19 November 2021

How a commitment to sustainability stood out at NeoCon 2021




Every year, for more than 50 years, 50,000 professionals in the commercial interior design
industry gather at Merchandise Mart in Chicago for NeoCon.

The Merchandise Mart or “The Mart” as Chicago ‘ins call it, is the “world’s largest commercial
building, largest wholesale design center and one of Chicago’s premier international business
locations.”

The annual NeoCon event serves as the mecca for innovative design, highlighting thousands of
new products and services in categories such as furniture, textiles, flooring, interior building
products and technology.

HMTX Exhibiting at NeoCon 2021

Nimlok Chicago has been fortunate to have a ten-year relationship with Metroflor Corporation,
one of the HMTX Industries brands. This year HMTX choose to have a permanent presence in
The Mart with a 1,000 square foot showroom on 11 th floor. The space would be used to
spotlight all their brands; Aspecta, Teknoflor, Metroflor, Halstead and Vertex.

From a marketing perspective each brand lives independently and has their own customer
base. What the brands share are the core values of integrity, sustainability, transparency and
most importantly, “People Before Profits”.

The Goal

The goal at NeoCon 2021 was to highlight two of the HMTX brands, Teknoflor and Aspecta,
while also tying in their core values.

“It’s in our DNA”

The layout for the showroom was strategic. The project consisted of multidisciplinary teams of
flooring professionals, electricians, carpenters, painters and installers.

The design elements of the space were subtle, letting the flooring speak for itself. The clean
lines, earth tone samples and baseboard lighting elements set the mood of the entire space.

The Challenges
The first challenge was creating a fantastic experience from a show room that had exposed
electrical wires, an uneven concrete floor, and no storage space, in 6 weeks!

The second challenge was leveling the floor, and for Director of Corporate Communications
Tiffany Davis, “The flooring had to be perfect.” So flooring partner PCI Flortech poured a new
floor, leveled it to perfection and installed the HMTX flooring.

With a rapidly approaching October 1 st deadline, Peter Crouch and the Nimlok Chicago team
stayed on course creating custom rollaway cabinetry to cover the unsightly radiators,
collaborated with contractors to frame and drywall, directed electricians and even added two
storage closets.

Result
“The biggest surprise was walking into the show room, it actually looked bigger than I
expected,” said Davis.

A popular feature was the large interactive samples tray. Visitors enjoyed the sensory aspect of
popping out product samples to feel and hold.

The balance of beauty, functionality, and care for the environment are apparent the moment
you enter. Attendees were able to clearly see product innovation and quality, while
demonstrating the brands dedication to sustainability. This included declare labels that
provided product ingredients.

Davis said her favorite feature was the lighting effects, “Something we will ramp up for future
shows.” Along with adding sound barriers.

Conclusion
Due to Covid and capacity restrictions, HMTX didn’t have great expectations for Neocon 2021.
Davis was told attendance would be down about 40% from 2019. She thought this would
probably be a trial run for Neocon 2022.

Even with only 20,000 attending NeoCon this year, the lead count and quality were better than
expected. Attendees were excited that HMTX had their own showroom. It offered the perfect
presentation of the brands to new and existing customers.

Why Nimlok Chicago
Nimlok Chicago partnered with HMTX to create a showroom with an environment
conducive to deepening relationships with clients and prospects. The result was an
open, friendly design that does justice to the brands and their core values.

Designing and fabricating showrooms, office environments or tradeshow exhibits that
exceed client expectations is part of our overall goal. We provide clients with the most
innovative design elements, logistics coordination and installation services available. On
time and on budget.

24 February 2021

How do you pivot a real-world event to a world-class virtual one?




The show must go on. As more trade shows, conferences, and events are going virtual, your face-to-face marketing does not have to be on hold.

 

Organizations that host trade shows have had to scramble to adapt. Some have cancelled. Most have switched quickly to virtual environments, leaving marketers to figure out how to deliver an experience as authentic, personal, and engaging as possible – 100% online.

Building leads, interacting with contacts from the industry and increasing ROI is a top priority for Summit Industries, LLC and Nimlok Chicago was the “partner that could not only see our vision, but also help mold that vision into something that was professional and made a statement”. Kevin Lucas, Regional Sales Manager, Summit Industries LLC.

Summit Industries is a leading supplier and manufacturer of x-ray and imaging equipment distributed through an elite long-standing network of dealers.  Summit has been our client since 2013.  They will admit that they have always struggled with little to no marketing internally but knew exhibiting at RSNA was always important.  With limited budget constraints, stretching the dollar was never so relevant so Nimlok built rental structures around their equipment to help their sales team tell their story onsite to dealers.

When the pandemic hit March 2020, no one expected to have RSNA scheduled in November to be anything but a face-to-face tradeshow so when it turned virtual it was more than disappointing.  Considering this was Summit’s annual time to showcase their products, reinforce relationships and start new it was a devastating blow to them.  Live events account for a significant part of any companies marketing budget because they are effective.

Maria Valdovinos, Senior Account Executive at Nimlok Chicago, spoke with Kevin of Summit Industries very early on about a virtual sales/marketing tool that provided unique 3-d immersion experiences that were 100% customizable.  So, when RSNA turned virtual, it was time to take a deeper look.  Standing out as an exhibitor on a virtual platform was important but being able to have a tool that sales could use for presentations and live on their website convinced Summit’s chief officers to move forward.

Kevin asked, “Will the booth look just as good as at RSNA?” and Maria answered, “It will look better!”

 

With only 6 weeks, Maria and the Nimlok Chicago team jumped into designing the space, incorporating Summit’s products, redeveloped PDF’s, designed graphics, coded, and managed their profile on RSNA’s virtual platform. 

“Our initial challenge was getting noticed, and trust me, we are getting noticed now!” Kevin Lucas

 

Working with Nimlok Chicago at various tradeshows and more recently in the virtual world (Virtual trade show), has put Summit on the map as a real player in their industry. Their customers are taking notice as well as their competitors.

“We had a vision, Nimlok made it come to life. We had lots of input, never in the dark on anything. That is a true partnership! And we requested a lot of changes and not once did Nimlok ever tell us no. They worked with us, over and over again. Nimlok helped us stay on course. Giving us a detailed timeline so we would always be on course. And when our tradeshow upped the timeline, Nimlok kicked it into high gear and still made it happen. Bigger and better than ever. Our business is a B2B model, and our distributors have praised our new virtual display, citing that it was one of the best they saw this year at RSNA2020, which really speaks volumes, because we play with some of the biggest companies in our industry. Our management team was floored by the finished product. Stunned at how AWESOME it turned out. Exceeded everyone’s expectations.” Kevin Lucas, Regional Sales Manager, Summit Industries LLC.

  

Being a part of Summit’s growth has been tremendously exciting and Nimlok Chicago cannot wait to see what their future holds!

From creation, to training, booth support and more, Nimlok Chicago knows what it takes to succeed in the virtual world.  Our highly interactive virtual exhibit spaces are completely customizable and can give a similar look and feel to a physical exhibit.  Do not wait, call for a consultation today or learn more on our website at https://www.nimlok-chicago.com/virtual-exhibit-program/

5 October 2020

As cold weather approaches, Nimlok Chicago works with Walker Bros.




Walker Bros. The Original Pancake House, is a family owned business with seven restaurants serving Chicago’s northern suburbs for 60 years. They’re known for having the best breakfast in the area including their signature apple cinnamon pancakes.

 

Continue Reading

4 August 2020

Tradeshows Are Going Virtual




How the Event Industry has temporarily pivoted

Nimlok will provide monthly analytics to show where users are going within the space and what enriching information is being downloaded or read

The impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is being felt by businesses around the world, especially, the event industry. Although we know virtual tradeshows will never deliver the same value to their in-person equivalents, there are still many reasons to be excited!

Continue Reading

Archives

Categories

Twitter Feeds

  • Bad Twitter account data!

Contact Us

111 rawls road, des plaines, il 60018
info@nimlok-chicago.com
(847) 647-7555
Client Login

Designed by Nimlok Chicago