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Summer 2002
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Focus
on a Facility - STATE-OF-THE-ART KANSAS CITY OFFICE AND WAREHOUSE |
Bringing
Service & Efficiency up a Notch
The
George E. Fern Company's Kansas City location has a newly constructed
facility. The operations staff, account executives, graphics team
and warehouse crew are all settled in, and it's business as usual
... from a new, more functional vantage point.
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Rick Tyner, general manager
of the Kansas City office, said the new 112,500-sq.-ft. office and warehouse were
tailored and built specifically to the company's needs. It sits on 13 acres near
downtown, with a nice view of the city's skyline. The location puts the Fern staff
within three miles of the Kansas City Convention Center and most major hotels
and less than a mile from Kemper Arena, the city's main sports arena. |
Office ... The office area buzzes
with activity - phones ringing, keyboards tapping and chatter - as account executives
coordinate with the operations and graphics staffs and talk with clients. "We
have a more spacious office area, and we've also stepped up several notches in
our graphics department," said Account Executive Sheila Pannell. The new facility
provides the creative and production teams an open area with a lot of natural
light. Warehouse ... The enormous warehouse with its 28-ft. ceilings stores carpet,
displays, equipment, furniture - all the materials needed for servicing events.
Fifteen dock doors allow for efficient loading and unloading. Plus, there's a
full carpenter shop for maintaining custom displays, building crates and making
repairs. "The new warehouse is very functional," said Operations Manager Rory
Allison. "With it all on one level, it's convenient. You can walk in and see exactly
what's there." Just outside, there's an expansive area with enough space to park
58 trailers. ... All Under One Roof "With everything under one roof, this new
facility allows us to work even more efficiently and provide the highest level
of service to our clients," said Tyner. "That's our No. 1 goal at the George Fern
Company."
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Warehouse
... The enormous warehouse with its 28-ft. ceilings stores carpet, displays, equipment,
furniture - all the materials needed for servicing events. Fifteen dock doors
allow for efficient loading and unloading. Plus, there's a full carpenter shop
for maintaining custom displays, building crates and making repairs. "The new
warehouse is very functional," said Operations Manager Rory Allison. "With it
all on one level, it's convenient. You can walk in and see exactly what's there."
Just outside, there's an expansive area with enough space to park 58 trailers.
... | All Under
One Roof "With everything under one roof, this new facility allows us to work
even more efficiently and provide the highest level of service to our clients,"
said Tyner. "That's our No. 1 goal at the George Fern Company."
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An
Electrifying Performance
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Members
of the electric utility industry kept pace with industry changes by
exhibiting and viewing the latest developments in technology and business
services at the T&D World Expo 2002, May 7-9.
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than 200 booths at the Indiana Convention Center featured a variety of products,
from computer systems, overhead and underground distribution products, metering
devices and transformers to heavy construction and maintenance equipment such
as cranes and excavators. The
George E. Fern Company's Indianapolis office worked as a team from the initial
planning stages through the show to help make sure the biannual event was a success.
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"From beginning to end, the George
E. Fern Company staff was great," said Mandy Ferreira-Nunez, operations manager
for Primedia Business Exhibitions. "They always took care of me - answering questions
and meeting requests - even in the midst of doing other shows."
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George
E. Fern Company has Pattern for Success |
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Olympic
torches, a heart used for training doctors, a model of a dinosaur head that's
on display at the Smithsonian Institute ... what kind of show is this?
At
the RAPID Prototyping & Manufacturing Conference & Exposition, produced by the
Society of Manufacturing Engineers, more than 100 exhibitors displayed prototypes
of many interesting products in addition to the technologies and equipment used
to design them. This event, April 29-May 2, covered 16,500 sq. ft at the Cincinnati
Convention Center. | The show's entrance unit,
a customized structure designed and built by the George E. Fern Company, incorporated
a custom four-color graphic enlargement of the conference logo and displayed an
Olympic torch prototype. Other prototypes were featured in exhibitors' booths.
An Interesting Look for an
Interesting Show... The George E. Fern Company designed and produced all of
the show's graphics. "The graphics really enhanced the show image," said Zita
George, senior show manager with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME).
"The George Fern Company's renderings and implementation of what we wanted and
their ability to make it fit as a product development show were excellent."
A
Model for Quality Success... According to Zita George, the Fern Company also
came through very well in terms of service to SME and its exhibitors, particularly
with diligent response times. "I give them a lot of credit for communication with
an association like ours. There are a number of contact points within the association
- different people to contact for different areas - and Fern jumped in quickly,
understanding the structure," she said.
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Exhibition
for Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities Receives the George E. Fern Touch
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By
the time the American College of Health Care Administrators' (ACHCA) 36th Annual
Convocation & Exhibition opened in Orlando May 4, everything had come together
for a successful event.
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Marguerite Leishman,
meetings manager for ACHCA, covered the hundreds of details involving the educational
sessions, meals, association awards, meetings and the hotel while the George E.
Fern Company worked with the 85 exhibiting companies. "Having the Fern Company
on board enabled me to focus on the logistical portions of the meeting," said
Leishman. "I was able to leave the exhibitor set-up to the Fern Company and their
staff." |
About
350 administrators, owners and nursing directors of assisted living facilities
and nursing homes had an opportunity to view exhibits throughout 27,000 sq. ft.
in the exhibit hall of the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel.
| Leishman
said the booths displayed a wide array of products and services for the industry.
Attendees shopped for everything from aviaries with beautiful little birds that
are used for residents' comfort, stimulation and enjoyment; to special carpeting,
beds with lifts and software unique to the industry. |
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Leishman said the booths displayed
a wide array of products and services for the industry. Attendees shopped for
everything from aviaries with beautiful little birds that are used for residents'
comfort, stimulation and enjoyment; to special carpeting, beds with lifts and
software unique to the industry.
| Dick
Shelley, of the George E. Fern Company, and Leishman agreed that exhibiting in
a hotel - especially one that is undergoing renovations - presented some interesting
challenges, such as lack of a loading dock and unusual, last-minute restrictions
by the Fire Marshal. Their teamwork and flexibility resulted in another successful
show. | |
Planning will soon
begin for next year's event in Charleston, South Carolina.
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Palmetto
Expo Center Gets New Owner, Management
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The
city of Greenville, South Carolina, recently purchased the Palmetto Exposition
Center from its original owner, Textile Hall Corporation. Along with the new owner
comes new management. SMG Corporation, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
is managing the facility.
Greenville
City Manager Randy Oliver said, "We were seeking a firm that had the credentials
and experience to broaden the scope of the Palmetto Expo Center's market. Textile
Hall Corporation has done a tremendous job serving the needs of the textile market.
It will be the job of the new management firm to take the facility to the next
level." The Palmetto
Expo Center, one of the largest exhibit hall complexes in the country, contains
over 88,000 square feet of conference facility and 368,000 square feet of exhibit
space available for tradeshows, conventions, conferences and special events. Winner
of three Prime Site Awards, it is the largest multi-purpose facility in the state
of South Carolina. For more
information, contact the Palmetto Expo Center, 864-233-2562, or the George E.
Fern Company's Charlotte office, 704-509-0901.
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Partnering
for Success
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The
George E. Fern Company serves as the official exposition contractor for more than
900 events annually. Here is a partial list of recent contracts.
•
International Association of Chiefs of Police - Annually
in October/November. In 2001, the show will be in Toronto, Canada; Minneapolis,
MN, in 2002 and Philadelphia, PA, in 2003.
• Ohio
Safety and Health Congress Expo - Columbus, OH, in April, 2001.
• Association
of Iron and Steel Engineers - Annually in September. Cleveland,
OH, in 2001 and
Nashville, TN, in 2002. •
North Carolina Manufactured Housing - Charlotte,
NC, in September, 2001. •
National Association of Chemical Distributors - Annually
in September. Charlotte, NC, in 2001 and in Kansas City, MO, in 2002.
•
Southern Ideal Home Shows - April and September,
2001, in Charlotte, NC. •
Southern Building Material Association - Charlotte,
NC, in February 2001.
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