by Derek Gentile
CEO
EEI Global
Rochester Hills, MI

Most exhibits are built to communicate what can happen with a client’s product during the three or four days of a show. An Alcoa exhibit conceived and constructed by EEI Global was built to communicate what can happen after the show is over.

Alcoa, a renowned leader in the production and management of aluminum, sought to highlight the “green” nature of its product, which is easily and commonly recycled. Alcoa aluminum also makes automobiles lighter, reducing their emissions without compromising safety or performance, and it revolutionized the beverage industry with its production of aluminum cans. Of equal importance, the construction industry currently uses aluminum extensively to help advance the green-building movement.

Sustaining Interest

To promote the sustainable nature of its aluminum Alcoa attended the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo 2008. It faced a challenge in designing a display that would deliver a clear, elegant sustainability message to distinguish the company from competitors. The exhibit was restricted to a 10′ x 10′ space. To use the space most effectively in communicating its message, Alcoa’s plan was to embrace the use of green products in the exhibit’s construction.

“Alcoa’s goal at Greenbuild was to show that aluminum’s use as a building material is a smart investment over a potentially infinite product life cycle, because aluminum is a naturally recyclable, sustainable metal,” explained Jackie O’Brien, Alcoa director of product and marketing strategy, sustainability. “By partnering with EEI global, we sought to extend this eco-friendliness into all aspects of the booth, including all materials used to construct the exhibit.”

Raising Awareness, Gathering Leads

Working collaboratively with Alcoa, EEI Global applied its Design Lab™ process to develop two key objectives for the three-day show:

• The display should raise the awareness of aluminum’s attributes as a green building material to drive more sales of Alcoa aluminum in the construction sector.

• The display should reinforce Alcoa’s market leadership in sustainability and corporate responsibility.

Although the objectives were easily established, meeting them was not without challenge. Aside from the expected discussion and revisions involved in arriving at a design concept, the team invested a significant amount of time researching eco-friendly materials that would work seamlessly within the final design, while upholding the high ecological standards of the client. In total, the project went from concept to completion in 90 days.

EEI Global developed the concept of integrating crushed aluminum cans into the exhibit – a creative objective identified at the project’s outset. The cans raised interest at the visitor’s first visual point of contact: the reception counter. Within the base of the counter, a “recycle-ready” bale of crushed cans was displayed. Visitors were invited to guess the number of aluminum cans to gain the opportunity to win an aluminum-encased iMac computer.

Two iMacs were installed on top of the counter, inviting attendees to interact and learn more about Alcoa. At the same time, staff used handheld lead-retrieval units to scan attendee badges and ask survey questions while the visitors deliberated over the number of cans they would guess.

The contest drew lines of visitors, who were invited to learn more about how “Green Buildings Start with Aluminum,” Alcoa’s tagline for the booth.

A Green Exhibit From Top To Bottom

Once inside the exhibit, visitors stepped onto a recycled rubber flooring system, which created an inviting, defined path and layout. It drew visitors to look at the back wall, which integrated the aluminum theme in curved ribbons of aluminum. The wall itself was built from Octanorm aluminum extrusions and supported two 42″ LCD monitors, in addition to a large header that held the Alcoa logo and tagline.

The curved ribbons and header panels not only integrated the exhibit theme initiated by the aluminum cans, but they also carried through the visual theme that Alcoa had adopted at its headquarters in Pittsburgh, creating a cohesive campaign supporting the company’s overall messaging.

As prioritized early in the design process, EEI Global used the following green building materials from top to bottom in fabricating the booth:

• Aluminum and ECOsurfaces Commercial Recycled Rubber Flooring, Lancaster, PA, (100% recycled rubber) in the flooring.

• SierraPine Medex (Roseville, CA) fiberboard, used in the wood structural components built for the back wall and reception counter. SierraPine’s structure is centered on the use of 100% recycled or recovered fiber from sustainably managed forests and agricultural operations or from post-consumer recycled wood diverted from the waste stream.

• Thin aluminum sheet and PETG clear recyclable plastic for the reception counter.

• Water-based adhesive, manufactured by 3M, St. Paul, MN.

• Acrylic low-VOC paints and clear-coating.

• LED lighting with low-voltage transformers, each suing less than 28 watts, manufactured by Bruck Lighting Systems, Tustin, CA.

• Energy Star-rated LCD monitors.

• Clear thermoplastic made from PETG (a 100% recyclable plastic), featured in the signs and reception counters.

The unique design and eye-catching components of the booth provided an impetus for capturing the attention of attendees – and leads for follow-up. Once visitors were intrigued, the offer of a chance to win an iMac kept interested individuals lined up, wanting to participate. At the counter, they were engaged in the brand and had the opportunity to discuss one-to-one with Alcoa staff.

 Roots For Future Shows

While Alcoa and EEI Global were confident in the exhibit’s impact and success, third-party recognition from the 2009 MOD Awards proved that those with no vested interest in the project felt the same way. The space won highest honors in the Awards’ “Best Green Exhibit” category, acknowledging EEI Global’s smart, strategic design and fabrication.

Perhaps the most meaningful measurement of success, however, was Alcoa’s renewed commitment to the concept and engagement with EEI Global to implement only minor design modifications for the Greenbuild 2009 Conference and Expo. Alcoa indicated that it found tremendous value in the exceptional design of its 2008 Greenbuild booth and will work with EEI Global to refine this expression of durability, formability, recyclability and aesthetic appeal of aluminum – the same qualities that make aluminum a natural choice as a building material – for the same trade show next year. eb

by Jean Heyer
Marketing Director
VEE Corporation
Minneapolis, MN
and Jill Palmquist

The Situation: VEE Corporation was selected by The Betty Brinn Children’s Museum in Milwaukee, WI, to take concepts to final design and then build and install the Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl: Home Sweet Home exhibit.

Everyone knows Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl. Their famous lines, “Only you can prevent forest fires,” and “Give a hoot, don’t pollute,” are not only fun and familiar to every generation, they’ve played a huge part in the USDA Forest Service’s ongoing tradition of reaching out to Americans on behalf of conservation.

It seemed, then, like a natural fit for the USDA Forest Service to collaborate with The Betty Brinn Children’s Museum to create a program that would inspire children to discover and care for the natural resources that sustain their world. Betty Brinn staff members developed content and feature concepts for an interactive experience with these characters. Then VEE Corporations’s Production Services Division brought the 1,500 square foot traveling exhibit to life.

The Challenge: Creating an exhibit that can travel, is durable, will last 10 years and can be built within the client’s budget, is just business as usual for VEE. This time, however, we knew it was important to integrate our client’s message of sustainability into the proposal. We challenged ourselves to extend the philosophy of being environmentally friendly and crafted the exhibit from recycled and sustainable materials whenever possible. From previous experience. Betty Brinn knew VEE was resourceful, and that our corporate philosophy included leveraging the three R’s of environmental sustainability: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. This time, they were excited to see what VEE could do to take it to the next level.

The Solution: Since we at VEE were building an exhibit that emphasizes the importance of protecting ecosystems, we were diligent about using our own resources the same way.

For framing and structure, VEE used farmed, sustainable wood. The Museum and VEE worked together to take a completely different approach to creating trees, using innovative technology, products, and techniques that truly created a greener exhibit. Whenever possible, we used materials that emit little or no chemicals and water-based paints. VEE also worked to eliminate as much waste as possible, designing exhibit components that were not only able to be refurbished, repaired and reused over many years, but were also light in weight, saving on transportation costs and fuel emissions. The journey through this project was amazing and the final destination was just as delightful. We arrived there on time and on budget.

It was challenging, but VEE discovered and developed new practices and possibilities that allowed us to provide the Betty Brinn Children’s Museum and the USDA Forest Service with an interactive exhibit that not only entertains and educates, but encourages kids to be conscientious caretakers of their world. Everyone who experiences Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl: Home Sweet Home feels keen on green, and VEE feels privileged to be part of an exhibit that truly inspires. eb

The Exhibit Designers and Producers Association elects Jay Burkette to the Executive Board

The Exhibit Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) has elected Jay Burkette of ExpoDisplays®, to the Executive Board in the role of Vice President Administration. This role is a two year tenured position responsible for monitoring and enforcing the association bylaws and meetings and assisting with administrative matters. Burkette will also be responsible for coordinating the nomination activities and appointments for Board and Executive Committee positions. This appointment comes after serving as an EDPA Board of Director for the past two years.

EDPA is the internationally recognized trade association promoting education, leadership and networking for the advancement of the exhibition industry. Founded in 1954, EDPA has more than 400 corporate members in 18 countries that are focused on the design, manufacture, transport, installation and service of displays and exhibits primarily for the exhibition and event industry.

Burkette joins the EDPA executive board with 25 years of industry experience. In his current role as Vice President of Sales at ExpoDisplays, he is responsible for developing a network of sales dealers, product training initiatives and aiding in the design of new products. ExpoDisplays is a national designer and manufacturer of trade show exhibits, custom interior environments and graphics since 1970.

For more information about ExpoDisplays, please visit www.expodisplays.com.

For more information about EDPA, please visit www.edpa.com.

by Rob Cohen
Vice President
Display Supply & Lighting
Itasca, IL

  The challenge posed by the customer – use new cutting edge technology that allows for the creative and versatile delivery of iconic messaging for a well-known brand in an outdoor solution.

Nothing like a reach for the stars request by a customer! This is what Coca Cola wanted when it began thinking about replacing its landmark 38′ tall bottle at Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves. The new bottle had to respect the tradition of Coca Cola but also add the versatility of unique messaging and the ability to work in celebrations relating to a baseball game. The bottle would be visible both inside the ballpark and from the adjacent highways that pass by the ballpark.

When the Freeman Company’s – Exhibit Fabrication Division, Grand Prairie, TX, began the process of preparing concepts to bid on this project, they knew how important the structure and the look of a new bottle would be, but they also knew that lighting would play an important role in this project. While Freeman had the expertise to handle the design, engineering, build and installation of the bottle, they needed a partner to assist in creatively delivering the magic that was needed with the lighting aspects of the project.

Freeman called for the assistance of long-time partner Display Supply & Lighting (DS&L) for its ideas and expertise. Stuart Stapp, vice president, and Danny Powell, project manager of Freeman Fabrication, contacted me to start brainstorming about the project. We began, along with Ryan Wurtz, DS&L’s application engineer, to interact with Freeman’s production and creative teams, including Rick Ballwebber (Freeman’s liaison to Coke), and Coca Cola representatives to exchange creative ideas and manage expectations. It became clear that a sustainable “green” solution was important along with the ability to change the programming of the lighting on the bottle. DS&L ultimately recommended to Freeman a solution using dual lighting components.

The Freeman designed and engineered bottle was to be a metal frame with classic Coke-colored green acrylic panels strong enough to withstand the potential weather elements in the Atlanta region. Sandblasting the inside of the panels was determined to offer the best lighting results. Powell coordinated all matters relating to design, fabrication, installation time line, material selections and overall project management.

The first lighting element incorporated into the bottle design was a custom curved, fully programmable, daytime brightness LED sign to conform to the contours of the label portion of the bottle. The technology to be used would allow for custom programming of the label for Coca Cola marketing purposes, as well as to run baseball-related animations during the course of a ball game. The label section, once programmed, could change, for example, from a traditional Coca Cola label to a message about Coca Cola recycling initiatives to other uniquely programmed Coca Cola messaging. With the push of a button, an animated home run celebration could run on the label section or a motivational message for the home team could run as well. DS&L was asked to identify, qualify and oversee the design, fabrication and installation of this custom LED sign element.

The second lighting element was designed to be a dusk-to-nighttime special effect lighting package. Using Color Kinetics’ (Burlington, MA) products from the Philips Solid State Lighting System business unit of Philips Lighting Company, a wide variety of lighting shows could be programmed to run that would change the entire look of the bottle. Effects that can be programmed include different single bottle colors, color washing effects and chasing color along the entire inside and outside ribbing of the bottle. The Color Kinetics’ fixtures were chosen as these were the most durable, wet location-rated fixtures available to deliver the desired effects and have superior programming capability to anything else available on the market.

After the Freeman solution was selected by Coca Cola, the Freeman/DS&L team worked with a variety of partners to complete the fabrication, installation and dedication of the new Coca Cola bottle in a short 16-week period. Details down to the coordination of teams of people and equipment, including cranes, had to be scheduled to pull off a 10-day installation period, as the bottle had to be installed with all lighting systems operational during some Brave’s away games and this year’s All Star break. “In developing the bottle for Coca Cola, we used the same strategic, creative and logistical expertise that characterizes our services for all face-to-face clients,” said Carrie Freeman Parsons, vice chair and chief marketing officer of Freeman. “The bottle is actually a face-to-face experience for visitors to Turner Field.”

The end result – a Freeman-led, truly successful team project. Coca Cola is a proud customer having a unique 49′ tall, programmable LED illuminated bottle that both serves to deliver brand and baseball-related messaging during games, as well as a source for ongoing marketing at “non-game” times. This new Coca Cola bottle will remain a landmark talked about by Atlanta Brave fans and Atlanta area residents and travelers for years to come. Freeman’s design leadership and bringing a creative lighting partner on board with the sophistication of DS&L, delivered a home run solution for both Coca Cola, the Atlanta Braves and the city of Atlanta. eb

Senior Associate/Museum Services

Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design Partnership

New York, NY

As visitors approach the New York Hall of Science, Flushing, NY, the first thing they notice are remnants of a past age – two rockets, a Titan II and Atlas, each more than 100′ tall, from the heyday of the U.S. Space Program. There is also the soaring curvy concrete and blue glass bunker, DuPont’s “Cathedral to Science” pavilion from the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, that partially houses this popular and innovative science center at Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. These artifacts, born of a fantastical Space Age view of the future, both real and imagined, serve as the visual backdrop for a dynamic new exhibit experience that could have been conceived by George Jetson himself.

Rocket Park Mini-Golf, which opened this summer at the New York Hall of Science, is an outdoor miniature golf course with nine distinctly themed holes that introduce visitors to elemental rocket science physics. Located near the main entrance to the facility, this kaleidoscopically colored educational and play environment sends an immediate message to museum-goers that this place is going to be interactive, hands-on and fun. Each of the nine holes represents a particular aspect of a complete space mission, from blastoff to splash-down. The behavior of the golf ball in these exhibits explains real examples of astrophysics principles in an Earth-bound simulation. The course takes participants on a journey to Jupiter, around an Earth orbit, on a supply-run to the International Space Station, through treacherous “space junk,” and many other adventures.

The project began formulating in 2002 as the brain child of Eric Siegel, director and chief content officer at the New York Hall of Science, who envisioned this unique educational environment as an excellent vehicle to demonstrate classic Newtonian physics – a key component in rocketry and all physical science education, from elementary school through Ph.D. level science – to kids. “The NASA rockets are so iconic for the Hall,” he says, “but were lacking in interactivity. Miniature golf is well understood from a business model perspective – and everybody ‘gets it;’ it’s a familiar way to approach subject matter that might be somewhat unfamiliar to most people. The Hall was looking for an outdoor family-friendly precinct that would provide interactivity similar to our successful Science Playground adjacent to the Hall.”

Siegel worked on the early concept for the project with Dr. Alan J. Friedman,  a physicist and  former director and CEO of the Hall of Science, who served as content advisor for the project. Paul Orselli Workshop, Inc., Baldwin, NY, was hired shortly thereafter to help the Hall of Science develop early ideas for the holes themselves and prepared a conceptual outline for the project. Lee H. Skolnick Architecture + Design (LHSA+DP) began work on the design of the project in late 2005 using this conceptual outline to lead a team of exhibit developers, designers and specialty fabricators in the creation of Rocket Park Mini-Golf.

LHSA+DP worked with a miniature golf course designer in the early months of the project to establish the overall planning and layout of the course. The design team studied recommended relationships between holes, traffic flow and pacing of visitors to optimize the experience on a restricted quarter-acre site. Each hole can function independently to allow visitors to move at their own pace through the course and, unlike most regular miniature golf courses, the holes do not need to be experienced in any particular order. The nine holes are arranged, however, according to the sequential stages of a rocket’s journey. This trajectory formed the basis for a narrative structure and the project’s storyline. Hole #1 is “Launch Window” where visitors learn that the launch of a spacecraft must be carefully calculated in order to find the best time interval in which to launch a spacecraft – think of the “windmill” from the local mini-putt. Hole #9 is “Splash Down!” where golfers understand that the last step in a space mission is a rocket’s slow descent back to Earth – a Skee Ball-type mechanism captures all golf balls and ends play.

In between, the other seven holes include: “Blast Off!,” “Zero Gravity,” “Orbit the Earth,” “Space Docking,” “Space Junk,” “Gravity Whip,” and “Re-Entry.” Tying these various holes together is a large central plaza area representing a lunar surface, complete with a replica Mercury space capsule, that serves as a practice putting “green” (seamless, poured in place EPDM surfacing comprised of 100% recycled tires). This space is designed with bench seating and attractive landscaping in order to control crowding on busy days and offer a vantage point from which caregivers can keep an eye on their children as they move through the Rocket Park. The cushioned rubbery surface gives players a bit of “moon bounce” as they navigate the course.

The look and feel of the project is inspired by the popular culture of the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. Space Age iconography, toy robots, futuristic roadside architecture and imagery from the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, all drove the highly colorful and stylized design elements of the project. Numbered flagpoles, each topped by a small globe, denote the various holes. Each hole incorporates swooping putting areas covered in bright blue Astroturf®-like surfacing. The structures comprising each hole feature streamlined boomerang shapes, Sputnik-like starbursts and atomic orbits in their design. These motifs are carried into the graphic design on large sign discs at each hole that carry educational information as well as instructions for completing each activity.  Custom illustrations were commissioned by LHSA+DP to explain the various physics concepts being engaged at each hole. Illustrator Rob Dunlavey developed colorful visuals for the sign panels in keeping with the project’s design themes, incorporating a golf knickers and argyle-clad Scotsman <em>cum</em> astronaut character to guide kids at each hole.

Extensive prototyping and mockups of the various holes and evaluation of these prototypes on-site with children in the planning stages, guided the physical design of each golf hole. Full scale models of each hole were roughed-out in plywood then put to work in the Hall of Science. Kids tested sample exhibits to ensure that the actual physics being demonstrated was being conveyed clearly as they putted golf balls through the prototypes. LHSA+DP studied the ergonomics of each hole to make them useable by the smallest children and adults as well.

Visualizing each hole three-dimensionally in the design stage was a sometimes tricky process. The rough prototypes allowed the design team to play out the optimum angles, slopes and pathways required to make each hole function as intended, clearly demonstrate the physics involved, and maintain a fun play experience. According to Lee Skolnick, FAIA, LHSA+DP principal, “We really enjoyed the challenge of bringing ‘rocket science’ down to earth in a way that would excite and delight people of all ages, even while they learned real physics.”

Structures at each hole are fabricated for maximum outdoor durability of painted steel with automotive coatings, stainless steel, aluminum and fiberglass. Some displays incorporate motorized elements that pose a potential “hazard” for intrepid golfers or sensors that animate portions of each display when the ball reaches its intended hole as a reward. These features added to the intricacy of the project’s engineering requirements. Rod Hickey, president of Big Show Construction Management, New York, NY, oversaw the project’s execution, and states, “The complexity of building custom holes that demonstrate the concepts of astrophysics required a lot of detailed 3-D drawings and mock-ups to ensure we reached a comfortable level of playability.” The primary structure for each hole is built in precast sections of blue tinted glass fiber reinforced concrete (GFRC) that were seamed together during on-site installation. This process allowed Adirondack Studios, Argyle, NY, the fabricator, to better quality-control the construction of form work required to achieve the complex, individual curvatures of each hole and to control pouring the GFRC in their ship. The process made assembly and final installation go more quickly at the site. Once the site infrastructure was in place, the actual completion of the hardscape, landscaping and installation of all exhibits came together within three weeks. The team from Czinkota Studios, Ltd., Gardiner, NY, provided the bright decorative and scenic painted finishes for the exhibit structures. Signage was produced on custom laminate panels by Folia to withstand New York City’s sometimes harsh weather conditions.

Not since Alan Shepard drove a golf ball on the moon in 1971 has there been this much enthusiasm for the sport in an extraterrestrial context. Perhaps Eric Siegel says it best: “Everyone enjoys playing this course. What has most surprised me about the project is how it calms our visitors down. They slow down and parents really guide their kids; there is a lot of interaction in the experience. [The parents] explain the basics of the science, and move with their kids sequentially through hole by hole. This is a nice and unexpected aspect to the design.”

At Rocket Park Mini-golf, the colorful hardscape design, varied challenges of the golf holes, retro-style informational graphics and landscaping come together to form an out-of-this-world rocket ship journey through space for all ages. eb

All photos courtesy: New York Hall of Science; Big Show

Design/Graphics: Lee H. Skolnick, FAIA, principal-in-charge; Jo Ann Secor, director of museum services; Miguel Cardenas, senior design associate/project manager; Christina Lyons, senior graphic designer; Maja Gilberg, senior interpretive manager; Simona Rubin, interpretive specialist. Design team: Ted Klingensmith, Daniel Maldonado.

Landscape Architect: Mark K. Morrison Associates, Ltd., New York, NY

Planning Consultant: Harris Miniature Golf Courses, Inc., Wildwood, NJ

Suppliers:

Folia – graphics

East Coast Surfacing, Inc. – rubber playground surfacing

Carpet Resources, Inc. – artificial turf

captions

Cover

Two replica NASA rockets, artifacts from the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, form the backdrop for Rocket Park Mini-Golf at the New York Hall of Science.

Or

The curvy form of the New York Hall of Science’s “Great Hall,” originally a 1964-65 New York World’s Fair pavilion, provides a backdrop for Rocket Park Mini-Golf.

Photo 1 – Two replica NASA rockets, artifacts from the 1964 New York World’s Fair, form the backdrop for Rocket Park Mini-Golf’s nine hole course.

Photo 2 – The Rocket Park Mini-Golf course surrounds a plaza that serves as a “warm up” practice putting area. The thematic lunar landscape incorporates a replica Mercury space capsule.

Photo 3 – Hole #1: Launch Window – Golfers have to carefully time their shot to get the ball through the “launch window” and understand that a spacecraft launch must be precisely calculated in order to find the best time interval to launch.

Photo 4 – Hole #1: Launch Window – The mechanism for this exhibit is a variation on the familiar “windmill” mini-golf hole.

Photo 5 – Hole #2: Blast Off! – Successfully shooting the ball up an inclined ramp with the correct velocity will cause a mechanical rocket to countdown and “launch” up its gantry tower; shoot too far and the ball is returned with an audio effect that says “launch aborted!”

Photo 6 – Hole #3: Zero Gravity – Visitors drive their ball up and around a loop-the-loop to understand that “zero gravity” occurs when the ball “hangs” momentarily at the top of the loop.

Photo 7 – Hole #3: Zero Gravity – same caption as 6

Photo 8 – Hole #4: Orbit the Earth – Visitors learn that a spacecraft, like their golf ball, must travel at the correct speed and path in order to achieve orbit.

Photo 9 – Hole #5: Space Docking – Golfers must use precision to putt their ball into one of a series of spinning space shuttle-themed receptacles. Once the ball is captured, it revolves until it successfully “docks” onto an abstracted model of the International Space Station.

Photo 10 – Hole #6: Space “Junk” – This hole challenges visitors to launch their ball past a variety of spinning obstacles representing the growing assortment of satellites and man-made “space junk” left behind from previous space missions.

Photo 11 – Hole #7: Gravity Whip – At this hole, golfers discover that the gravitational pull of a planet can be used to change the direction of a spacecraft – or their ball!

Photo 12 – Graphics – Signage incorporates fun, retro-style imagery reminiscent of the 1960’s – alluding to Rocket Park’s location and the early years of the U.S. Space Program. Panels are produced on Folia custom laminate for outdoor durability.

by Alison Larkin

Sales &amp; Marketing

Milos America, Inc.

Ashland, VA

Although outdoor temporary structures can be particularly challenging with a host of limitations and engineering requirements, QuickTruss® stepped up to the plate for a recent roof project at Washington D.C.’s Nationals Park and Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yard. The temporary structures would serve as television broadcasting booths complete with lighting, a complex map of cabling and electrical wires, and a weather-proof canopy to keep those commentators dry during rainy innings.

The broadcasting booths were designed by Creative Dimensions, Cheshire, CT. Doug Carabillo, director of business development, had to cover all bases when assembling experts from many different industries. He was not familiar with Milos’ products right off the bat, but had received numerous referrals from other vendors working on the project and decided to put his trust into QuickTruss. “Some of our most trusted partners highly recommended Milos,” Carabillo said. “After working with them, I was convinced that we would be taken care of.”

As with any outdoor structure, it is important to be prepared for curve balls the weather may throw. Rain and snow, common during spring months in the area, necessitated an angled roof and custom-fitted canopy. This was particularly challenging, as the slope of the roof needed to be subtle enough so as not to interfere with the camera’s perspective while still providing sufficient water drainage. Milos medium duty M290V Quatro was specified for the frame with a grid of duo cross runs braced with 2″ tubing at a slight slope. The framework was pre-assembled and fitted with a custom PVC canopy in Winston-Salem before being shipped to its final destination.

Wind load factors were also a major issue at Oriole Park, where the solution was creative ballasting. Custom 3,000 lb concrete blocks were specified by the engineers and fitted to the truss. This ballasting solution turned out to be a home run. “It has already withstood some high wind situations with no issues,” Carabillo declared. “The ballpark facilities manager is very pleased and comfortable with the way everything was fabricated and installed.”

Other key players included Circuit Lighting of Green Brook, NJ, lighting designer, who also provided onsite assembly and fitting of the structures. To make the systems completely portable, they labeled each fixture, power supply and cable – making dismantling and reinstallation easy for the next crew. The stage platforms were provided by Quik Stage, Blaine, MN, while the custom PVC canopy, stage railing and ballasting were produced by Spevco, Winston-Salem, NC. McLaren Engineering Group, West Nyack, NY, who worked in tandem with the stadium’s team of authorities, ensured the complete safety of the structures. “Milos’ truss made it possible for us to make an understandable ‘road map’ of the entire system,” said Richard Tilley, CEO of Circuit Lighting. “QuickTruss was particularly well-suited to the turnkey design.”

“This is a great example of a modular system with a specialty application that was engineered specifically for the customer,” said Jeff Broitman, president of Milos America. “With a four to six week time frame to get it done, we managed to deliver in nine days.”

by Damon Carson

President

Kiddie Rides USA

Denver, CO

Wells Fargo Bank’s History Museums welcome visitors from around the world. The museums are found  in nine cities throughout the U.S. On display are original Concord Coaches, Wells Fargo’s Banking and Express documents, artifacts, early photos, gold coins, mining tools, ore, balance scales, working telegraphs and Western fine art.

Beverly Smith, vice president of historical services for Wells Fargo, thought it would be fitting to add coin-operated stagecoach rides to the exhibit floors to provide something for kids.

To procure these coin-operated stagecoach rides, she turned to Kiddie Rides, USA, Denver, CO. Smith sent exact painting instructions so the miniature stagecoaches would replicate the iconic Wells Fargo coaches. She even requested a custom Wells Fargo Bank jingle be incorporated into the sound box that plays while the rides are operating.

“Dozens of kids enjoy the stagecoach kiddie rides each week in our museums,” comments Smith. “The stagecoach kiddie rides are cool for several reasons. Obviously, the fact that the rides fit our theme is first and foremost. Parents are really happy to know there is something in the museum for little kids to enjoy. They also tell us they love the stagecoach ride, and they think it is great that we have a real, restored antique artifact from the 1950’s. It is a chance for a kid to ride on something their parents rode when they were kids. It connects the generations via a positive memory.”

Interestingly, when <em>The Today Show</em> chose to do a special on Kiddie Rids USA, it was the Wells Fargo Museum in Los Angeles that they dispatched a reporter and camera crew to for the story.

As we say around here, “For half a century kiddie rides have captured pop culture in miniature.” That means that there are rides to fit about any theme out there. It seems like more and more of our sales come because the buyer is looking to fit a specific theme whether it is at a hotel, a zoo, a restaurant, a museum, whatever.

With a stagecoach kiddie ride, the Wells Fargo Bank Museum team found a perfect way to provide something for the kids while appealing to the adults, all while fitting the theme of the museum. eb

EcoTek Lighting, Lake Forest, CA, a division of Expotrans, Inc., has installed a high performance energy-efficient direct backlit LED array lightbox at Discount Tickets &amp; Tours in Anaheim, CA.
The unique lightbox delivers brilliant illumination and is only 2″ deep for enhanced ease of use and superb styling aesthetics. It offers: energy-efficient LED illumination; highest levels of luminosity for easy viewing; even illumination across graphics display area; corrosion-resistant extruded aluminum construction; architectural powder-coated surfaces with five year warranty on finishes; meets federal energy-efficiency and green manufacturing standards.
EcoTek Lighting’s direct backlit LED array technology provides excellent light diffusion, and the all-welded construction of the extruded aluminum frame ensures premium product durability. The unique LED placement and advanced engineering design delivers powerful, even illumination, and eliminates hot spots and shadows. The lightbox contains LED panels that last from 50,000 to 100,000 hours and provide 55% greater energy efficiency than fluorescent lamps. All direct backlit LED array lightboxes from EcoTek meet federal standards for energy efficiency and green manufacturing regulations, including UL, CUL and CE listings and European RoHS standards, and contribute points to LEED-certification. They are fully recyclable at end-of=life, and contain no heavy metals or other hazardous components. eb

by Ed LaForge

Vice President Marketing

MACtac North America

Stow, OH

In the midst of trade show season, companies all over the world in every facet of every industry are in need of a trade show exhibit or booth. From design and creation to the building and construction process and execution, trade show exhibits, and therefore exhibit houses, are in high demand.

So, as an exhibitor, how do you create an exceptional trade show booth that drives in attendees? With hard work, grand ideas and great partnerships. Just like the working relationship between Communication Exhibits, Inc. (CEI), a full-service exhibit house based in Canal Fulton, OH, and MACtac®, a pressure-sensitive adhesive manufacturer based in Stow, OH.

“Great partnerships are the foundation of any successful exhibit creation – once you have that, you can really start getting your hands dirty to discover that unique selling point, element of creativity or marketing revelation that will make your exhibit unique in the marketplace and attract the attention you are striving for,” said Brian Walters, vice president of creative services, CEI. “We have had a great business relationship with MACtac for more than 17 years, and each year we build on past successes to bring our partner the latest and greatest in trade show exhibit design.”

When Your Client Is Also Your Supplier

Setting aside all boundaries, CEI took on the task of transforming MACtac’s largest company exhibit, a 60′ x 55′ island, into a tech-savvy ‘Seriously Cool’ exhibit for MACtac Roll Label’s largest trade show, Label Expo Americas, which features products and solutions for the labels and labeling industry. Uniquely, from the floor, to display panels, walls and kiosks, this booth was a true representation of what pressure-sensitive adhesives have to offer. The final creation was one giant piece of marketing collateral not only for individual products, but for the company as a whole.

“The one goal of each and every trade show is to market your company and its products better than any other company in that exhibit hall,” said Jennifer Bowman, marketing communications manager, MACtac Corporate Marketing. “When you partner with an exhibit company that truly believes in working with you – day and night – to accomplish that goal, it makes all the difference in the world. It’s the act of selling, and to successfully sell, you need a brand, a product and an image. We’ve developed a brand and products, but bringing that image to life is where CEI excels.”

While the Label Expo show itself serves MACtac Roll Label, one of the company’s five commercial areas, the materials used in booth construction were products of the MACtac Graphic Products’ division. The booth theme was ‘Seriously Cool Technology’ so from the initial meeting, CEI knew it had a great opportunity to bring a brand new look and image to the customers and attendees at the show through a tech-savvy exhibit design. This included a live presentation area, interactive demonstration area, interactive floor graphic area, six 42″ LCD monitors, with product messaging and a central 7′ x 5′ rear projection screen with motion graphics, produced by CEI’s in-house multimedia department to quickly highlight brands and products.

“From day one, we knew this exhibit was going to be remarkable – featuring large, brightly colored graphics with a high-tech approach, using the booth itself as a tool to completely market MACtac and the many new technologies to be announced at the show,” Walters said. “Specifically, InFusion™, MACtac’s new hybrid adhesive system. Unveiling InFusion was going to be huge with a press conference, live in-booth demonstrations and an entire campaign built around the launch – the InFusion station of the booth needed to make a splash, in a big way.”

Walters noted that as soon as the Seriously Cool Technology theme was presented, he immediately started thinking of ways to incorporate new presentation technologies to bring attention to the main booth attraction, InFusion. The featured tactic to do so was the live presentation area, which utilized a more straight-forward approach by featuring an actual product demonstration running in real time, something MACtac quickly embraced.

Most of the graphics produced for the exhibit were printed, laminated and mounted with MACtac Graphic Products’ films and media, including IMAGin® JT5829 permanent digital media and ColorGard™ CG7300 Lustre overlaminate, designed to protect applications such as point-of-purchase graphics, signage and exhibits where adhesive performance is critical. All graphics were printed on the Mimaki JV3 with OEM inks. In addition to the film graphics, several fabric banners also hung throughout the exhibit. The dye-sublimation printed banners displayed vibrant new product and brand messaging and were featured in various sizes, with the largest banner at 16′ x 10′ featured above the InFusion demonstration area.

The booth also featured vinyl decals throughout – some of which were whiteboards to write on – made of IMAGin wallNOODLE™, a 6.0-mil face with white matte finish and laminated with dry-erase Permacolor® PG7000, 1.2-mil polypropylene laminate. The adhesive on wallNOODLE is easy to apply, reposition and remove so another feature of the booth was a hands-on remove and re-apply wallNOODLE station. As an innovative new product, driven by industry trends and customer influence, wallNOODLE was also used as a wall graphic in the conference area as well as in the creation of the walls surrounding a portion of the booth designed to highlight the MACtac Application Development team – a group of experts who partner with customers to develop industry-transforming solutions like wallNOODLE.

Other areas of the booth – walls, shelves, display panels, etc. – were held together with U-Glu™, MACtac’s new liquid adhesive in a solid form. U-Glu directly affected exhibit construction manufacturing processes for the booth design and was particularly useful in the fabrication of various display panels and multi-layered header structures.

“When approaching a booth, customers are first attracted by curiosity associated with moving visuals, and upon interaction, they become fully engaged,” said Walters.

Utilizing visuals to highlight branding messages presents a well-rounded customer experience and creates recognition. Keeping this in mind, one of the booth’s most popular areas was a large 20′ x 20′ floor graphic, which was created out of IMAGin JT5829 removable digital media and laminated with Permacolor PF6300 textured laminate. It was displayed at the forefront of the booth as part of an eye-catching, interactive game with special highlights of the new products debuting at the show. CEI worked with Colortone Staging and Rentals (CSR) to determine how to achieve this feature, and the solution was in the form of a new technology called EyeStep, where show attendees could step on the floor graphic as part of a digital motion messaging game displayed from a projector above.

“From both creativity and strategic angles, incorporating technology like EyeStep into exhibit construction is a no-brainer, given you have the budget and the resources,” Walters said. “As one of the more recent trends in attention-grabbing additions, the EyeStep station at the booth’s entrance turned the head of nearly anyone walking by. It played off the booth theme nicely and was extremely intriguing for on-lookers as many conversations were started based solely off interest in the technology.”

The design and planning process for any truly successful trade show program should always include an in-depth understanding of the client’s markets and customers. Another important factor in creating a successful design is competitive research. These two factors alone help a company stand out from its competition, increase booth traffic and increase the opportunity to introduce customers to new products and services.

“I believe that the MACtac exhibit has always stood out from other exhibits because of its unique graphic appeal and inviting floor plan,” Walters added. “MACtac’s unique product offering is easy to incorporate into its exhibit design as well as into the construction of other client’s exhibits. Collaboration with our customers is the key to creating an outstanding trade show experience and successful show. MACtac and CEI have a great relationship in understanding how to utilize each company’s capabilities and products.” eb