The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) represents around 16,000 dealers of new vehicles, both domestic and foreign. Over 90 percent of new-vehicle dealers in the U.S. are members, and representatives from most will be at NADA 2012 from February 3-6 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The many tech breakthroughs in computer and communications are being embraced wholeheartedly by makers of transportation technology.

For the first time, NADA 2012 will be held in conjunction with the American Truck Dealers (ATD) Convention and Expo. Exchanging ideas, getting updates on new marketing approaches and networking with other dealers are invaluable experiences for attendees. With the right setup – a LCD touchscreen monitor rental to engage exhibit hall visitors, breakout session aids using Audience Response System (ARS) rentals, etc. – you can make an impact at the event that puts the new vehicle industry in your sights.

This year’s conference promises a powerful conference with such heavy-hitter speakers as President George W. Bush and Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne. Everything on the NADA 2012 program is geared to pushing dealerships to new levels of success.

Catch the “mobile health wave” at HIMSS12

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society is holding its 2012 annual conference and exhibition, HIMSS12, at the Las Vegas Convention Center from February 20-24. The leading group to approach healthcare from the information technology (IT) and systems side of the equation, HIMSS is focusing this year’s conference on “mobile health IT” and the integration of such mobile devices as a smart phone or iPad rental.

With education sessions, special programs and wide-ranging exhibits, health IT and systems professionals from around the world will have their eyes, ears and minds wide open for new tools, techniques and services. With our plasma display rentals you can capture the attention of passersby and draw them into your booth. Of course, there are a lot of people you can miss that way, so you should rent interactive kiosks and place them strategically to capture attendee contact information.

HIMSS12 is the premier location for promoting products and services that empower healthcare professionals to speed workflows, deliver patient care and make educated decisions on technology. A “conference within a conference” event, HIT X.0: Beyond the Edge, will introduce you to hundreds and hundreds of special health/medical applications for smart phones, Wi-Fi gadgets of all kinds and tablet PC rentals running Windows, iOS or Linux. It may help to outfit your conference team members with an iPad rental as well as a Windows device to do “test drives.”

A single call or e-mail puts an experienced Account Executive on the job for you, while our Quick Rental Quote form will save you time when you know what you need. Either way, we’re here and ready to help.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) draws huge numbers to annual events of exceptional, ever-increasing quality, and CES 2012 will be no different. By all possible measures, CES is truly incomparable – the number and quality of exhibitors and attendees, the intense media focus, the incredible variety of markets represented and the unique special events. If your firm needs to be there – the Las Vegas Convention Center, Tuesday January 10, 2012 through Friday the 13th – CRE can help you make your best impression.

CES has options for all marketing strategies, and so do we. If you want to show off your product or service to one and all, consider an Open Booth Space with one of our large-screen plasma display rentals showing your eye-catching invitation. If you prefer to meet and greet new and existing clients in a more private setting, then CES’s Meeting Place or Suites may be the spot to showcase new product offering using iPad rentals.

This year, there are more than a dozen CES TechZones featuring such exciting niches as “green tech,” iOS- and and Mac-specific products, 3D monitors and tablets/e-readers. With our complete selection of event production rentals, we’ve got you covered whatever you decide to do.

NAMM 2012

The annual convention of the National Association of Music Merchants, NAMM 2012, is set for Thursday through Sunday, January 19th to the 22nd, 2012, at the Anaheim Convention Center. Get the inside track on the newest gear, freshest ideas and best strategies for your business. Network with global pros, attend NAMM U development sessions, learn about the latest challenges and opportunities – and put your own best foot forward with the right CRE trade show convention rentals; we are the official technology rental provider for NAMM Trade Show.

At NAMM 2012, there will be some 1,400+ exhibitors from all over the world. In addition to welcoming as many as possible to your own booth – showing a presentation on our special NAMM plasma rentals, or inviting folks to interact with your product demo on one of our LCD touchscreen monitor rentals – you can also “multiply your presence” to capture contact info without wasting “people time.” Rent interactive kiosk technology from CRE and position a unit or two in high-traffic areas (the ones where you and your team won’t be, naturally).

“You can’t get hands-on on the Internet,” as the NAMM promotional materials say. You need to get there in person! Whatever your strategy, CRE can outfit your booth and breakout sessions, and keep you in touch with your team with WiFi devices like iPads or tablet PC rentals.

No matter what size your budget is, CRE can help your strategize a potent presence at CES, NAMM or both. Call or e-mail an experienced Account Executive and let’s work out the best plan for you. You can also use our Quick Rental Quote form if you know what you need. Either way, we’re ready, willing and able to help you put your best foot forward in Las Vegas, Anaheim – and everywhere else!

Promotion at the conference

• Sponsorships and participation – If you can arrange to lead a conference session under the aegis of the host organization or company, it positions you as an expert in your field. Although you would not promote your services in these settings, you will benefit from priceless word of mouth. If you use projector rentals for a presentation, it would be acceptable for you to have your logo or business name at the bottom of the images – but be discreet.

• Giveaways – Consider freebies for visitors to your booth. People do like logos, especially on useful little items like key rings, sticky notes, fridge magnets and such. Do not be cheap. It is better to have nothing at all than a penny mint or plastic wristband. Naturally, be frugal, too. Outfit your conference team with MacBook Pro rentals and your giveaways can be digital, and you can deliver them to other Mac users with OS X Lion’s new Airdrop feature – over WiFi or peer-to-peer.

• Brochures and business cards – You can never bring enough of these. If you run out… never mind, it’s too horrible to contemplate. An updated business card with all your contact info is always the #1 thing on experts’ lists of “what not to forget to bring to the convention.” Don’t be shy about spreading them around, either.

• Touchy-feely togetherness – LCD touchscreen monitor rentals are great for engaging and impressing booth visitors, and you can customize any number of approaches to lead them to the right conclusion about your product or service. With a printer hooked up, booth visitors can print a variety of materials themselves. This guarantees they’ll leave with contact info for your firm.

Post-conference follow-up

This is the “forgotten step” in many conference marketing strategies. It is important to follow up with everyone whose contact information you captured – at your booth, or with strategically placed interactive kiosk rentals – and it is also important to revisit your original invitation list. Since many firms do zero follow-up, you will impress conference attendees with your attention to detail – and your attention to their company! You can use post-conference reports available (for a fee) from the association hosting the event to identify other contacts. “Sorry we missed you at GlobalWorldCon 2011,” you could say, then steer the recipients to your website.

CRE has a full range of convention rentals, and decades of experience helping firms impress conference attendees. One call or e-mail is all it takes to get a knowledgeable Account Executive on the job for you, and a couple of minutes is all it takes for you to get what you know you need with our Quick Rental Quote form. How can we help you?

Conventions and conferences are tremendous opportunities to reach the right kind of people, the ones that need your product or service (whether they know it or not). Appearing at the right venues will enhance your brand identity and increase your firm’s visibility, while you are simultaneously generating leads and driving new sales. As a leading provider of state-of-the-art event production services, CRE Rentals can not only advise you – we can equip you.

Participating in the right events helps you

• make new business connections,

• keep abreast of industry trends,

• observe your competitors in action and

• hone your marketing and sales strategies.

Naturally, you will want to impress attendees without breaking the bank, and much of the answer lies in the old “4P Method” – Planning Prevents Poor Performance. Remember, too, that most cost overruns are due to excessive revision and redundancy. So (1) do things right the first time and (2) stay on schedule.

Your pre-event checklist

• The first thing that will impress conference attendees is an invitation. You can use e-mail blasts, phone calls, press releases and other approaches in the mix that works best for you. Target existing customers, prospects, business leaders, industry analysts, bloggers and anyone else who may be interested – or should be!

• To ensure you have the right exhibit to fulfill your marketing goals (within your budget, of course) you should check out different booth designs. You will need visual appeal, so CRE plasma rentals should be at the top of your list.

• If you do a little research, you can discover what unique and creative booth ideas generated buzz on the exhibition floor of other conferences. Not everyone you invite will show up, so you must attract visitors to your booth.

• Consider which accessories, lighting setups and audio visual rentals will solidify your brand image. Compelling sights should be used in tandem with compelling sounds – without blasting the neighbors, of course.

• Also: Stock some cost-effective giveaways, make sure your booth staff project a professional image, prepare a talking points one-sheet and be proactive in steering people to your exhibit area.

Two overlooked strategies

Early Bird – Start your pre-conference promotion before the ink dries on your booth contract. If you have sales and field personnel using iPad rentals, make sure they carry PDF versions of your promo pieces, and tell them to spread the news.

Cast a Net – Most industries have numerous conferences and trade shows every year, but many firms cannot afford to go to more than one. If this is your situation, arrange to get your promotional materials to associates in non-competitive industries that are exhibiting at shows scheduled before yours.

Call or e-mail an Account Executive for all your on-site production needs, as well as trade show expertise. Know what you need? Use the Quick Rental Quote form right now!

Don’t forget to check out Part 2 of “Impressing Conference Attendees” on Thursday, September 22nd.

Fall is coming, and that means it’s time once again for Oracle OpenWorld 2011, being held October 2-6 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. Researchers, entrepreneurs, the scions of today’s industries and the innovators of tomorrow’s – representing every imaginable industry – come to OpenWorld from the overwhelming majority of nations on Planet Earth.

If you want to master Oracle technology, this is the place, with literally hundreds of sessions, 450 exhibits, scores of technology demos, numerous breakout sessions and many exciting keynotes from world tech leaders from which to choose. If you want to outfit an exhibit area to reel in interested parties, CRE has the convention rentals expertise to help you there, too.

For 30+ years, CRE has been providing solutions for breakout sessions, presentations and exhibits, and is a veteran of OpenWorld. Our plasma rentals can anchor your booth with dramatic displays and signage, while iPad rentals empower your conference team by putting those same materials (and/or others) right in their hands for “portable presentations.”

As we’ve said of previous OpenWorld events, Oracle delivers “five days of education with insights and connections that will transform your business.” The clincher for 2011? This year’s “Appreciation Event” concert features Sting. How can you afford to miss all this?

Solar Power International 2011

From its previous home in Anaheim, Solar Power International 2011 (SPI) moves to Dallas, TX, for its annual conference, to be held October 27-29. SPI is among the biggest, most wide-ranging solar power exhibits and conferences in the world with some 24,000 professionals from over 125 countries in attendance.

With 1,200+ firms from all of the solar power vertical markets exhibiting across an expanse of nearly a million square feet (gross), SPI is working hard to achieve its goal: to “advance and support the solar power industry and to promote the growth of U.S. solar markets.”

Encounter new products, service providers and prospects while networking with professionals from the broadening horizons of the industry. Draw passers-by into your exhibit area with unique (and fun) LCD touchscreen monitor rentals that engage, educate and entertain. From manufacturers, contractors and engineering firms to utility companies, government representatives, investors and financiers, the connections you need to make will all be there – don’t let ‘em get away!

In addition to Audience Response System rentals and other gear, CRE has tips for a successful breakout session. Want to multiply your presence cost-effectively? Capture information from high-traffic areas with interactive kiosk rentals customized with your message and queries. We are conference and exhibit professionals. We can help! One call or e-mail to an experienced Account Executive, or a few minutes with our Quick Rental Quote form, and your solution is on its way.

If you’re involved in any way with the business of fashion, the MAGIC Show 2011 is definitely where you want to be from the 22nd to the 24th of August, 2011. Being held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, the show is Ground Zero for thousands of fashion industry professionals from around the world. The range of people and firms at MAGIC – manufacturers and buyers, fashion leaders and textile designers, marketing mavens and brand builders – is world-class, too.

This year, in fact, the U.S. Department of Commerce and MAGIC will co-host “Sourcing in the Americas” on Sunday, the 21st, the day before MAGIC’s official start. The day-long summit will showcase textile mills, apparel, footwear, component suppliers and service providers throughout Latin America. Attending, exhibiting or both, MAGIC is where you will discover the hot new trends, from design to retailing, while you’re buying, selling and “schmoozing.” This is where it happens.

Display a winning attitude with Plasma Rentals

The popular saying, “Go big or go home,” applies perfectly to the winning attitude you need if you’re heading for the MAGIC event (or any other). At MAGIC, all the companies, big and small, go to great, often expensive lengths to promote themselves with dramatic visual displays, free gifts, breakout sessions and more. CRE can outfit you with big, bold plasma rentals and the other tools you need to get the most from this one-stop-shop event.

If your conference team is small this year, you can multiply your presence with interactive kiosk rentals customized to make your pitch and take contact info from passersby. CRE can help both veteran business owners and new entrepreneurs to “go big” without the “big bucks,” and make things happen at MAGIC. If you host a session, our Audience Response System rentals provide a two-way exchange of information that can be invaluable in helping you focus your branding message and PR.

MAGIC’s Global reach

The seminars conducted at MAGIC are extremely popular because of the top quality presenters and keynote speakers. Outfitted with our iPad rentals, your conference team can take notes (written or voice), snap photos, take videos, stay in touch and access online conference resources. If you work in fashion, you have to be at MAGIC – and if you go, you need to “go big.” There’s no better way to prepare than to get CRE, with its full range of convention rentals, on your side. That’s how MAGIC gets done.

It gets done quickly, too, when you call or e-mail our experienced CRE Account Executives. It doesn’t cost a cent to brainstorm your conference strategy with them, and when you get it nailed down we have the full range of event production services available. One call does it all – but you don’t even need to do that if you know what you need. In that case, use our handy Quick Rental Quote form. Either way, CRE will give you the magic!

And, a second, special conference will be held in conjunction with Comic-Con. The ICv2 Comics, Media and Digital Conference will be at the  San Diego Marriott Hotel and Marina, next to the Convention Center on Wednesday afternoon, July 20th. This event brings together leaders in the creation, production and distribution of comics to discuss the powerful new trends shaping the future of entertainment (generally) and comics (specifically). The sorts of folks who use our AJA Io HD rentals and the latest-’n'-greatest Macs (see our recent blog on the newest iMacs) will be all over the place. You’ll feel right at home!

Enhance your presence at Comic Con with plasma rentals

Are you exhibiting and want people to stop in their tracks? CRE has 42” to 65” big-screen plasma rentals or consider renting 3D plasmas to get your booth the attention you want.

Want to cover more territory at lower cost, with 100% dependability (and no coffee breaks)? Use interactive kiosk rentals to “multiply your presence” cost-effectively by giving out your company’s message while “taking names and numbers” from attendees you may have missed otherwise.

iPad rental – the perfect tool for your staff

If your company is attending Comic-Con, make sure your staff is properly outfitted for the right tasks. For those attending sessions where speakers, panelists and attendees consider the state of comics today – how they’re used in everything from TV ads and merchandising to blockbuster movies (or not) – then Apple’s iPad is a good pick. Renting an iPad will help your staff stay in touch, download the conference program, record audio and/or video of sessions, take notes and look “super-cool”.

Everything you need for a successful conference is right here at CRE.  A visit to our Quick Rental Quote form is all it takes to get things going. Whether you need to strategize your Comic-Con presence, or get 20+ computer rentals to equip a new customer service department tomorrow (yep, tomorrow), CRE is your one-stop shop. We do it all, we have it all, so look no further – give a call!

Shades of green

Rather than tactics or activities, which we’ve blogged about elsewhere, this is about how to spot a good convention facility to achieve your “green” goal.  You cannot assume anything about a hotel or convention center simply because it calls itself “green.” There are no legal standards in effect for using the term.

It’s your responsibility to figure out how to (excuse the pun) greenlight the candidates for your firm’s convention site. Consider this a “profiling” task and look for the following “character traits”:

• Accessibility (real and virtual) – The site, if not itself a hotel complex, should be within walking distance of hotels, eateries and public transportation. You also need access to both your data and your colleagues, so site-wide Wi-Fi is key to keeping your team’s iPad rentals, tablets and other devices connected to the Web – and each other.

• Saving water – The “deep green” convention sites have the latest in forced-air hand driers, low-flow toilets and other water-saving devices in restrooms.

• Serving water – Less waste is generated if the convention center provides glassware and large pitchers of water, rather than costly individual water bottles.

• The paper chase – Convention centers should help attendees reduce the use of paper, starting with Wi-Fi for programs and registration. Laptops, iPad 2, tablet PC rentals – CRE has the right wireless rental solutions for all your different needs.

• Setup and teardown efficiency – Green facilities will have a strategy for reducing utility costs (lights, a/c, heat) during setup and teardown in the exhibit area. CRE Rentals’  setup personnel will handle everything including schooling you in the most efficient use of the latest LCD touchscreen monitor rentals.

• Site-wide efficiency – The convention center should also reduce energy usage by cutting off lights in unused rooms, at all hours.

• Commitment – The convention center should have a comprehensive recycling program already in place and a policy similar to CRE’s own “Green Statement.”

CRE can help you “go green” at a convention or “stay green” right in your office – with everything from energy-saving office equipment rentals to high-end, high horsepower post-production gear that reduces project time to save you money. Ready for lean and green? Call or send an e-mail to an expert Account Executive now. As always, if you know what you need, head for the Quick Rental Quote form and we’ll be right on it!

It’s a lot of work to stay abreast of all the advances that are driving the “greening” of modern business. The new watchwords of “green” and “sustainable” echo throughout the world, motivating businesses in every imaginable industry to combine efficiency, good stewardship and sales success. To learn how to do this, as firms that use CRE’s convention rentals know, there are some conferences and trade shows you simply must attend, some you should exhibit at – and others where you should do both.

On its 2010-2011 calendar, GreenITConferences.org has about 50 conferences scheduled this year, and the range of subjects is impressive. The Workshop on Sustainable Networking and the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Green Computing and Communications, both taking place in China, will address matters of concern to every company, in every country, in every industry – this is no exaggeration. There are likely other “musts” on the list for your firm, too, depending on what business you are in.

Small Green Conventions are beautiful, too

One green event – the International Conference on Data Compression, Communication and Processing – will be of particular interest to the kind of companies that use AJA Io HD rentals and RAID storage solutions for digital media production and post-production. Even with storage costs decreasing, better compression means smaller files, fewer hard drives or other storage devices, faster processing and thus, lower overall costs.

The Renewable Energy Conferences Worldwide page lists over 100 conferences around the globe in 2011, from the 6th Annual Columbia University Energy Symposium to the Second International Conference on Green & Sustainable Technology. These conferences cover the many aspects of energy creation and use, pointing the way to the future for both governments and private enterprises. If you exhibit, CRE’s touchscreen LCD monitor rentals will let attendees point their own way through your presentation to learn about your product or service.

Shared resources – a key to sustainability

Resource planning, including various approaches to resource sharing, is a key component of sustainable business practices. If you do a monthly training session for 20 customer service representatives, buying 20 computers to use them so infrequently fairly defines “unsustainable.” Save money and be “lean and green” by availing yourself of CRE’s iMac rentals instead – fewer boxes, less Styrofoam and less waste all around.

CRE is serious about its environmental policy and responsible corporate citizenship. We are similarly committed to our customers, as our experienced Account Executives will prove when you call or e-mail them. If you know what you need, use the Quick Rental Quote form and you’re done. If you’re committed to going (and staying) green like we are, helping you is good for everybody – Mother Earth included!

Experts (and buyers) of all kinds

Hardware, software and service companies of all kinds will be touting their wares to 90,000+ media and entertainment professionals from some 150 countries – executives, producers, writers, content distribution/delivery experts, IT managers and many others. CRE convention rentals are key to an effective exhibit – you are going, right? – and, with a shot at over $35 billion in purchasing power in attendance, missing the NAB Show could cost you. CRE can deliver and set up everything you need to make a powerful impression, starting with attention-getting, big-screen plasma rentals.

Show promoters are not kidding when they say that the NAB Show is “where possibilities become realities,” and to maximize your presence you need to be in multiple places – at once. How? You can use both humans and machines for this nifty trick. Send some of your conference team through the Convention Center with iPad rentals stocked with presentations, marketing materials and video clips. If you’re short on humans, you can place a few of CRE’s interactive kiosk rentals in strategic locations to offer product/service info and capture attendee contact data.

Mapping the future

From custom-designed content management systems to the latest software for creating natural 3D environments, the NAB Show is also where you will get up to speed on where the future’s headed. Whether you’re leading one of the 500+ skill-building sessions or polling a room full of broadcast pros with our Audience Response System rentals, we can set it up right – and pack it up when you’re done. After five or six days of interacting with over 1,500 different companies spread across more than 800,000 square feet of floor space, you might be a little tired!

Conferences are just one way that CRE can help you, but you’re not exhibiting and/or attending one every day. For every other day of the year, we’re here with the solutions that will empower you to plow through production bottlenecks with our render farm rentals or store terabytes of digital media on Xserve RAID rentals. Use the Quick Rental Quote form if you know what you need, or call or e-mail an expert Account Executive for assistance. Whether you’re headed to Vegas next month or not, CRE is the right destination when your digital workflow needs a boost or a breakthrough. That’s what we do!