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Trade Shows in Feb. 2011: Security and Sedans

January 20th, 2011

The National Automobile Dealers Association will hold its 2011 NADA Convention & Expo at Moscone Center in San Francisco from February 5-7. Thousands of new vehicle dealers – plus retailers, automakers and industry leaders – will be there at the most important event in the automotive industry. Exhibitors need to stand out or be lost in the crowd, so audiovisual rentals and other attention-grabbers should be part of your plan.

Do you have a product or service that targets this industry? Your customers are going to be there as well as your competitors and potential partners. So, it is vital to put on your best show with an interactive presentation displayed on a touchscreen LCD monitor rentals.

Since exhibiting at NADA brings you into personal contact with more auto dealerships than any other venue, you want to make a memorable impression. Letting people “touch their way” through presentations on Sony VAIO L all-in-one computer rental will engage them at your booth, while interactive kiosk rentals placed elsewhere will present your message while capturing information from potential partners and customers. With CRE, you have ‘em covered, coming and going!

RSA Conference USA 2011, coming to San Francisco’s Moscone Center from February 14-18, is the most comprehensive gathering of information security professionals. Attendees will learn about the newest security technologies, get updated on new best practices and gain insight into the security challenges facing businesses today. If you market a product or service to this industry, you can make a big impact with CRE convention rentals tailored to your needs.

The RSA Conference USA 2011 is the ultimate way to connect with security pros from around the globe. They will come from everywhere looking for solutions to the latest security risks, and if you have one of CRE’s plasma rentals you can really wow them. With simple computer programs you can control a multi-monitor setup (even a “wall”), so a few plasma screens or a mix of them and some LCD monitor rentals can make your exhibit the most eye-catching of all.

Consider holding a breakout session with one of CRE’s Audience Response System rentals. You can get immediate input as well as valuable feedback for later use. With CRE’s array of convention rentals you can achieve whatever effect you want.

At CRE Rentals, we are constantly thinking of how we can best serve your needs. We are always ready to equip you to blast through any production bottleneck or put your best foot forward at a convention. Call or e-mail an experienced Account Executive, or fill out the Quick Rental Quote form, and we’ll set you up with the right equipment, at the right place, at the right time and the right price – right away!

Touchscreens Find Their Niches

November 30th, 2010

Recently there has been a veritable tidal wave of talk about “touchscreen this” and “touchscreen that” as the technology gets better, faster, smaller and less costly. The latest Apple iPod nano (no, they don’t capitalize it) has a 1.54-inch color touchscreen with a stunning 220ppi (pixels per inch) display. But touchscreen technology, as deployed in CRE’s potent Sony VAIO L computer rentals, is not just for entertainment. There is some serious work you can do with touchscreen displays, but it may not be what you were thinking. Let’s take a look.

Touch up or touch down?

One of Microsoft’s “cloud” commercials shows a high-tech Mom editing a family portrait. She is using a touchscreen PC, similar to the VAIO L, meaning she has to hold her arm up at shoulder height. About three more edits and the lady would have had to drop that tired limb! Sure, you can use touchscreens without tiring out, as long as you are spreading your action among the screen, the keyboard and the mouse. But if touchscreens are not perfect for everyday work (much less grueling audio, photo or video editing), where do they excel?

First, they excel in different positions and places. A touchscreen is fabulous in tablet PC rentals for note-taking and touch-driven workflows. And digitizing pads (essentially high-end, high-resolution touchscreens) let artists draw directly into graphics programs with the pad placed wherever they want it. You can also customize your touchscreen set-up to interact with clients, customers, colleagues or job applicants that you may encounter at a company meeting or trade show.

When is a kiosk not a kiosk?

Whether you use a VAIO L or a touchscreen LCD monitor rentals with another computer, the touch capabilities give you a powerful meeting/conference tool. You can create product demos, various forms and conference literature that can be accessed right at your table or exhibit booth – like having interactive kiosk rentals without the kiosks! Of course, kiosks are powerful additions to your conference presence and can run unattended, while your touchscreen set-up lets you assist several people at once.

If you watched election results this year, you likely noticed that everybody is using big, BIG touchscreens now. You can make a pretty dramatic presentation to a decent-size group with 32-inch touchscreen monitor rental. As a presentation aid, a touchscreen is perfect, and it also makes a great training tool (as discussed in various training approaches). Used the right way, for the right things, touchscreens are becoming indispensable.

When you need solutions right now for project bottlenecks, conference sessions or storage needs, CRE is indispensable, too. Need a touchscreen for an upcoming event? Simply complete the Quick Rental Quote and our Account Executives are just one-touch away from assisting you.

Pharmacists’ Conference Hosted at Anaheim Convention

November 4th, 2010

ASHP Midyear Conference

The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists chose Anaheim, CA for the 45th ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition. Meeting sessions and exhibits will take place December 5-9 at the Anaheim Convention Center, the Anaheim Marriott and the Hilton Anaheim. Some 20,000 pharmacy professionals, clinicians and vendors will gather to update their knowledge of the latest technologies, practice standards and innovations.

With hundreds of workshops, sessions, exhibits and networking opportunities, the Midyear Meeting is a great opportunity for both attendees and exhibitors . If you are exhibiting, CRE has the convention rentals you need and can handle delivery and setup. Work with Show Management and see if a few interactive kiosk rentals can be showcased around the convention exhibit floor; they are unsurpassed for giving out promotional messages!

Hosting a planet-friendly convention

Being wireless-enabled at the Midyear Meeting with laptop rentals will help the organizers fulfill their commitment to hosting a planet-friendly convention. “ASHP has long incorporated conservation and energy efficiency into its events,” says the group’s promotional material, and this doesn’t just mean recycling. It means that ASHP is following many of the recommendations about green conventions that CRE has blogged about recently. All Midyear Meeting brochures, handouts, presentations and continuing education procedures will all be available online to minimize printing and paper waste.

CRE plasma rentals guarantee dramatic signage for your exhibit booth, but you may want to get into the “deep green” mindset of the organizers by making your own sell sheets and brochures downloadable for the wireless majority (while keeping a few print pieces for the un-wired).

We see good progress being made on the environmental front, as just about every major convention center is taking serious measures to reduce waste. This affects everything from how registration is handled to the choice of cloth napkins over paper. CRE practices what it preaches (see our corporate Green Statement), and supports good sense and sustainability by making high-tech tools available without purchase.

Exhibiting or attending ASHP and need trade show rentals? Fill out the Quick Rental Quote form, whether you need something before, during or after the ASHP convention, CRE Rentals can help!

November Trade Shows: Audio, Autos and Games

October 14th, 2010

Here is a look at the upcoming Trade Shows in November:

129th AES Convention

AES (the Audio Engineering Society) is a driving force in the evolution of pro audio expertise and education, and it will hold its 129th annual get-together at Moscone Center in San Francisco from November 4-7, 2010.

To help you stay on time and on track, AES is following one of the primary “green convention” recommendations by maintaining a constantly updated online calendar for finding special events, workshops, presentations, tutorials and technical seminars at the event.

If you are exhibiting at the AES Convention this year, showcase your product or service to engineers, executives, marketing directors and product developers with AES plasma rentals – it will put your message on a screen that can’t be missed. If you’re planning any presentations, we’ve got you covered there, too. CRE has the full range of convention rentals to outfit your booth including an interactive kiosk rentals that can display your products and take contact information from attendees.

2010 SEMA Show

From November 2-5 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the premier trade event for automotive specialty and aftermarket products will showcase the latest, greatest innovations. The SEMA Show, not open to the general public, attracts industry leaders, buyers, and retailers from 100+ countries.

If you are exhibiting, consider outfitting your team with iPad rentals to survey visitors to your booth or gather contact information. Or cut through the noise and bring your message to those who need to hear it with bright, bold graphics on our SEMA plasma rentals – 50 inches of true 1080p HD quality color and action sound. The right selection of audio visual rentals guarantees your message is seen and heard.

G2E: Global Gaming Expo

The Global Gaming Expo, G2E, the only event produced “by the industry, for the industry,” has been on the leading edge of the gaming industry for a decade now and is at the Las Vegas Convention Center from November 15-18. Professionals from around the world will gather to see and learn what’s new and what’s next in a dynamic, ever-evolving marketplace.

G2E’s exhibit floor is packed with exhibitors and if you will be among them, you need CRE to help you rise above the crowd. Touchscreen LCD monitor rentals are great for that. Splash an animated welcome sign on one and invite passersby to sample videos, watch product demos or browse through your digital brochures and product displays. If you are conducting a breakout session and want feedback from industry pros, Audience Response System rentals are the way to go.

Exhibiting, attending or both, you will get the advice and the equipment you need with one call to a CRE Account Executive. Call or e-mail, or fill out the Quick Rental Quote form, and we will help you plan a powerful presence that is problem-free.

Greening of Convention Centers

September 21st, 2010

CRE is serious about the environment, saving energy and “going green,” which is why we have a “Green Statement” front and center on our site. It’s also why we return to the subject regularly in this blog. The last time we discussed Green (5 Great Ideas for Green Meetings & Events ), it was from the perspective of the conference attendee – lightweight signage, energy-saving devices and so on. Greening of Conferences Now that the green movement is in full swing, convention centers in cities large and small are on the bandwagon, incorporating the latest and greatest energy- and planet-saving procedures. Let’s take a look at what’s happening with these new green convention centers and how it affects building managers, exhibitors and participants.

Green convention centers are similar to the new generation of green hotels. The major areas of concern for the builders and managers of these facilities are

energy efficiency,
water efficiency,
transportation alternatives,
waste management,
using environmentally-friendly products,
indoor air quality and
ongoing education of guests and staff.

Energy-saving operations

The new generation of green convention centers debuted in the early 2000s with a variety of new, state-of-the-art, energy-efficient features. These include highly advanced, computerized building management systems with the latest in efficient lighting, plus occupancy sensors that reduce demands on lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) as meeting rooms are vacated. In the most advanced facilities, these systems also reduce power, light and HVAC for exhibit hall setup and breakdown. If you are setting up your plasma rentals and other convention rentals at your hall location, facilities managers can ensure that the power outlets to the floor are on for your convenience even when building systems are scaled back.

When the exhibit hall opens and the conference gets going, energy-conserving compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) come into play and continue reducing the expenditure of both energy (up to 70% less energy than incandescent bulbs) and money. Also making major savings contributions are such construction techniques as the Sarnafil EnergySmart Roof system, which successfully and cost-effectively reduces atmospheric heat absorption. Other green roof systems use pre-vegetated mats, some half a foot thick containing sedum plants and other greenery. to provide both short- and long-term benefits such as reduced rain runoff and improved insulation.

Cleaning, recycling, transportation

Leading edge green convention centers also focus on the back end – what happens after the conference is over. Well-designed, comprehensive recycling programs deal with everything from composting food waste, reusing oil and grease, and collecting wood pallets to gathering up all glass, metal, plastic and cardboard materials. Exhibitors that anticipate a great deal of waste can arrange with facilities management for interim waste pickups or special handling of certain materials. Environmentally safe cleaning products are used in green convention centers, as well as low-flow toilets, efficient HEPA air filtration systems and paper products that are made from a high percentage of post-consumer waste. Before, during and after the big event, the same mindset holds – think green, start to finish.

Green convention centers also extend the enviro-friendly thinking to transportation, too. Conference center managers work with municipal and private bus systems, and also cooperate with event organizers to set up whatever shuttle systems are most suited to the event and location. The new, still-evolving green convention centers consider every step, every angle and every option that can save energy while sustaining the highest levels of comfort and quality. After you head back to HQ from the convention, and start going through the contact information you captured on your interactive kiosk rentals, the managers of the green convention centers are getting ready for the next conference – and keeping tabs on the latest energy-saving technologies, too.

That pursuit of quality and dedication to progress are qualities that CRE embodies, as well. Whether you require a touchscreen monitor rental for your booth or Audience Response System rentals for a conference breakout session, we have what you need. We also have it when you need it, and can put it where you need it, too. Fill out the online Quick Rental Quote form, and let us know how we can help you get “green”.

Trade Shows in September: High-Tech to Bike-Tech

August 12th, 2010

Oracle OpenWorld

We’re headed toward Fall, which means it’s time for Oracle OpenWorld, being held September 19-23 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. As the most important meeting for Oracle users and experts, Oracle OpenWorld is the premier place to meet business leaders, researchers and innovators from all kinds of industries and scores of countries around the world. If you want to master the Oracle technology stack with which your run your business, then more than 1,800 sessions, a full Saturday of MySQL offerings, 400+ exhibits, scores of Oracle demos and keynotes from global tech leaders will make the event a surefire winner.

For years, CRE has been providing solutions for presentations, breakout sessions, networking and everything else you need to do at conferences. We have Oracle OpenWorld plasma rentals for dramatic displays and signage if you will be exhibiting, and tablet PC rentals to ensure your conference team captures all the information your firm needs. Our wireless gear will help you take control of session notes, manage downloadable conference materials, save prospects’ contact information – and get maps to find your way around The City by the Bay if you don’t know the lay of the land. Oracle promises “five days of education,” with insights and connections that will “transform your business.” Don’t miss it!

Interbike 2010

Interbike 2010, set for September 22-24 at The Venetian & The Sands Expo in Las Vegas, is North America’s largest bicycle trade show and a key event for the entire global cycling community. There will be over 1,000 top brands represented, showing wares and sharing insights with some 22,000 attendees from 60+ countries. Industry leaders, R&D innovators, parts suppliers and bike enthusiasts will mingle and converse at breakout sessions, following keynote speeches and around the hundreds of exhibits.

If you’re exhibiting at this year’s show, CRE has special Interbike plasma rentals to help you make your best impression to buyers, first-tier retailers and product experts from around the world. Get some laptop rentals and you will be equipped to fill an array of monitors with your PowerPoint presentations, Flash animations and digital signage to make booth your a surefire hit.

Make sure your team members have the tools they need to interact with the hundreds of journalists expected at the event, like digital recorder rentals for audio notes and office equipment rentals to print, fax or copy press and marketing materials. Whatever you need to succeed at this important venue, which is co-located for 2010 with the Health and Fitness Business Expo, CRE has it, ready to go.

Digital Video Expo 2010

Digital Video Expo 2010 will be “Delivering the Digital Video Industry” to some 6,500 attendees at the Pasadena Convention Center from September 28-30. Digital video professionals from around the world will discuss current issues, network with experts and check out the latest and greatest processes and products. If you are attending in any capacity, you have to put your best foot forward, because this is the number one must-attend event for production, post-production, storage and IT experts.

The 2010 event dedicates more hours to “show-floor time,” scheduled and ad hoc meetings for building newpartnerships, hands-on product demos and educational sessions right on the exhibit floor. Representatives from the leading publications, blogs and Web sites in the digital video marketplace will cover all that’s new and exciting in videography, broadcasting, digital video, TV and film, computers and display technology.

Last year’s Digital Video Expo 2009 made a big upgrade by moving to the state-of-the-art Pasadena Convention Center, a comfortable and classy destination for So Cal’s (and the world’s) legions of digital pros. Among the top focuses this year is networking, so consider both presentation technology (LCD monitor rentals) as well as two-way technology like interactive kiosk rentals that can both make presentations and capture prospects’ contact information.

Whatever event you are planning to attend, and whatever you need to accomplish, CRE is ready to support you with a iPad rental or a thoroughly outfitted exhibit area. We’ve got you covered from iMac rentals for your digital control center to audio visual rentals for making a powerful impact. Contact one of our experienced Account Executives today and see what kind of power and control CRE can put in your hands for conquering a convention or two.

July Trade Shows: Comic Books, Chips, Graphics

June 29th, 2010

SEMICON West 2010, from July 13-15 at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center, is the leading annual event in North America for the global semiconductor and microelectronics industries, with technical meetings, business programs and networking events. Exhibitors on hand will be featuring new cables, communications and computer hardware, data communications products, electrical components and other technologies. CRE has the entire range of convention rentals to make your SEMICON appearance a success.

From a massive inventory of audio/visual equipment rentals CRE can assemble just the right package for your booth and/or breakout room. CRE has it all, from simple mixers to complete sound reinforcement packages, to reach people’s ears, and the full range of plasma rentals, up to 61” in size (diagonal measure), to capture their eyes. If you need an entire breakout room package, CRE has years of experience at SEMICON events and will deliver, set up and pick up your rentals in strict accordance with conference guidelines. Our veteran delivery staff, plus 24/7 tech support, make CRE the number one choice for all your SEMICON needs.

Comic-Con 2010 is the 41st edition of the world’s premier comic book and popular art convention, being held July 22-25 at the San Diego Convention Center. Comic-Con is a unique mix of both low and high tech approaches to the comic book art form, where pen and ink artists mingle easily with computer-based illustrators. Exhibitors and attendees alike come from all points on the artistic and business spectrum – from writers, designers and illustrators to publishers, broadcasters, filmmakers and all the technical personnel working in those fields.

CRE’s Comic-Con rentals run the gamut from exhibit booth necessities to breakout room requirements. CRE has a long history of supporting exhibitors, small and large, with everything from Comic-Con plasma rentals for exhibit booth displays to large-room solutions for breakout sessions, as well. A session package may include wireless mics, powered speakers and/or other audiovisual rental technology that CRE can provide.

SIGGRAPH 2010 takes over the Los Angeles Convention Center from July 25-29, once again creating the best place in the world to behold the state of the art in computer graphics and interactive technologies. As an attendee, exhibitor or both, you can meet and brainstorm with worldwide leaders in research, software, animation, visualization, art, hardware, special effects, games and education. From speaker panels to breakout sessions, the SIGGRAPH conference is five days of top-notch, interdisciplinary education with a commercial exhibition on the last three days, an unfailingly exciting show that attracts hundreds of diverse exhibitors from dozens of countries.

CRE’s SIGGRAPH plasma rentals provide an effective means of grabbing attention for your booth, while interactive kiosk rentals act like extra team members, since they can be set up in high-traffic areas to present product demos and collect contact information from interested parties. In addition to the technical programs, SIGGRAPH has numerous display areas (“installations”) that provide close-ups of the latest digital art, offer hands-on opportunities for creative collaboration and focus on new, emerging technologies.

Whether you’re exhibiting or attending (or both); a small firm needing a few MacBook Pro rentals or a media company contemplating a video wall; a graphic arts studio or inventors of a new, improved drawing tablet for computer-based art – whatever you want to promote, discover or share at one of July’s hot-as-summer trade shows, CRE is the conference expert you need on your side. A call, an e-mail or our Quick Rental Quote form is all it takes to get us working on your booth or breakout session plan.

Business Sustainability: A Recession Lesson

June 15th, 2010

After equipping Smokey Bear (“the” is not his middle name) to lead the fight against forest fires for half a century or so, the government finally learned that occasional fires are good for the environment. They clear out deadwood and stir the environmental ingredients into action again. Leave it to Southern California’s own Scott Harris – marketing agency owner, business columnist, college and seminar instructor and jovial contrarian – to bring this metaphor to life for business professionals struggling to push their way out of a lingering recession.

Success breeds mediocrity

Business Sustainability Like new growth after a forest fire, companies that have survived the recession “should now be stronger and better managed,” Harris writes in a recent San Fernando Valley Business Journal column. They should also “be smarter for the experience.” One of Harris’ famous warnings is, “Success breeds mediocrity,” by which he means that “it’s easy to be a lazy manager, business owner or employee when things are going well.” In good times, marginal employees are kept on, wasteful practices are winked at and, most dangerously, “difficult decisions” are put off. The economic turmoil that began in 2008, and is lingering still even as some hopeful signs emerge, brought much of this nonsense to a quick, often inglorious end.

Managers of companies that survived the last two years need to critique everything, preferably in a group setting – every policy, practice, procedure and process – and be willing to jettison anything that does not work. “[If we] drift back to our previous ways,” warns Harris, “then we will have wasted a tremendous opportunity.” Harris closes his comments by assuring his readers that he does not advocate any controlled burning of businesses, but does “strongly recommend that we take a moment and learn as much as possible” from the recent recession. Only then, he insists, will American businesses, of all sizes and kinds, “be equipped to make the next few [years] as successful and as profitable as possible.”

Like Apple says, “Think different”

Bottom line? Think different, as Apple used to say in one of its longer-running ad campaigns. In an example from the special effects and post-production facilities that CRE rents to, management often divides into two camps with respect to the high-tech equipment they rely on – renters and buyers, with the latter historically more numerous. Many businesses learned to think differently during the recession, finding that it was actually more cost-effective to rent than own. Consider: Companies with Mac Pro rentals do not have to pay to repair a crashed hard drive. One call and a new computer shows up. Firms using interactive kiosk rentals to capture contact information at conventions turn the kiosks back in, rather than watch them collect dust until the next time they’re needed.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Every purchase, every expense, every procedure, every rule – all of it needs to be evaluated in light of new operating parameters. For want of a better word, let’s borrow one from the environmental movement and call it “Business Sustainability,” as others are already doing. Combining the strongest core elements of green thinking, flexible management, recycling, goal setting, group dynamics, creativity and strategic planning, it can help chart new routes to the future. With a commitment to enlightened management, excellence and success, there’s no telling what the next few years might hold!

CRE supports your business with the best technological tools as well as the expertise to deploy them. Whatever you need to accomplish, our Account Executives are here to help. Send an e-mail, make a call or use the Quick Rental Quote form to let us know what you need. We will make your priority our priority. That’s what we do!

Interactive and Collaborative Tech Tools

June 10th, 2010

In every phase of your business now – from marketing and prospecting to R&D, from attending trade shows to exhibiting and making presentations at them, as well – you can avail yourself of today’s potent interactive and collaborative technologies. With wireless mobility and real-time connectivity come faster product development and better feedback from clients and prospects, which is good no matter what industry you’re in. CRE can help you leverage this technology to great benefit, no matter where you are or what you are doing.

Apple’s iPad has been getting a ridiculous amount of press, but precious little has been said about serious, productive uses (even in our own first look). Its size, about midway between a smart phone and a netbook, means it has enough screen real estate to do real browsing, writing (with a nice on-screen keyboard or a Bluetooth wireless one), reading and document handling (PDFs, photos, video, etc.). With WiFi-only and WiFi-plus-3G connectivity, you can stay in touch with one, two or 200 colleagues, customers, clients and/or coworkers, wherever you are, to accomplish pretty much whatever you need to do. When the “excitement of the new” wears off, the iPad should be standing tall, regardless, as it really can be a great tool for you, as Adobe proved this week with its release of iPad-specific publishing tools.

Tablet PCs running Windows have been around forever, it seems, and have been refined over the years. It can be argued that the humble tablet PC was a precursor to the iPad, as it combined Wi-Fi, handwriting recognition, a good bit of audio-video capability and ease of use in a mobile (if not pocket-sized) form factor.With CRE’s tablet PC rentals, conference teams or salespeople can run PowerPoint presentations, maintain contact with headquarters, stay abreast of breaking news or take handwritten notes. On site or on the go, a tablet or pad can be a true collaborative tool. Although Windows tablet PC’s typically run a special version of Microsoft Windows XP, CRE can configure your tablet PC with the ever-popular Microsoft Office, or even the Ubuntu version of Linux. CRE features award-winning tablets from Motion Computing, which can also run Windows 7 if you’re a Top Geek, like the fellow in this YouTube video.

A recent CRE blog discussed some of the new technologies finding their way into Audience Response Systems. In addition to tighter integration with MS Office applications, particularly PowerPoint, the leading ARS makers are making much more capable keypads and are allowing input from more and more wireless devices all the time, from smart phones to (yes) the iPad. There are few better methods for getting real-time input from your audience than one of CRE’s Audience Response System rentals.

Despite CRE carrying a number of interactive, collaborative devices, our interactive kiosks are the only products in the CRE lineup that feature “interactive” in the name. Standalone kiosks let you multiply your presence at trade shows, conferences or your own annual shareholder meetings. They can be set up remotely, as well, to run product demonstrations, capture contact information from interested parties, feature surveys, connect job seekers to your firm’s online employment application and 1001 other things.

When it comes to helping you meet the challenges of today’s marketplace, whether it’s with a number of iMac rentals for post-production or some audio-visual rentals for that conference or presentation, CRE Rentals is ready to help. Send an e-mail or make a call to our experienced Account Executives, or fill out our Quick Rental Quote form, and we will get you “interactivated” and “collaborational” in no time.

Quick Tips for a Green Conference

May 13th, 2010

Because of our own commitment to sustainability, we’ve covered a number of green topics in our blog this past year (yes, it’s been a year now), but have discovered one glaring oversight. We never gave you, in one place at one time, a simple action plan or quick overview for having the greenest possible conference. Today, we will address conference exhibitors, but the ideas will be applicable to in-house meetings and events, too.

Green is the goal

Along with everything else that goes into your conference preparation – writing and design, layouts and animations, schedules and assignments – you need a strategy for equipment. The challenge is to balance your corporate conference goal with the green goal of minimizing waste of all kinds. This means not only saving paper by creating virtual sell sheets and brochures that can be downloaded, but saving on conference incidental costs by using one of CRE’s interactive kiosk rentals as both a “presentation station” and a data collector.

If you are scheduling a live presentation, the same thing goes for any ”handouts” – make PDFs available for download. (Most conferences these days have onsite wireless set up for attendees’ use.) For feedback on the presentation, forget the paper and pencils again, because Audience Response System rentals will get you much more feedback, and in a form you can immediately put to use on your computer. The presentation itself can be done in several ways, either with projector rentals or large-screen monitors (like CRE’s plasma rentals). You can attach a digital media player or your laptop to either a projector or a LCD monitor, and remotely control the whole thing.

More green tips for your conference

If you really want to limit your conference team’s paper use, you may want to outfit everyone with tablet PC rentals. This way, the team’s note-taking can be handled with the various “pen computing” tools. Using the stylus and a “notepad” program, you can take digital notes, saving them as-is or converting them in real-time (or later) with character recognition software. A tablet PC, of course, is multipurpose wireless device and can be used to keep team members connected and coordinated, no matter how busy and demanding the conference gets. (Tip: Don’t forget the AC adapter, and plug in the unit at all possible times to keep it charged for those times you need to be “untethered.”)

If you need to record a conversation with a potential customer, a keynote speech or a breakout session, digital recorder rentals can provide massive amounts of speech-quality recording time. Again, you will have no consumables, no waste, a low cost and high quality results. Instead of pages of random, unsorted notes (plus the occasional napkin or envelope with someone’s name and phone number), you will leave the conference with a useful collection of digital assets – audio notes, imported/downloaded video, drawings, doodles and handwriting converted to editable text.

Always back up your digital assets!

In addition to carrying your digital assets out of the convention center on your laptop, you can upload them to your company’s server (or elsewhere) as you go along from session to session, day to day, in a sort of ongoing online backup routine. This is the way to safeguard against loss of your laptop, file or disk corruption or other catastrophes. After planning a Earth-friendly, green conference appearance, the last thing you need is a technological breakdown. Don’t forget to make backup an important part of your strategic planning.

CRE’s experienced Account Executives can help you “green” your next conference or event, or set you up with everything from computers to office equipment. Our expertise is yours with a simple phone call or e-mail, or if you know what you need, use our Quick Rental Quote form. We are here to help. Let us know how we can help with your next green event!

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