Vendor Showcase
 |
Jim Burke Founder/Principal Elevation Exhibits |
 |
Jim Burke founded Elevation Exhibits in April of 2006 with a 100,000 square-foot design and manufacturing facility; however, this is not Jim’s first experience with this industry. Jim was an owner of Planview Exhibits for 7 years and has been designing award-winning trade show exhibitions for over 15 years.
Jim’s reputation for straight-up business and great design work has led Elevation Exhibits to major customer wins and industry recognition. Clients are drawn by Jim's reputation for smart design, focused service and a trouble-free show floor experience.
Elevation Exhibits is a full service tradeshow design and marketing firm that builds award-winning exhibits for companies in diverse industries. Their clients range from venture-backed startups to major corporations that enjoy Elevation Exhibits knack of honing their brand image to a cutting edge.
http://www.elevationexhibits.com/
Interview with Jim
Jim, for many of us in the marketing business, trade shows are a fact of life. However, there are those that “do trade shows” and those that do them spectacularly. From the exhibit point of view, what makes the difference?
From our experience, the clients that get the best results think about their products/services from the point of view of the user. Especially true with technology companies, it is easy for companies to get hung-up on the technology itself and forget about the user experience. Trade shows are an excellent opportunity to provide an experiential demo of a product or service – far beyond what a website or printed brochure can convey. The key is to use your tradeshow space wisely to create environments that most effectively demonstrate what a product or service has to offer.How hard is that to pull off in a tradeshow environment? After all, you are usually working with limited space and limited and unknown service environments in a convention hall?
You’re right; planning a perfect demo and pulling it off in a convention hall can potentially be difficult at times. However, after 20 years in the business, we think we have seen it all. What we haven’t, we know we can work around. Last minute hiccups, contingencies work-arounds are a given in this industry, but our experience makes us unique and we know we will always find a way to deliver results for our clients.On that topic, what are some of the most unique exhibits you have built over the years?
One of the most successful 1-2 punches for Sonus Networks a few years back. They space was 60 x 60 and the amount of demos and conferencing was aggressive. There was a live presentation that anchored the booths theme both years. The first year we created environments such as a teenager’s bedroom, an airport etc. The second year it was a Home depot mock-up with work benches and peg board creating the demo areas. We had a lot of fun creating these booths and they were tremendously successful because they audience got it. Trade shows are like Midways, they should be fun and if your prospect is having fun its easier to sell to and educate them. And Terri, as you know, it was your team I worked with on those exhibits and we had a ton of fun doing them!
For more pictures related to these events, click here.
As far as budget, I know it is hard to predict given the vast range of exhibit ideas clients might have, but is there a ballpark on tradeshow exhibit pricing?
You are right, there are many variables based on size of floor space and custom versus rental exhibits. A 20x20 exhibit, it might cost between $50,000 and $90,000 and for smaller exhibits for a 10X 20 booth space would run in the range of $25,000 to $50,000.What are your suggestions if marketing budgets are tight?
We find ways to work with companies in a cost effective way so that they can still be visible and effective at key events. Sometimes companies who stop exhibiting or who never start it find that it hurts their reputation in the industry.- We have a vast inventory of custom rental properties – you can go to the show and your branding can look completely original at a fraction of the cost.How long does it take to create an exhibit?
If you want a full custom exhibit, it takes two weeks to design, two weeks to draw and then eight weeks to build. It’s almost three months at a minimum. Smaller exhibits require less design and implementation time, though we still put the same efforts into large and small scale projects.What is the most important piece of advice you would give some creating a new exhibit?
Exhibits are a substantial investment to be used for several years so start the process as far in advance as possible. But one of the most important aspects of creating an impactful exhibit is making sure that the entire theme of the exhibit portrays not only your company creatively, but showcases the company’s products and services in a way that makes event attendees want to stop in and see what you have to say. The team at Albers, Inc. is very experienced in developing and executing impactful trade show exhibit themes. Some of my favorite projects were done by with Terri and her group. Again understanding the value of a tradeshow is so important. It should engage your audience and Albers, Inc. understands that.
