The Value of a Haircut

How does one determine the value of products and services i.e. haircuts? For most of us conditioning determines buying behaviour. We are most likely to continue with our current service provider until a significant enough reason to change occurs. There are various reasons that crop up – poor service, provider not available, increased distance between you and the provider, and last but not least price. All of these items taken together affect our value perception.

I was recently travelling to San Francisco and as usual, I realize that I needed a haircut after I arrive there. Walking down Union Street, I saw a salon that did not require appointments and got a haircut. When I went to pay, the stylist surprised me with the price - $16. Granted, there is not as much to cut these days, but I have not had a haircut for that low a price for a very long time. In contrast, my son needed a haircut a couple of Sunday's ago. We were walking through downtown and spotted a salon, close to Robson Street. His haircut ended up costing me $75. I fully appreciate that the stylists are well trained and accomplished, but he just needed a very basic cut, after all he is just 14.

I cannot justify the price I paid for my son's cut, given the price I paid for mine, the difference was too great. And to top it off, the $16 haircut I received was one of the best ones I have received in quite a few years. So how does this affect The Portables? The perception of value.

At The Portables we have spent the last two years improving the efficiency of our operation. Through a significant investment in equipment, a rationalization of our overheads, and successful negotiations with our key suppliers, we are able to offer better value to our clients. Today, we will announce significant price reductions in a majority of our portable hardware and graphics. This reduction does not come at the expense of quality, service, or after-care support. Our reputation is very important to us and affecting the quality of our products was not an option.

In a recent client survey that we conducted, the message was loud and clear. Our quality and service were appreciated, but could we please adjust our prices to take into consideration budget squeezes being felt in all sectors? In essence our clients need a lower priced haircut that is of great quality and is accompanied with exceptional service. Today, The Portables delivers.

Green Box eSolution saves money, helps environment

This is a brilliant way the tons of promotional material that is handed out at tradeshows can be distributed electronically.

News

Written by Aleta Walther

Wednesday, June 02 2010 12:26

The Green Box combines high capacity USB flash memory devices with in-booth distribution devices and software to drive down the cost of handouts by eliminating the paper and printing required for physical copies. ​It's common knowledge that paper-based literature printing, shipping and storage is a drain on exhibitors' budgets. That could all change with the introduction of the Green Box eSolution from Viridistor, LLC. Vridistor's management team says it has created the first viable alternative for reducing the costs and environmental impact of distributing tradeshow-related, paper-based literature. The Green Box combines high capacity USB flash memory devices with in-booth distribution devices and software to drive down the cost of handouts by eliminating the paper and printing required for physical copies. In addition to providing a new service offering for show organizers, the Green Box should benefit corporate exhibitors through significant reductions in the costs associated with paper promotional materials. "The cost savings for this system could well change the way the tradeshow industry does business, and the reduction in environmental impact could be even greater," said Terry Mullin, Viridistor's president and CEO. "The Green Meeting Industry Council estimates that meetings generate 10.5 million tons of garbage per year, a staggering 21 billion pounds in the United States alone. When you multiply the roughly 8,250 trade shows that are held worldwide each year by more than 800,000 exhibitors and more than 30 million attendees, the cost and environmental impact is staggering." How the it works Show organizers offer exhibitors the new service for replacing paper-based literature at a cost that's no more than half of what a company typically spends for printing alone. When exhibitors sign up to use the service, they will receive access to Viridistor "cloud" servers where, prior to the show, they upload their electronic literature. When exhibit staff arrives at the show, they check out their Green Boxes for use in their booths, just as they would pick up badge readers. At that time, their uploaded content will be downloaded onto their Green Boxes. This content can be Word documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, videos, slide presentations, photos or conference session documents. When show attendees register on-site, along with their show badges they receive a lanyard with a free high-capacity USB drive attached. As they tour the show and see a product they want more information on, they simply insert the USB device into the Green Box in the booth and the exhibitor's materials are downloaded in a matter of seconds onto the USB drive. "One of the many benefits of this solution is that users can easily collect literature from virtually all of the booths at a show and store it on a single USB device," Mullin added. "Each attendee drive is specific to that particular show and includes the ability to download materials in multiple languages, if exhibitors provided different language versions." Each USB device also contains an interactive electronic show guide, session guide and floor maps so attendees can search exhibitor offerings by company name, product category or booth location. They can also download schedules to their smartphones for use on the show floor. After a show, they can review the collected materials, keep what they want and transfer it onto their Mac or PC, share information with colleagues, and then erase the USB and use it as a standard external memory device. "Management at convention centers and meeting facilities can reduce their costs by eliminating the single biggest source of post-event waste, since tradeshows are second only to the construction industry in the volume of waste produced," Mullin said. "Plus, event attendees will no longer have to lug around literature at an event, and they get a powerful content-manager-on-a-stick that lets them manage all event-related information during and after the event." The bottom line, according to Mullin, is quite simple: "With this solution you now can 'go green' without going broke." Those interested in the Green Box eSolution, can visit the web site at www.viridistor.com.

Giving Stuff Away For a Reason

By Brian Keobke, CME

When you are exhibiting in a tradeshow it's important to fill your exhibit with visitors and one way to seem busy at a tradeshow is by giving out high quality promotional items for no apparent reason other than an attendee was walking by.

However, it's much more important to fill your exhibit with the "right" visitors, ones that have been pre-qualified as high potential customers.

One of the most effective pre-show promotions you can use to attract visitors by sending them a gift before the show. Well actually, half a gift.

What you want to do is first is assemble a list of qualified clients who will be attending your next tradeshow and send them a portion of a gift that they will receive if they visit your exhibit at the show. Of course when they do visit your exhibit for the other half of your gift you will be ready to demo your products to them.

Depending on the location and type of industry the possibilities are endless:

For example, you could send your clients:

• the case for a pair of sunglasses,
  
• the outer package for golf balls
  
• the case for a quality pen
  
• a lanyard for a USB drive
  
• a bookmark for a book
  

The key here is that you are investing very little in sending out an empty case or box but if it gets a qualified attendee to visit your exhibit it is well worth the investment.

Done right, this idea will save you money and increase your sales.

CES 2010 attendance up while exhibitor participation drops

Here is an interesting article on the shape of 2010 Exhibition season. CES has shown that attendees are ready to jump back into the market; it will be really interesting to see how exhibitors react. 2009 was a year of cautiousness, but based on our discussions with clients, 2010 looks like it will be much more active than 2009. Written by Aleta Walther

Many consider the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas each January to be the bellwether event of the tradeshow industry, the crystal ball foretelling the general health of the tradeshow industry for the coming year. If such is the case, show producers and exhibitors may see an up tick in show-related attendance and/or business throughout 2010. On the other hand, general contractors, installation and dismantle (I and D) companies, exhibit houses and other tradeshow suppliers must still contend with corporate cutbacks that are negatively impacting tradeshow attendance. Held at the Las Vegas Convention Center and several neighboring hotel venues January 7-10, CES is the world's largest tradeshow for consumer technology and one of the largest shows worldwide. According to a CES press release, about 120,000 attendees registered for the 2010 event, up about 6 percent over the 2009 attendance of 113,085. It sounds optimistic until you consider that the 2008 CES had a verified attendance of about 141,000 visitors; that's about a 5 percent drop between 2008 attendance and 2010 attendance. Admittedly, there are probably more than a few show producers that will believe a 5 percent dip in show attendance this year over last year is tolerable as many experienced attendance slides of 20 to 30 percent between their 2008 shows and 2009. Although CES attendance was up in 2010 compared to 2009, the number of exhibiting companies dropped 7.4 percent from about 2,700 exhibitors in 2008 and 2009 to 2,500 for 2010. In closing, this writer would like to add that having spent five days on the show floor, I am happy to report that the show's overall energy appeared stronger and attendee and exhibitor enthusiasm higher compared to 2009. So, I am going to opt to see the CES glass as half full.