You can install it yourself quickly and a 10’x10’ fits into a UPS/FedEx shippable case. Another benefit is if you damage a tile we can replace that 1 piece rather than the entire floor. It also weighs less than a normal carpet roll.
10' x 10' Tile Floor (25 2'x2' tiles) is $330.00 and add a Hard shipping case for $275.00.
High density EVA finish allows for easy cleaning and added durability.
Don't Get Blindsided By Drayage
With the steadily increasing costs of material handling, also known as drayage, exhibitors often feel blindsided when the final bill arrives from the show’s general services contractor (GSC). In a recent Tradeshow Week survey of exhibit managers, 55 percent of respondents cited material handling as the most inflated trade show cost.
Material handling at a trade show involves unloading your trade show freight; moving it to your booth space; removing empty crates, pallets, and cartons before the show and storing them; returning empties after the show; and reloading exhibit properties after teardown.
Here are six ways to save money on material handling.
1. Stop shipping unnecessary items. Material-handling fees are based on the number of 100-pound increments in your shipment that need to be moved to your exhibit space. This unit of measurement is also known as CWT, pronounced hundredweight, as C is the Roman numeral for 100. The quickest way to rack up a horrendous drayage bill is to ship things, especially heavy things, you don’t really need. Consider the weight of your exhibit, shipping crates, product, and even giveaways to determine if you can jettison any items from your next load.
One easy way to pare down the weight of your shipment is to stop shipping literature to the show. Consider the following alternatives: 1) Give attendees a business-card-size handout with your key show messages and a URL to your company’s Web site, where they can download your literature. 2) Pack a color printer and print literature on demand. 3) Print your literature at a local printer and carry it into the show. If you choose the third option, make sure you review the show rules about bringing in your own packages.
Some shows will only let you bring in packages that you can hand carry, restricting you from using even small handcarts without requiring you to use (and pay for) union labor to move them into the hall.
If your company is still intent on shipping massive quantities of literature to shows, try an experiment. Give attendees the option to download a copy of the materials from your Web site after the show or take a hard copy at the show. Tally how much hard-copy literature is left over and how many attendees opted for the electronic format, and use this information to determine the best literature-distribution method for your next show.
2. Choose your shipping method carefully. Your choice of carrier and the way your exhibit is packed on the truck can definitely punch you in the purse if you’re not paying attention.
The GSC publishes a standard menu of material-handling costs for common and specialized carriers. The least expensive option is to floor load rather than stack your freight on the truck in crates or on pallets, which avoids the additional labor required to unstack your shipment at the loading dock. You will have a higher material-handling cost if your shipment is a mixed load of crates and pallets and blanket- or pad-wrapped pieces, and even higher rates if it’s all pad wrapped. Palletizing your pad-wrapped pieces can mean significant savings.
3. Consolidate small shipments. GSCs charge exhibitors a weight minimum for each shipment they handle, usually 200 to 300 pounds. If your carrier does not provide a single material-handling invoice or air bill, and it doesn’t deliver all of your individual packages at the same time, it can cost you a bundle in material-handling minimums. For example: If you ship three cartons weighing 53 pounds each to a show via a small-package carrier — such as UPS of America Inc. or FedEx Corp. — which doesn’t use a single bill of lading for all packages in your shipment, the GSC can charge you the minimum charge for each carton instead of just one minimum charge for a single consolidated shipment. If the material-handling minimum was 2 CWT at the average rate of $75 per CWT, it would cost you $450 vs. $150 if all three had been on the same bill of lading.
4. Meet the inbound target dates and times. If your carrier misses the targeted window of time for its truck to arrive in the marshaling yard to unload your freight, you’ll be saddled with additional material-handling surcharges or penalties.
Most GSCs offer 30 days of free storage at their advance warehouses before the freight moves to the designated show hall, but they also give you specific dates when they will receive and store your freight. If you miss this window, you will be charged an off-target penalty to use the advance warehouse.
Check your exhibitor services manual for a color-coded floor plan that tells you when your truck can unload, and make sure your carrier meets that target time.
5. Verify weight slips. I’ve been charged drayage for not only the weight of my freight, but the entire weight of the tractor-trailer rig. Talk about an enormous drayage bill. Mistakes like this are why it is important to stop at the GSC’s service desk the day after your freight arrives on site and ask to see your inbound certified weight slips. If you look on the back of the slip, you’ll find the time stamp showing what time your truck checked in to the advance warehouse or marshaling yard.
6. Audit your material-handling invoice. Review every line item of your GSC’s invoice to make sure you have been billed correctly. And deal with any discrepancies while you are on the show floor!
New Products for Exhibitors
Say It With Scent
One whiff of coconut can transport you to a tropical beach while the smell of freshly baked apple pie can trigger your appetite and a good mood. So use a memorable scent to build traffic and set the mood in your booth with the two-phase EnhanScent system from Ardent Impressions Inc. The first phase is the EnhanScent machine, a small, easily concealed unit that emits your chosen scent continually or at pre-selected intervals. The second phase, branded packages of candies in flavors to match your scent that can be used as giveaways, underscores your olfactory message. The company offers a nose-tickling scent selection, from yummy cinnamon buns and mochaccino to refreshing pink lemonade and savory buttered popcorn. You can even have a custom scent created just for you.
Introduced at General Motor Corp.’s Motorama exhibit in New York in 1956 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the Firebird II’s rocket-shaped design and turbine-powered engine were inspired by recent advances in fighter jets. While the Firebird II never made it past the concept stage, GM showcased it and other “cars of the future” on its touring Motoramas to whet consumers’ interest in its products. Running between 1949 and 1961, the Motoramas drew more than 10 million attendees, and were often choreographed by Richard and Edith Barstow, who had once staged Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circuses.
Did You Know….?
E3 2009: Bigger and Better?
LOS ANGELES - News has filtered in that the Electronic Entertainment Expo next year will be a return to form, and set earlier in the year than the previous two shows.
E3 2009 will take place during the first week of June at the Los Angeles Convention Center and will be open to the public on Friday, June 5th and Saturday, June 6th. The event itself will begin on Tuesday, June 2nd, with most of the regular press conferences from Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, and other companies happening on that first day. Attendance from the public and gaming journalists will be capped at 40,000.
One source, who is described only as 'being close to the process, stated the following;
After vehemently opposing a bigger show three years ago -- to now go back to the board, admit a mistake, and advocate for a bigger show. It reflects well on the organization and the board to recognize they made a mistake and, regardless of how it would look publicly, go ahead and fix it.
After the disappointments of the E3 shows in the past two years, it is doubtful that anyone wouldn't want the Gaming Industry's biggest tradeshow returned to its former glory.
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