Oldie but a Goodie

A band named Shellac played here in STL last night (for the first time ever). I’ll admit, I’ve never been a huge fan – they rock a little too hard for my taste sometimes. But based on the videos and the fact that Steve Albini (famed producer of Nirvana) is the lead singer/guitarist, I thought it might be a good show so I bought tix.

Glad I did. It was remarkable to see such a legend in action. If anything was to be taken away from the show, it’s that Steve and his gang truly embodied the punk/math rock spirit. They rocked my face off!

Steve is 54 years old. Shellac was formed in 1992. Yet, they are still very relevant and cool.

Blast from the Past

After returning home from a recent trip, a comment a customer once made to me came to mind. He said, “Lambda – most of the young people in our office do not even know what it is…kinda like when they ask – what’s a turntable?” Similarly, in the world of digital music and easy access to any song via the internet, the genre and art form of vinyl records is now largely lost. Or so I thought. 

Top 10 Recent Observations

I’ll preface this with – no, I’m not kidding. Currently, I’m looking at the remainder of the year to try to figure out what’s going on in our industry, what’s trending, what’s the next big thing, and, ultimately, how can we all sell more, because without you, there’s no us. The following is a list of my top 10 industry observations . . .

Remarkable

During the last couple of weeks, three things caught my attention – EXHIBITORLIVE, an article in a Southwest inflight magazine and an excerpt on NPR of a TED talk.
First, at this year’s EXHIBITORLIVE, I was impressed by the creativity of many of the structures and the striking use of LED lighting that was prevalent in the exhibit hall. LED’s were used either to bathe the exhibit itself with a spectrum of colored light or to illuminate large light boxes with vivid, seamless imagery. One company had a digital LED wall that displayed ever-changing, larger-than-life images. There were even a couple of booths that featured another use of light – holograms that demonstrated how this technology can attract attention and give life to a static product.

Second, on my return flight from Las Vegas,

So, What’s New?

I get this question quite often when I meet with my customers and I’m pretty sure the reason is we all live in a world where the only constant is change and if we don’t stay current we’ll be left in the dust.

So fortunately, most of my customers have come to rely on me as a resource toward that end and one thing I’m hearing quite a bit is: “It seems like customers are expecting so much more from their investment in their trade show and event displays.” Well, here are a few ideas that may help you differentiate yourself from the competition.

Did I Miss Something?

It’s been about 8 months since I switched roles at Optima when I accepted a position as Account Executive for our mid-mountain sales territory. When I came on board at Optima a little more than four years ago, I was tasked with developing customers who defined themselves as Event or Experiential Marketing Companies. Not so strange considering the previous nine or so years I worked for a company that worked with these companies, almost exclusively.

Well as many of you probably know we’ve been making some changes here at Optima and I now find myself working with a somewhat larger and more diverse group of customers.

What does it mean to be an artist?

I was trained in college to be a graphic designer and worked in that capacity for many years. I tell people that I am a Neanderthal – that I go so far back that I worked with a chisel and stone. Well not that far back. I started my career in the late 60’s and my medium for creating layouts and comps for my designs was markers. I had every color in the rainbow. That was pre-computer days folks.

Spring Cleaning Your Showroom

Last week I was inundated with requests for new showroom units – good for Optima’s & our customer’s business! Why am I telling you this? Because I know there are some of you out there who haven’t updated your showrooms in quite some time. Some of you still have the Miracle Gro graphics on the original Xpressions Wow frame, circa 2004, and you’re using these frames, much like I use my treadmill, to hang clothes on . . . you know who you are, haha!

What’s in a degree?

You see a lot of big names get honorary degrees to high profile universities these days (Go ahead and insert a famous name and university).

Many times these people have earned a very successful career just by rolling up their sleeves and applying themselves.  They have earned the respect of those around them through results.

I have a friend named Harold that likes to employ a party game whenever a room of loosely associated guests needs more energy. Ask your new friends what they were trained in or what they majored in at university. Then ask what they do now! Works best when you are at least in your thirties!

Recently I thought of this when Optima was recognized as having G7 qualification. We are proud to have this recognition, so don’t get me wrong here. It’s cool! Very cool!