display company, started in Maine by sculptor Cynthia Thompson, staged its first big-player-in-the-exhibit-industry move at Exhibitor. Although the company previously had a small presence in the show, this year, besides executive-producing the opening night party, Transformit filled a 20'x30' space in the show with a 20-foot-tall, eye-catching exhibit made entirely of products it rents and sells.

"For 25 years, we did only curves. Now we've moved into rectilinear designs," said Thompson. "And we're in both event marketing and exhibits, so I wanted to have Transformit looked on as not just a vendor, but someone who can do the whole job."

As if it were the mantra of the moment, virtually every designer at Exhibitor was singing the "We do event marketing too" song.

"The most notable change I've seen is that event marketing is more of interest," said Jim Notarianni, director of marketing for Exhibit Works. "Three-dimensional design is still important, but creating a total experience is what it's all about today."

He said that's why Exhibit Works didn't bring any literature or promotional gadgets to pass out. Rather, interested attendees were invited to visit a "brand wall," to pick out colors and images that best described their companies' messaging while talking with a sales representative.

"We wanted to invite customers in to tell us about themselves, give us a sense of what brand means to them," said Notarianni, hinting at another trend made apparent at the show.

Nik Fradgley, manager of Skyline's exhibit, said the former pop-ups-only company went with its "bold departure" – a sparsely decorated 20'x40' overarched by a blue and white sail-like structure – to draw attention to what the company could do for clients, not the company itself.

Added Mike Thimmesch, senior marketing manager for Skyline: "We're putting less emphasis on products and manufacturing and more emphasis on our team. We want customers to tell us what we can do for them."

Others, however, were clearly showing off. Exhibitgroup/Giltspur, the largest exhibit house left standing, completely revamped its serious, sedate image and plopped a 40'x40' carnival funhouse right at the entrance to the Exhibitor showfloor. "The point is to show everyone how fun we are to work with," explained David Ross, corporate vice president of sales for Exhibitgroup.

Besides, Ross added, the company wanted to demonstrate they know what it takes to get people into a booth. Apparently, what it takes is an arched entrance that whistles and chirps as people pass, Alice in Wonderland chairs, a full-size slide and a photographer snapping the surprised looks of curious visitors.

All this fanfare raises the question: Are exhibit houses competing for new demand they believe is out there, or is it a desperate attempt to claim the remaining scraps of a dying business?

Naturally, most said they expect business to pick up. "I think there is a lot of market share looking for new suppliers," said Ray Montague, CEO of Avalon, another exhibit house that went all out, in this case with a fully integrated "Are You Hot?" campaign. "This year, we made the decision to do Exhibitor, TS2 (the Trade Show Exhibitor Assn.'s annual convention and exhibition), HCEA (the Healthcare Convention & Exhibitors Assn.'s annual event), all of them."

If Exhibitor Show is any indication, Montague is dead on. According to its producer, Exhibitor magazine, the show occupied 60,100 net square feet of space and drew more than 5,300 registered attendees – 9-percent and 35-percent increases, respectively, over last year.