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: 50% [?]

Share This

I have discussed the issue of going green here before in a play on words in conjunction with Saint Patrick’s Day.  The movement is catching on with many other businesses as well, and a new show is going to be launched this month in New York City called Go Green Expo.  The Go Green Expo is scheduled to take place on April 26-27, 2008 and will be held at the Hilton New York Hotel.  The expo is the idea of Bradford Rand and his company at Expo International. Rand states:

“There are almost always environmentally-friendly alternatives to everyday tasks and products,” states Go Green Expo’s CEO, Bradford Rand, “we hope to enlighten, entertain and educate both consumers and business owners with ways in which they can do their small part to change the current climate crisis that faces our world today.”

The expo has the backing of some very large and influential companies and many non-profits are also taking part in the expo and will receive the benefits of more exposure and donations that will help their cause.

Co-locating with the Go Green Expo is Business Goes Green which will be held on Friday April 25, 2008.  Their purpose is to allow companies to explore how they can make a difference and described better on their site:

Climate change, renewable resources, carbon footprint, energy consumption, water conservation, responsible investing, global supply chain, alternative fuels — terms that once were used only by environmental activists are now considered essential to global business strategy. It’s no longer acceptable to create and sell products without considering the environmental implications on your supply chain, raw materials, employees, consumers, partners, customers, and of course, the planet.

This is a movement that will only get more press and more momentum as activists begin to get their message out to companies and their leaders.  As a company that wants to make a difference, they will need a resource to provide them with the tools to make a difference and the Go Green Expo and the Business Goes Green conference are only the beginning of what will be an important convention or trade show to attend in the future.  The Go Green Expo is also planning an event in Los Angeles but details have yet to be published to their web site.

Popularity: 45% [?]

Share This

On this day of celebrating all things Irish and the partying and all else, I myself think of “green” as a different idea than drinking beer that bears the color.  I think about the new green movement. Everyone is talking about it these days.  It’s all about the carbon footprint or what we can do to make the world a better place.  Conventions and Trade Shows are doing the same things these days.

I tend to look at many convention and trade show locations and not just the big ones like Las Vegas, or New York, and many of the other huge and more popular locations.  There are sections of websites devoted to the fact that convention or trade show centers are taking their buildings “green”.    Many of them are claiming to be the first or the best, or the leader in the green movement.  I like the fact that they are doing this and I hope that more and more convention centers take on the charge to become green.

Popularity: 40% [?]

Share This

I have been making plans to attend the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco coming up in April 22-25, 2008.  The Web 2.0 Expo is a large web app convention taking place at the Moscone Center West.  Many companies and attendees will be attending this event in its second year.  The first year they indicate on their site that they had 8,500 attendees at the event.  This is an excellent number given that it was in its inaugural year,  The event is hosted by CMP Technologies and O’Reilly Conferences.  The website explains the convention as:

The second Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco takes the pulse of the Web ecosystem and looks to its future, training a spotlight across the Web 2.0 universe to illuminate how the Internet Revolution is being created and delivered. Web 2.0 Expo is for the builders of the next generation web: designers, developers, entrepreneurs, marketers, business strategists, and venture capitalists, people who have experiences to share and a passion for learning–the hot new thing, lessons from failures, innovations and inspirations, and the practical applications of all of the above. What will you do with the power of Web 2.0?

I’m trying to get out to the expo in San Francisco so if you plan to attend, please look me up and we can go over notes as to how you and I can change the world using Web 2.0.  Perhaps we can discuss Conventions 2.0?

If you register before March 20, 2008, you save $350 off the registration price. 

The other news about the Web 2.0 Expo is that it intends to also have an event on the East Coast in New York City at the Jacob Javits Center on September 16-19, 2008.  If they can support both a west coast and an east coast conference it will be interesting.  Hopefully they won’t dilute the attendance of their already proven expo.  They have also had an Expo in Berlin and an Expo in Tokyo.  Finally they also hold a conference called the Web 2.0 Summit.  Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to the Expo in San Francisco, and I can report my attendance there.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Share This

I was running through my inbox last night and as I scanned the content of a few emails at a time, something caught my eye as it related to some event planning opportunities.  There is a group that I follow and a terrific organization that puts on a convention  each year, and in fact has split the convention into two parts, one being business and the other its flagship event, BlogHer.  The convention I refer to is the folks at BlogHer.org.  I thought I would help them spread the word that there is a need for them to have some event planners nd perhaps if you are looking for an opportunity they have some work:

Speaking of having a full roster…

As you may have heard, in addition to our BlogHer Business event in New York (April) and our Annual Conference in San Francisco (July), we are embarking on our first BlogHer road show — the “Reach Out Tour” in October of 2008.

And we would like a little help from our community.

Specifically, we are looking to hire local event planners to help with some of the on-site conference elements in each of our Tour cities. So, if you have prior professional experience as an event planner and are local to one of our Reach Out Tour stops, please contact Kristy. Don’t forget to include your contact info., relevant background info., and resume.

As a reminder, our Reach Out Tour stops are:
Boston
DC
Greensboro
Nashville
Atlanta
New Orleans

Thanks in advance

I can remember when this group was a small handful of people thinking that it would be cool to put together a conference like this and I’m glad they have made it happen.  If you are an event planner and have a need to get your services noticed, this group is definitely the group to unite yourself with in being noticed.  If you live any any of the cities they are planning their events, give them a line and see if you can help them out.

Popularity: 100% [?]

Share This