Material Handling brings NEW SHOW to the ATL in 2012!

Click here to go to the TSNN web site for a full view of this article. 

When the Material Handling Industry of America decided to bring its new biennial trade show – MODEX – to Atlanta in 2012, it wasn’t just because of the city’s famed southern hospitality. It also was a strategic move the association had been considering for a while because of the Panama Canal expansion that is scheduled to be completed in 2014 and the expected major impact that will occur within the material handling sector as a result.

“We see the expansion of the Panama Canal to be a major supply chain game-changer and have positioned MODEX 2012 as the event that can help exhibitors and attendees capitalize on the new dynamics,” said John Nosfinger, CEO for MHIA. “Over 40 percent of North American manufacturing and distribution locations are now within a 500 mile radius of Atlanta.”

The Material Handling Industry of America’s ProMat trade show

He added, “Georgia and the Southeast are also home to extensive intermodal and logistics hubs that drive supply chains now and will continue to in the future. Currently, 90 percent of the global top 35 3PLs have operations in Georgia and more than 48 of the largest retailers have distribution centers.”

William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the new show is a perfect fit for the city’s strategy to target specific industry sectors. “What we’ve been doing is to really focus on industry sectors that have been growing,” he added. MODEX is signed on for 2012 and 2014 and holding dates for 2016 and 2018, Pate said.

MODEX is estimated to attract 20,000 attendees, 500 exhibitors and have a 150,000 square foot showfloor. Nosfinger said MHIA is in talks with several other entities for possible collocations and his organization hopes to have many of them on board when the show launches Feb. 6-9, 2012, at the Georgia World Congress Center.

MHIA had been mulling over launching a new show for a few years, he added, and considered not only Atlanta, but also other locales such as Orlando and Las Vegas. However, Nosfinger said, “At the end of the day, all markers pointed to Atlanta for us.”

Pate said that the show and Atlanta were a good fit, adding, “The announcement of MODEX is the delivery of Atlanta’s strategy to attract meetings from segments that are showing expansive growth. Atlanta is an important hub for logistics and supply chain industries and, therefore, a natural fit to be the hub for tradeshows in this segment.”

MODEX is just one of five major associations within the supply chain industry that will hold its meeting in Atlanta in 2011 and 2012, collectively bringing more than 33,000 industry professionals to the city for their business, according to ACVB officials.

In addition to MODEX, the Warehousing Education & Research Council; the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals; International Air Cargo Association; and the National Industrial Transportation League and Intermodal Association of North America will all convene in Atlanta.

‘We’ve been watching the economy and catching the areas that are growing or expanding,” Pate said. Other areas of focus for new business include alternative energy, medical and financial, he added.

The Value of Value - What Can It Do For You?

Quote of the Month

September 2010

"Value-oriented services, the adding of value through services, will be the catalyst that will lead us out of this down economy. This has been the reality in exiting down turns in the past.  It will be the turn today as well."

--Rick Bellerjeau - Momentum Management

Just another way the iPhone is changing the way the world does business.

What is an EAC letter?

One question you will be posed with in the trade show industry is "Have you turned in your EAC form?"  If you are new to the industry - or just new to the I&D part of the industry - you may not know what exactly an EAC form is!  Allow us to explain.

Thanks to one of our great sales reps, Kaete, for putting this information together.

EAC Letter

Exhibitor Appointed Contractor Letter

Non Official Contractor Form

Notification of Intent to Use Exhibitor Appointed Contractor

An EAC letter or Exhibitor Appointed Contractor letter informs the general contractor (and or convention facility) that there will be someone other than themselves performing work at a venue. This form can also be Notification of Intent to Use an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor or Non-Official Contractor Form. Not all shows have this requirement, but nearly all of them do. Typically, this form is in the printed Exhibitor Services Manual -- or it could be found on-line.

The EAC form will ask what type of work is to be performed (AV, I&D Labor, Supervision only etc). It will also ask for the name of the contractor (Momentum) and probably our address, phone and contact name. This form often requires a signature of the Exhibitor or their agent (person assigning the labor on their behalf). They do not want the EAC (Momentum, etc) to fill out the form because they want to be sure that the Exhibitor has truly authorized the assignment.

Once the EAC form is submitted to the entity requesting the form (GC or Show Management) a copy of the submitted form should be faxed by the exhibitor to Momentum (770-777-4070). At this point, the EAC will submit certificates of insurance for General Liability & Workmen's Comp listing the GC & Show Management as additional insured. Typical limits requested for this coverage is $1,000,000, but may be more. This assures the GC that they will not be liable should one of the EAC’s men get hurt or hurt someone else in the area under their jurisdiction.

EAC forms are often the first form due in the Exhibitor Services Manual. Typical deadlines are about 30 days prior to the installation of the booth, but some shows can require the forms due as much as 90 days prior. Some shows are very strict about enforcing the deadline, making no exceptions. Other shows are lax about the deadlines and just want the forms turned in for their files. If your deadline has already passed, do not despair. Give Momentum Management a call and we will check to see if it can still be submitted. If you have any additional questions regarding your EAC form, you may contact our corporate office at 770-777-4100. 

Are your graphics working for you?

CHECK OUT THIS ARTICLE TAKEN FROM THE HCEA NEWSLETTER - 9/2010.

A New Perspective on Graphics - Christine Farmer, Senior Convention Manager, sanofi-aventis US.

Traditional advice about planning exhibit graphics is to think of billboards: after all, is driving down the highway all that different from walking down the aisle at a convention? In both cases, images attract and connect us to the company or product portrayed.

At conventions, graphics give attendees instant visual input to make a decision: Do I want to stop here and pursue a face-to-face relationship with this company or this brand? More than we care to admit, we are used to making decisions based on visual attraction, and graphics play an important role in shaping our preferences.

Good traditional wisdom, as far as it goes.

But it doesn't go far enough to cover the concerns of marketers in a highly regulated industry nor the mandate to educate rather than sell, the stated goal of the personal encounter at medical conventions.

The current regulatory environment is daunting, with the head of FDA's Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC), Tom Abrams, telling marketers to show "more self restraint and increased self regulation. " Couple that with the recent "Bad Ad Program" that not only encourages healthcare providers to report misleading promotional activity but also provides for DDMAC exhibits at "specifically-selected medical conventions...to distribute education materials" that will tell doctors how to report potential violations—and what you get is a legal and regulatory firestorm, leading to an increasingly conservative view toward all promotional materials.

Naturally this conservatism extends to graphics which are not only reviewed for approved content and images, but now are scrutinized to determine whether enough fair balance copy is displayed. The creative challenge is not for the faint of heart.

Moreover, since education is the purpose of a promotional exhibit, the drill-down learning process, a process shaped by our use of the Internet, extends to the display of graphics in a very real way. Unlike the friendly billboards, convention exhibit graphics are meant to be viewed hierarchically. In other words, what do attendees see at 100 feet? at 10 feet? at 1 foot? Will these graphics be free standing? overhead? flat against the wall?

To meet these challenges, the account team starts with planning for graphics to be an integral part of the exhibit, not an afterthought. This means working closely with agencies to make sure that any lifestyle images or 'beauty shots' can be translated to a much larger format than the master visual aid demands. Constant communication with in-house legal and regulatory personnel is now a regular part of the process.

Next, decisions are made about the format for the graphics. Medical exhibits during the past two decades have been characterized by graphics mounted on sintra or displayed in light boxes. There is no reason that images have to be static simply because they've historically been that way. It's no secret that human beings are attracted to movement and light, and graphic displays that are dynamic have a much greater chance of capturing attendees' interest. Technology has given us many ways to incorporate light and movement—from lenticular graphics and LED screens to 3D images that don't require glasses.

You might ask: Where do "graphics" leave off and where does "multimedia" begin? And to answer a question with a question, do we need to have a cutoff point? Incorporating multimedia technology into graphics, particularly those in the 1 foot space, often allows an effective solution to not only delivering the approved promotional message but also to displaying fair balance copy. Technology that enlivens graphics attracts attendees but also helps to meet the current challenge of DDMAC surveillance and making sure that all promotional copy stays on message, drilling-down, if necessary, to fair balance copy.

Since the 2002 PhRMA Code was enacted, convention exhibiting is getting more challenging, but along with the challenges, there are new creative solutions to meet them. Exhibit graphics can move beyond sintra and light boxes and take advantage of the technology that not only solves problems but attracts visitors.

To see this article on the HCEA web site - click here.