Stuller, Echelon Wrap Up Another JA Show In NYC

New York City. The Bright Lights. The Big Apple. A city that has a reputation as being one of the most culturally inspiring places in the world.  It’s also a place that makes even the most hardened exhibitors cringe when they realize they’re headed to the Jacob A Javits center for an event.  Why?  Simply, it’s expensive.

Enter Stuller, Inc. (@stullerinc) a longtime Echelon client that this past week wrapped up with another JA show (@JAShow_NewYork).  It’s their second-to-last stop before winding down their major events for the year.  Our goal for this show was to make this experience as seamless as possible for Stuller.

Here’s how we did it.

I&D: Setting the tone

Labor rates in NYC aren’t as high as every other major convention city.  They’re higher.  Yet, everyone knows this going in.  You don’t fight it.  You work with it.  And if you’re fortunate enough to be working with a good crew like the guys at Nth Degree you can rest better knowing that they’re looking out for the bottom line, too.

• Make sure you give the guys detailed plans such as to create as few as questions about electrical requirements, constructive needs, etc. as possible.
• Delegate effectively.  Tackle the setup in teams so that productivity meets the timeline for setup.
• Jump in where you can but be sure not to jeopardize your labor crews livelihood.  They take their jobs very seriously, as well as they should.  It’s New York City.  Don’t fight it. Work with it.

Product Merchandising

Because Stuller is showcasing nearly 1000 sq ft of jewelry, tools and dealer solutions it’s important that we give their staff as much time as possible to prep the booth for show opening.  This means that no matter when our target move-in begins, we have to give the clients at least half a day for merchandising.  Fortunately, this year we had an extra half-day to install the booth so we were able to more productive in day one of the setup and provide the client ample time to complete their setup.

Dismantle

Stay out of the way.  In some cases, this is the best thing your exhibit company can do to ensure a speedy break down.  Stuller is no exception to this rule.  These guys do half a dozen large shows a year and our ultimately responsible for the safe keeping of their product and tools.  Our presence during JA dismantle is intended to assist the clients with preparation of its tools and products for outbound shipment.  As soon as the client is off the floor, our team goes to work with break down of the exhibit properties.  Again, our goal is not to be a trip hazard for our client.

Parting Words

In no way do I mean to belittle the NYC exhibiting experience.  In fact, it’s one of my favorite places to work in the U.S.  The people.  The energy.  The food.  It all makes for memorable trade show.  But I’m curious to hear what you think.  What’s the best and worse experience you’ve had at a NYC event?