More on New Ideas – Part II

In search of new ideas for a backdrop for our booth at the upcoming Pack Expo Chicago 2012 show, I searched ‘Exhibitor’ magazine. Some of the unique ideas I saw included using a plain white wall and allowing visitors to write on it, graffiti style. Another interesting idea was to create cartoon drawings of your products on the back walls. I brought these ideas to a brainstorming session that included individuals from other departments in our company.

We talked about a lot of different mediums and graphic ideas. We decided we needed a product that could be put up and taken down easily, and would be re-usable from show to show. That would mean it had to be ‘modular’ as our booth is rarely the same size and configuration at each show. We sent an employee to Home Depot and Lowe’s to see what products he could find in large sheets. We also tasked our Purchasing Agent with asking our vendors what large sheets of plastic or other products they could suggest.

We got back some really great products. One was a lightweight 4’ x 8’ sheet of foam that could be painted any color. We also got samples of aluminum-skinned lightweight plastic that also came in 4’ x 8’ sheets. To find out what we used and how it will look, read my next and final blog on New Ideas.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.