Our “101 Guide” To Preparing For A Show

It’s midnight and you've finally gotten your shipping crates back after the last long day of a three-day show. Your back aches from standing in the showroom for 8 hours. Your feet hurt from those shoes that need more support. And all you want to do is catch a little sleep and head home to your family, and your own bed! So what do you do? You cram your displays into their cases quickly, and maybe not carefully, with hopes you will be home for that home cooked Sunday meal.

Sound familiar?

If you have found yourself in this situation before, you probably have also found yourself in another one…

Come time for the next show, you arrive at the conference hall and pull out your display to set up, and find it damaged! Argh. Now what?!?!

At Mark Bric Display, we want to help.

Here is our “101 Guide” to avoiding these potential problems during this busy show season.

Avoid The Curl

If you rolled up the graphics to your display and stuck them in storage, we encourage you test the graphics before you leave for the show. Lay them flat for a few days, to stretch them out and avoid that curl!

Check The Mag Tape

Is your magnetic tape still holding? Mag tape can lose its grip after wear and tear, especially if you haven’t stored your display carefully. Avoid attaching the magnetic sides of the tape together and avoid getting permanent magnets next to magnetic tape. If you don’t the mag tape might lose its magnetism. Make sure everything on your display is holding tight and won’t fall down mid sales pitch!

Don’t Go Off The Rails

It’s important to make sure all the system hardware is in working condition. Test all connections and components to make sure they move fluidly, connect as designed, and aren’t bent from travel, before packing up and heading to the show.

The Nuts and Bolts

Hardware is important! If your system uses loose fasteners like nuts and bolts screws and washers, check to make sure you aren’t missing any critical part. Make sure to store them in a closed separate compartment to keep them organized. There is nothing worse than missing that one piece of the puzzle! These small pieces to your display are usually lost when you are packing up in a hurry to get home. Don't lose the battle like the cavalry soldier whose horse couldn't be ridden because a shoe was missing and no one could find the nail!

Preferably, we recommend you perform a dress rehearsal before leaving for the show. Make sure you test out all the components before you arrive to avoid any troubling situations. We want your experience with our displays, or any displays for that matter, to be the best it can be, so making sure you plan ahead is important.

As always, there are circumstances that happen that can put you in a jam come show time. If you find yourself in a predicament never fear, Mark Bric On Call is here! Need a replacement part or help troubleshooting an exhibit issue? Just call or email “Mark Bric On Call,” 1-800-Pic-Mark or markbric@markbric.com. In most cases, we can overnight a part or product to you to keep you in play.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

Mark Bric Is Always “On Call” For You

By: Larry Ragland, president of Mark Bric Display North America

Have you ever arrived at a trade show far away from home (and your local support system) all ready to knock it out of the park, only to find that something you shipped didn’t make it? You open up your packages and find that your display had a turbulent trip and wouldn’t make a great first impression? Ah! What do you do?

Well, we are thrilled to share with you an exciting new service that Mark Bric Display is offering to all customers and non-customers alike.

Never fear, “Mark Bric On Call” is here!

Whether you need a total replacement display, or just an important accessory for your booth, Mark Bric On Call is ready to help you. And you don’t even have to be a customer to take advantage of this amazing support system.

Why call us? 

Trusted Advisor

Mark Bric Display has been a leading innovator and supplier of display systems and exhibition stands on the market for over two decades! Our goal is to always be the leading quality producer of display & exhibition systems, with up-to-date and innovative product solutions for the Retail, Roadshow, and Tradeshow arenas worldwide. We know what works and find ourselves exhibiting at shows all across the country, so we know the trials and tribulations of show season.

Quality Is Key

Is your display broken, torn or non-functional? We can help with replacements. Even better, all Mark Bric products are manufactured with the highest standard of workmanship and made of the best quality of materials available. Top quality – no compromises!

On-Site

There is no need for you to leave the show and wander the streets to find a solution. Whether you are an end-user exhibiting at a show or a large format printer with exhibiting clients that are in a jam, just call us and we can help find a solution to the problem. We can rush product to the show site, or can even call in a local dealer to help out.

Worldwide Family

Mark Bric Display runs like a family. And we take care of family. We care about our customers and about their reputation. Mark Bric Display is also part of a larger international family so if we aren’t near you, our relatives might be! We have relationships in almost all the major cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Through our network we can find help most anywhere in the world. Don’t want to incur ghastly shipping costs? We often ship for U.S. clients from our Swedish headquarters if there are shows in Europe and the cost and risk is too high. We've even arranged installation teams in Germany and in the UK for U.S based clients.  

Regardless of your need, we will always find a solution.

Show season is in full force and we recently helped a company in a pinch by mailing new spotlights for a display that was created in Europe. Their problem? The plugs didn’t fit here in the US! Luckily, Mark Bric on Call came to the rescue.

Find yourself in a jam (or have a customer that is stressing out) and need a replacement part or help troubleshooting an exhibit issue? Just call or email “Mark Bric On Call,” 1-800-Pic-Mark or markbric@markbric.com.

Need a solution? We are only a call or click away!

Bob Englert Joins Mark Bric Display

Mark Bric Display has named Robert “Bob” Englert, a sales and consulting veteran with more than 20 years of experience, as the new sales representative for its Southwest territory covering Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

Mark Bric Display is a leading innovator and supplier of portable display and exhibition systems worldwide, with its products sold in more than 70 countries. The company is based in Sweden with its North American headquarters based in Prince George, VA.

“We’re very excited to have Bob join our sales and consulting team,” said Larry Ragland, president of Mark Bric Display (North America). “He has a wealth of expertise in sales management and business development and an extremely impressive sales record that speaks for itself. He will bring a new level of customer service and sales support to an area of the country we are targeting.”

Englert, who is based in Dallas, TX, will work under the direction of Ed Marquez, vice president and director of sales for Mark Bric Display, as he gets acquainted with the product line. He has successfully sold complex systems and also been recognized as a top sales representative numerous times for Renex Corp., EDS, Interstate Electronics and Data Products Corp.

His previous experience also includes serving as the vice president of business development at Trueposition Corp., a leading provider of wireless location systems. In this role, he was key in refocusing the firm’s E-911 solution and sales efforts, securing its strategic relationships with Global 1000 companies and increasing its revenues.

Prior to that position, he was Vice President of Strategic Alliances at EDS, for both the Technical Products Division and the Manufacturing Strategic Business Units. There he developed new B2B, Internet and Intranet solutions, and the acclaimed Renascence Channel.

Inventor of Mark Bric Display’s ISOframe® Display Is Available For Media Interviews

Richard Lawson, the inventor of Mark Bric Display’s award-winning ISOframe® display and exhibition system, will fly in from England for the ISA International Sign Expo 2013 Trade Show April 4-6 in Las Vegas, NV.

Lawson, who invented ISOframe after spotting a niche in the market for a tool-less, flexible portable display system, will be available throughout the trade show to greet visitors, and meet with and answer questions from the media. He will be at Mark Bric Display’s booths 311 and 313.

The ISOframe Wave products are considered the world’s first fully flexible display system. The product was launched in the UK in 2009 and became an instant bestseller. In 2011 Lawson partnered with Mark Bric Display of Sweden, with Mark Bric securing the sole overseas license to manufacture and sell ISOframe outside the UK. Through the Mark Bric Display network, ISOframe is now sold in over 70 countries worldwide. ISOframe Wave has also recently been chosen by readers of Wide-Format Imaging magazine as the 2013 Top Product in the Banner Stands/Portable Displays’ category.

“Designing a fully flexible display system seemed like a simple idea - how wrong I was, said Lawson of the challenges he faced. “The concept had to be stable, easy to build, easy to carry and, of course, look professional. It also needed to work with a standard, unchanging graphic width of 31.5". After 18 months of design and development, the solution was a unique, patented, flexible beam that adjusts its length automatically as it is flexed so the graphics always fits perfectly no matter what the shape.”

Lawson began his career in technical writing and marketing, waiting until 1999 to join his family’s display business Supalite Displays as managing director. The company was started by his father, who invented the first truly lightweight portable display system in the UK back in 1967.

Today, Lawson continues to develop new products, and is in the process of building his own house in the heart of the English countryside. In his spare time, he enjoys sailing Tempest keelboats, and is a keen windsurfer, cyclist and skier. He graduated from Portsmouth Polytechnic on England's south coast with an honors degree in Mechanical Engineering, majoring in design.

Mark Bric’s ISOframe Wave TM Display Wins National Award

Mark Bric Display’s ISOframe WaveTM display and exhibition system has been chosen by readers of Wide-Format Imaging magazine as the 2013 Top Product in the Banner Stands/Portable Displays’ category.

The eighth annual Wide-Format Imaging Readers’ Choice Top Products Awards feature breakthrough products that have caused the most excitement in the industry and have been a valuable asset to wide and grand-format businesses over the last year.

“It is a great honor to have our ISOframe Wave recognized by the readers of a leading industry publication,” said Larry Ragland, president of Marc Bric Display (North America). “This product has not only been a game changer for our customers and their clients, but for our business as a whole.”

ISOframe Wave is the world’s first fully flexible portable display system, which allows the exhibitor to custom-shape, extend or reduce the exhibit wall as needed at each venue, Ragland added.

The winners of the 2013 Readers’ Choice Top Products Awards will be recognized in the April issue of Wide-Format Imaging to be released on April 1. Awards will be presented during the ISA International Sign Expo in Las Vegas, NV, also in April.

Wide-Format Imaging covers the industry news, trends, products, services, and management issues that help wide-format printers grow their business. The magazine has 17,000-plus print recipients, over 27,500 digital edition recipients, and 23,000 weekly e-newsletter subscribers.

Mark Bric Display Unveils SnapUp “Elegance” Display System

Mark Bric Display announced today that it has added to its line of displays the Mark Bric SnapUp® “Elegance,” a new and innovative product from the family of SnapUp exhibit systems.


SnapUp Elegance is the next evolution in pop-up systems. It can be used with curved ends like a traditional pop-up system, or flat ends with decorative corner trims similar to Mark Bric’s top-selling ISOframe. This functionality gives the system a more contemporary "non-pop-up" look as well. The system also includes attached tables and state-of-the-art LED spotlights.

“What makes this system most unique, however, is that it is strong enough for the suspension of media screens,” said Larry Ragland, president of Marc Bric Display (North America). “The optional media holder can accommodate either an LCD screen or an iPad and that’s a first for the SnapUp line of displays. This is something that more of our customers were asking for, and it’s why we designed it to include this feature.”

The Elegance display is Mark Bric’s top-of-the-line SnapUp product. It is self-locking and cross-braced, which means that the graphics will always hang perfectly, despite the frequent challenge of uneven floors. This construction also makes the system extremely strong and stable. The slim frame of 190 mm/7.5" also looks great and saves stand space.

For exhibitors who need counter space or a podium, the Elegance system’s options include a semi-circular attachable table as well as a hard shipping case that carries the display system plus graphics, with the traditional case-to-counter conversion feature.

About Mark Bric SnapUp®

Mark Bric Display’s family of SnapUp exhibit systems allow for fast presentation of seamless large-format graphics. Text and graphics are totally uninterrupted and will attract full attention. The SnapUp product line is based on the pop-up principle. Backwalls of straight, curved and cylindrical shape, as well as counters and reception desks are available to fit all types of display requirements. All products offer unparalleled durability, portability and ease of use.

Mark Bric Display Returns To ISA International Sign Expo 2012 — Orlando, FL, March 22-24

Mark Bric Display is extremely excited to be at the ISA International Sign Expo 2012 in Orlando, our industry’s signature event, again this year and will be onsite from March 22 - 24.  We’ve been out of this loop for a while, and have so many great new things to show to show and discuss, old and new!

First of all, attending ISA is a great experience for anyone in the business of creating and displaying large format graphics. Here under one roof you’ll find the world’s best suppliers of printing equipment, finishing equipment, printing and laminating materials, and of course the display hardware for showcasing all of those great graphics. Digital electronic solutions are of course also a growing aspect of the show. You can get all of the related details by visiting the show web site www.signexpo.org.

As for Mark Bric Display, we look forward to demonstrating our newest display product—ISOframe.  This creative and unique new product line is already turning heads around the world after just a brief introductory period.  We launched ISOframe in the US last year to our core dealer/partner network, but this is the first time that we’ll be putting the line on display for our industry.  All of our early feedback on the line is extremely positive, and our dealers are already closing new deals with ISOframe every week. 

Also on public display for the first time, is our complete line of More-Expo products. Whereas with our main Mark Bric Display-branded products we aim to be the “best of the best,” this “red-tag” line for tight budgets is positioned as the “best of the budget” line. All More-Expo products carry a minimum one-year warranty, all have the full backing of Mark Bric Display, and all are targeted at being the best possible low-budget product that we can deliver to our dealers.

Finally, of course, you’ll be able to see all of the great products that have built our company over the years—from Flexiframe, our first display product, through BannerUp, our most popular retractable banner stand, and including EGO Exhibit system—all of these and more will be on display for your review. 

Our staff at the show will include myself, our VP and Sales Director Ed Marquez, our Operations Mgr. John Diaz, our Customer Service/Exec. Administrative Assistant Anita Skroback, our Swedish Director of Marketing Lars Carlsson, and our UK affiliate and designer of the new ISOframe, Richard Lawson.

Please stop by and visit with us at booth numbers 142 and 242, and let us know what you think of the expanded line of products that we’ve put together for you.

Larry Ragland
President
Mark Bric Display USA