I had the opportunity to sit down and speak to Renee Jain (pictured left) of ICC Rents to discuss a little about what their company does and what they offer to convention, trade show and event planners.  ICC Rents began as a family owned business as the vision of Ganpat “Jim” Jain, Renee’s father, in Chicago in 1979. The company began as a computer rental company and has exploded into one of the top rental companies in the trade show world.  What was once only servicing the Chicago area and McCormick Place, now is nationwide and services all the major conventions centers from Orlando to Las Vegas to New York and L.A.  Renee can recall the business in her father’s den when they first started and talks about the long hours it took her father, and later her brother  Raj Jain, to build this business to its current state of a 24/7 full on customer service shop servicing the nation with over 100 employees.

ICC Rents is a company that can provide all of your technology needs from a laptop for your tradeshow booth to that 103″ Plasma TV or seamless Video Wall.  They provide all the back end support as well.  Once you rent a component, you can rest assured that it will be at your show, on time, working, and will be backed by support should anything go wrong.  They have touch screen monitors, interactive kiosks and just about anything that will set your tradeshow booth apart from the competition.  They can help get you noticed on the show floor.

I asked the simple question of “why can’t I just buy a television from the local store and use it?”  She was well prepared with a response and raised many questions I had not thought of, like extension chords, cables, set up and delivery, and many other reasons why renting is a smart investment for using a company like ICC Rents to handle your needs.  Technology becomes obsolete, many pieces of equipment break down and many other reason why having a support team is important in renting the proper equipment.  There are many hidden costs that she discussed as well.  They are truly knowledgeable in the industry and have become quite trusted in more areas than just for a tradeshow.  They have corporate clients that use their services as well for onsite training and setting up meeting and events.  I could not begin to cover all the areas where they can help you with your technology needs.

In addition, and because I am serial procrastinator, this statement she said stuck in my mind:

“We are the last minute provider” ~ Renee Jain

What she meant is that many people forget about something like a required hard case for that 50″ plasma TV for their wall, or they forget that they needed a wall mount for that television or of a cable needed to make it work. When this happens they can be there immediately to cure any forgotten item or to make sure your trade show booth comes off without a hitch.  I think am going to put that number in my pocket for my future trip to Vegas in September as chances are I’ll need it.  With 24/7 service such as theirs, I can rest easy because we all know I’ll forget something.  They can help.

ICC Rents handles any type of tradeshow and not just the technical market.  Everyone is needing technology to catch attention of convention attendees and tradeshow attendees.  She mentioned the bridal industry and agricultural industries and many other areas where technology can enhance your tradeshow experience and produce more leads.

Back in March of 2008, ICC Rents was merged with Smart Source Rentals, a powerful partner that has taken their service and their ability to service trade shows and conventions to the next level.  Give ICC Rents a call for your needs, be it a computer laptop to a wall mounted television to an interactive kiosk.  Tell them Convention Insider sent you!

Popularity: 27% [?]

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I was thinking the other day about how event planners and convention planners choose the locations of their trade shows or events.  The title of this post is not intended to be an endorsement of Chicago as a place to choose for your next event but merely the name of the official site of the City of Chicago and the Chicago Conventions and Tourism Bureau.  The site talks about planning your next event:

Chicago offers an incredible range of venues for events as small as corporate board meetings to the largest trade shows and convention in the world. The one thing that every Chicago meeting has in common is the assurance that the city’s hospitality community is fully committed to its success.

The City of Chicago has McCormick Place located along Lake Michigan, Navy Pier, and the Arie Crown Theater.   If you think they can’t handle a large event I guess we could always wait and see how a show with 74,000 attendees does in the next few days.  The National Restaurant Association is holding an event at McCormick Place.

I really like the layout of their site and the ease of use it provides for Meeting Planners.  They have a great resource guide for the people in the industry and list them all out so they are easy to find.  With hundreds of businesses listed they also have them broken down into categories for a quick look at what you might need.  They make it nice to actually “Choose Chicago”.  Job well done for the people at CCTB.

Popularity: 46% [?]

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With the ever popular reality television and the huge following of game shows out there in prime time television, it only stands to reason that a convention would benefit from the same type of excitement, hype and fun.  I’m talking about The Ultimate Game Show founded by Bryan Quinn.  Bryan Quinn  and his company are located in  Sacramento, California and they cater to all types of conventions, trade shows, corporate retreats and conferences across the country.  They have worked with a small groups of as many as 25 people up to huge conferences or trade shows and even Fortune 500 companies.  They inspire groups to be a part of your convention or trade show and make it an experience to remember.   The biggest inspiration to me is when he says they can help give away lots cash!

Bryan Quinn, pictured right,  has been doing game shows for conventions, trade shows and even corporate meetings for a number of years now and has literally hundreds of events under his belt.  Bryan provided this information about his company and himself:

They have presented game shows in twenty states and now have equipment stored in strategic locations across the U.S., allowing them to access any city within a 14 hour drive. They have game show productions that range from very small to TV-studio quality, and offer game formats inspired by popular TV game shows as well as completely original games. The founder and President Bryan Quinn has been performing and organizing corporate events for more than 20 years, as a Disc Jockey, team-building facilitator and for the past 8 years as a game show host. He is one of the most experienced corporate game show hosts available, but for clients looking for celebrity talent, The Ultimate Game Show also works with a variety of TV game show hosts and comedians. The Ultimate Game Show has helped its clients create award winning booths and become the most popular place on the trade show floor. Their games can be used as a high-energy method to give away promotional items, but more importantly to highlight the benefits and features of their products and services.

Earlier this year, a second division of the company has come to fruition and they call it “The Ultimate Audience Response”.

Ultimate Audience Response, which offers clients the greatest return on their meeting investment through total audience participation. Their audience response services allow every attendee to participate by responding to questions utilizing a wireless keypad. The results are then displayed instantly in a variety of graphic formats that are easy to understand. In addition to the benefits of a game show, Ultimate Audience Response?s clients can also gather attendee contact and demographic information as well as conducting market research.

The service provided by Bryan and his group is meant to enhance the experience of attendees to your trade show, or convention.  As I said above they can handle any size group and can provide all the necessary equipment.  Bryan and I joked about the fact that they could provide as little as a small podium for a speaker to the 18′ x 18′ Tic Tac Toe stage setup as pictured on their site.   They have even filmed the event for companies that want to use the show later.   Being a bit pessimistic about the cost of such a service I asked Bryan about what it would cost to provide such a service and I was very shocked at how affordable this service was and what they provide. 

Bryan said that they not only do the convention scene but they are also very busy during the holiday months doing holiday parties and corporate, non-public gatherings.   Bryan Quinn and his group has appeared all over the country including, many events in the California area, Las Vegas, Orlando, Chicago and other venues.  He stated that they can handle your plans from start to finish with as little hassle as possible.  Something that any event planner can be thankful to have.

When talking to Bryan for some reason I couldn’t get Richard Dawson out of my head and I told him about my problem.  He said that is normal and even indicated that his company works with many comics and retired game show hosts and can provide a variety of choices for your event.  Thanks for talking to us here at Convention Insider Bryan, I really enjoyed learning about your business.

[To receive additional information or to book The Ultimate Game Show? for your event, please call our office toll-free: 1-866-4-GAM-SHO (1-866-442-6746) or complete the contact form at their site.]

*** To find other vendors and suppliers such as the above featured company, please go to Conventions.net and search the resources.  If you want to have your company or your service featured here on Convention Insider’s Friday Feature, contact us and tell us about you and your service or product I would be happy to visit with you and feature you on Friday!***

Popularity: 57% [?]

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