Does anyone remember the infrared beaming on Palm Pilots?  Does anyone remember Palm Pilots?  It was actually pretty cool.  You could beam your info to a fellow Palm user avoiding  the exchange of business cards which you would then have to enter into your Palm Pilot.  It was fast an efficient and then totally disappeared when mobile devices became integrated to the internet.

The problem is that it’s still really hard to keep track of the people that you meet at trade shows.  Whether you’re an attendee or an exhibitor.  Yes, you can technically look up everyone you meet on LinkedIn and then connect with them, but that’s time consuming at big events and not practical approach to buying or selling.    The irony is that we’re all more linked together than ever with social media applications like LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.  BusyEvent may have an answer: Read the full story

February 17, 2010 (Mentor, OH) – The Rogers Company (www.therogersco.com) has expanded its presence in the Northeast by opening a sales office in Rochester, New York. Brenda Newman will be heading the East Avenue office. Newman brings over 17 years of experience to her new role having worked with a range of national and global clients from Fortune 500 companies to small startups and everything in between.

“We are very excited about this expansion,” said Jeffrey Blackwell, president of The Rogers Company. “Newman brings the expertise and dedication to customer service that we need to capitalize on opportunities as the economy begins to recover.”

Newman is enjoying the culture of The Rogers Company, which emphasizes building partnerships with its clients, employees and suppliers while fostering its goal of helping clients achieve the highest return on investment possible from trade shows. This philosophy is highlighted by the company’s recent launch of Return on Exhibiting, an approach that guarantees 100% lead follow-up post show.

“We ultimately want our clients to succeed in the short and long term,” said Newman. “Rogers’ partnership approach fits perfectly with my mantra of putting client service first.”

Newman is looking forward to working with clients in a wide range of markets, but sees opportunity in green technology such as wind and solar power.

“I have experience working with manufacturers and suppliers to the wind energy sector and I see growth opportunity in industries that supply green technologies,” said Newman. “I can also work with any company on making their exhibit displays more green. The design and build teams at Rogers are a terrific resource for finding green materials that fit budget and design requirements.”

About Rogers

For over 65 years, The Rogers Company has been an award winning designer and manufacturer of branded environments for trade show exhibits, corporate events, lobbies, show rooms and retail environments – essentially any place where communicating a brand is vital. In addition to its 3D marketing services, The Rogers Company is also a full service trade show and event implementation partner providing turnkey services and support for its corporate clients throughout the country.

With its complete design staff, skilled craftsman and construction facilities, Rogers can custom build a wide range of branded environments to suit any need. Through its strategic partner network, the company also provides a wide range of portable and modular display solutions, support and logistics for international trade shows and an extensive rental inventory of both custom and portable display products.

Additionally through its partner network, Rogers provide Eventelligence TM, a technology, infrastructure service for event registration, event mapping and way-finding systems, lead retrieval, lead tracking, fulfillment services and various RFID solutions for focused trade shows and events.

For more information on the Rogers Company, please visit www.therogersco.com or contact Brenda directly at brendanewman@rochester.rr.com, (585) 698-5229.

In the post Drayage Debate: Chicago’s McCormick, we highlighted a local Chicago news report that investigated the seemingly outrageous costs of drayage. Ostensibly, these non-transparent costs seems to be hiding a lot of profit. All of this is underscored by the fact that Chicago has lost some major tradeshows in the past year and is in danger of losing more.

Trade show contractors have commissioned a study to look into why and are blaming labor. The following is from an article by Kathy Bergen at the Chicago Tribune: Read the full story

No wonder exhibitors are upset.

Jay Levine did a segment on (Chicago’s) McCormick Place losing tradeshow business.

Labor is shooting back at the idea that it’s them that’s making all the dough. Their evidence? Drayage bills.

They showed that an exhibitor can send a piece of equipment from China to LA for $4,000. Another $1,800 for truck to McCormick Place from LA. Cost to get it from the dock at McCormick Place to the exhibitor’s booth space? Just $17,000!!!

Then they interviewed the Gen.Mgr at McCormick Place and he said, “No question about it, the contractor for the show is making very big profits.”

Looks like labor and McCormick Place management is so tired of being made the scape goat that they’re both willing to point the finger at the show organizers.

The Rogers Company has announced a new service that begins to answer many of the Trade Show ROI questions that companies have.  Are we seeing value from this show?  The answer, it seems, may be in what you’re doing with the leads you are getting from the show.  From the press release:

The Rogers Company, a designer and builder of trade show exhibits and other branded environments, announces Return On Exhibiting, a new approach to lead management to substantially increase sales resulting from trade shows. This new offering comes from a partnership between Rogers and Richard Erschik, founder and CEO of Leads to Sales, Inc. (www.leadstosales.com) and RICHARDERSCHIK.com (www.richarderschik.com). Erschik and the Rogers team are working closely together to unite booth exhibit design and fabrication with lead management and post-show follow-up. The result is a one-stop shop for better trade show ROI.

You can read the rest of the press release here: Link