Intro
Broadcasting live from the Business Radio X studios in Dayton, Ohio. It's time for Dayton Business Radio. Now, here's your host.
The Mag
Lee Cantor here, another episode of Dayton Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. Today we got Joey DiFranco he is with Exhibit Concepts, and he runs their Next Lab. Welcome, Joey.
Joey DiFranco
Thank you, Lee. Great to be here.
The Mag
Well, before we get too far into things tell us about Exhibit Concepts. How are you serving folks?
Joey DiFranco
Yeah, so we are, we're an environment building and design firm. So we work in the tradeshow space, the live event space. We work in immersive education, museums, corporate interiors, basically any kind of like gathering spaces or environments that help tell stories, we're involved.
The Mag
Well, now tell us about the Next Lab. How is that kind of incorporated into the overall mission of Exhibit Concepts?
Joey DiFranco
Yeah, no. So exhibit concept has been around for over 40 years, and we got our start truly putting, you know, wooden nails and paint together and building these branded environments. And over time, you know, listening to our customers and clients. Technology played a bigger role, year over year, and we were working with a lot of great vendors across the United States. And, you know, kept wanting more out of our technology and our experiences that we could create with technology.
And so we formed the Next Lab, which is an experiential technology department, and different a little bit from a lot of exhibit houses that, you know, solely focused on the design and build, we're able to then bring in that technology layer, and that media layer, such as video production, animation, digital signage, and we were able to do all of that in house. So that is truly a benefit to our clients, and also allows us to kind of expand the reaches where, you know, we're able to bring that interaction and that engagement level to our different environments.
The Mag
So now who's kind of leading the push, and the stretching of the limits of things is this stuff that internally you guys are pushing for is that customer saying, you know, what I wish I could do blah, blah, blah.
Joey DiFranco
It's a little bit of both. So you know, I think there's actually a third factor in there, too. So we're obviously watching the industry and watching technology. And anytime we see something really cool that we can bring to the table that we think will deliver results, you know, I'm a, have a marketing background as well, as well as technology and design. And for me, I always like to look at the goal. So you know, the goal is first and foremost, from whenever someone brings something to the table, I want to accomplish X, Y, and Z. And if there's a good technology solution out there that can help them get to that goal.
That's what we're going to provide. And sometimes it's something super cool and innovative and next level. And sometimes it's something that's just reliable and works. You know, all of this shouldn't have to be complicated. From a client standpoint, this should never have to wonder too much about what's under the hood, they're looking at the end result like we are. And we're just kind of helping fill in the gaps from a technology standpoint to get there. As far as driving it as well to you know, we have the industry, we have the client requests, maybe they saw something that they liked. And then we also do research and development on our end. So we're always trying to kind of keep one eye on what's next, and how we can best serve our clients within all of our different business units.
The Mag
So now which experiences are kind of the leading your bleeding edge? Are they museums are they trade shows, like who's kind of leading the way and really pushing the envelope?
Joey DiFranco
Yeah, so we're doing some neat things from a production standpoint, in the immersive education standard for in the immersion, immersive education realm. So there's a lot of trends right now around education, especially in the lower l areas where we're kind of building these branded environments that are interactive for the children and have a kind of curriculum designed into the architecture. So we may have a room that is for science that is designed to look like outer space and have a big rocket in the center and planets on the wall. And so we kind of bacon, good kid-friendly, immersive technology. So there might be screens on the wall hidden, there might be, you know, VR headsets, augmented reality on tablets, different ways to kind of enhance that learning and make that environment really come to life beyond the architecture. So we're seeing a lot of advancements there.
And then obviously, you know, out on the tradeshow floor for us historically, it's always kind of who has the biggest flashiest, brightest, coolest booth, right? This is all about attracting people into the space to be able to have those nice face-to-face interactions. And I always equate it to like the birds of paradise. You know, out in the jungle, the most colorful bird or the biggest plumes, gets people to come in the door. So if you have something really flashy, something really unique, you're going to start to gather a crowd at your specific show. Now, obviously, things have changed a little bit in the last couple of months. And there's not a lot of that face-to-face interaction. And so the technology for us is starting to kind of shift and play a little bit of a different role internally. But it's been an interesting journey to kind of see that evolve so far.
The Mag
So now how have you adapted to this kind of new world that we're living in now is are you guys doing virtual experiences? Are you just on pause, kind of playing with the toys to see what else you can come up to when this pandemic wanes?
Joey DiFranco
Yeah, so we're wanting to pass right now. So I think in the immediate need it's the adaptability of technology that's out there. So we've had a lot of requests from our environments that already exist, that maybe have touched range or different signage and, and then have been able to kind of step up their reopening with limitation. So you know, we do a fair amount of museums down in the south, the southern United States, and they have touchscreens, and their governors and their, you know, communities have opened back up. But there are different guidelines in the place where you can't have that interactivity, you can't put your finger on the touch kiosk to bring up information at the museum. And so we're helping those clients adapt by, you know, making phone-friendly web solutions. So you know, you walk in, you scan a little code with the camera on your phone, and you have access to everything inside the museum from a labeling and content standpoint, to you know, even antimicrobial films, different kinds of coverings and branded things to make that environment safer.
And then on a parallel path, we are creating from scratch virtual tools to help our clients meet their face-to-face goals. You know, at the end of the day, everything that we're doing in the tradeshow space is usually aligned with that sales and marketing goal. You know, our clients go to their shows, so they can bring people in the door, they can demo their products. And with that being absent this year, they're having their deficit and being able to make their leads make their sales numbers. And so we really wanted to kind of help fill that vacuum as quickly as we could with some good virtual solutions that still fit their goals. And so we're helping to produce virtual events right now, for our clients, we're helping to do virtual product demonstrations using augmented reality. And we're even helping to translate some of those museums and immersive education spaces into full kind of 360 panorama browser-based experiences just to allow that content to still be used when a time when we can all sit around and have a conversation or, or be in the environment.
The Mag
So now what is kind of the word out there in the tradeshow realm? Is this something that they're not even looking at this year that everything is made next year? Like what's the kind of the timeline of when they see some sense of normalcy?
Joey DiFranco
Yeah, so there's a lot of factors at play. So, you know, we have ourselves and you know, as exhibitors, right, we want to get out there as soon as possible. But there's a lot of things that are kind of lining up, you have state-by-state regulations right now, which are kind of dictating the size of gatherings. But you also have to look at the audience's rights, there has to be a certain comfort level that audiences have with returning to these large shows. And they want to feel confident that those safety measures are in place, and a lot of our clients as well work on the international stage. So we may have, you know, trade shows out in Las Vegas or Orlando, or Chicago that draws a large international audience that just can't get physically to the US right now.
And so we have our clients kind of weighing the options, you know, whether or not the show is happening, you know, we're seeing cancellations from a show standpoint, but we're also seeing cancellations from the value of the customer being able to get, you know, our clients being able to get what they need out of that face to face effort. Because it's a lot of work, it's a lot of dollars to be able to travel to these shows as a client and set up your booth and in for everything that we create, but making sure that experience has that return of investment, you know, that that's something that everybody's weighing, and so you know, we have some clients that are still planning on presenting, you know, their shows are still going on in the fall this year. But I think a lot of people have eyes on 2021.
And to kind of see how the regulations shake out in our major markets like Vegas, you know, California, Orlando, Chicago, around those gatherings, and then really how the audiences of our clients are going to react, you know, are they going to, to come back for one day of a show, or our show's gonna be a little more staggered, or smaller groups, you know, we're hearing kind of everything and keeping our ear to the ground. But it really is, is a bit up in the air. You know, we were all sitting back here in March, looking at April for shows, and we said, hey, you know, maybe this will go people, it'll kind of go away on its own, we don't really know what's going to happen. And then here we are, you know, about to be in July. And we're still kind of dealing in the same situation. We were back in March.
The Mag
And then the timeline for the shows aren't they book, like a year in advance or sometimes even farther ahead of time.
Joey DiFranco
Absolutely. So we're seeing a lot of those, those shows, to offer virtual Esq offerings. And I use the word Esq in there. They're kind of the hyphen there to say that they're, they're not these full packages, because of that timeline, right. There are shows that maybe were in July, that had to cancel six weeks out. And so they're transitioning to a zoom webinar, or they're, you know, delaying to the fall to be able to figure out a virtual offering or they're straight up, you know, a lot of the smaller shows are kind of cutting their losses and saying, hey, we'll be back next year. And but yeah, there are people you know, we had trucks in March that were out delivering booths, to tradeshow floors that were turned around as all the cancellations and all the closures start to happen. You know, for us, we work on a pretty long timeline when we have to physically build something just because it takes the right amount of time to build that architecture. And so, you know, there's definitely a lot of planning a lot of dollars, a lot of budgeting that's going around with our clients and with our teams around the tradeshow space to try to get the best alignment and make sure again, everybody is accomplishing as many of their goals as they can, for 2020, despite what's kind of happening in the outside world.
The Mag
Well, let's talk a little bit about these kinds of visual and interactive technologies that are, you're reading about and kind of magazines and future kind of blogs and videos of that sort. How does that come into play? Like? How much do you get to kind of play around with these next-gen technologies? And then from that point, how quickly can you get them into someone's booth or into a museum?
Joey DiFranco
Yeah, I mean, obviously, every case is different. But you know, we kind of have a, a motto or kind of a mantra within Next Lab where we have a flag that hangs up in our work area when we are in the office that says you'll think of something. And then that kind of mantra goes through technology as well to where, where we get asked a lot of times to kind of engineer the impossible, right? People will come to us and they'll say, Well, have you done, you know, a robot arm that swings a lightsaber through a low lying fog? We've done that before? Well, no, of course, we haven't. But we can. Because we are able to experiment and do our research and development.
And so for us, part of our time, is really allotted to that kind of playground space, like any creative field, you know, I want to give my team enough runway to be able to experiment to tinker, to build, and to try out these things. And within the virtual case, you know, we had our virtual solutions up and running with about in about six weeks following you know, kind of the closure starting at the end of March. And so that's when we had our first virtual piece out there, we put on a large demo event for a couple of 100 folks to kind of test out the technology to our client base. And now you know, we are in production throughout the summer on different virtual events. Some stuff takes longer, you know, some of the physical build things, we've been playing around in the augmented reality space for about 12 to 18 months right now doing everything from product demonstration to kind of interactive architecture. And then, you know, VR space as well, too.
But we keep a large handful of these tools around. So as we see things come around, we're able to kind of play with them very quickly. And also, the diversity of our team allows us to really attack these things and kind of get what I call an MVP, or a minimal viable product up very quickly. You know, we have developers on staff, we have people who can create media, from a video or animation standpoint. And then we also have access to our full creative team, which can do 3d renderings modeling, and kind of create different things that we can then plug and play into some of this immersive technology that requires that level of design.
The Mag
So what kind of projects have you worked on that have been your biggest kind of wow factor that you're most proud of?
Joey DiFranco
I would say just even in the short term, it's really virtual events, right? We've lived in the event space for 40 years, but we were not a virtual event company. And for us to kind of sit down, you know, we all sat down right around St. Patrick's Day in March, and said, Okay, if we're going to be on hiatus for a while here, and we can't get people to face to face, we have 40 years of experience in this building, let's go ahead and all sit down and figure out how to use the technology we know we can that is reliable, that we can get up and running quickly, to best meet the goals and experiences our clients are used to with dealing with us.
And for me, that was a super proud moment to have something that none of us had really, you know, we'd all been a part of projects kind of like that before. But exhibit concept itself had never produced a virtual event, you know, prior to 2020. And now we have some of our biggest brands lined up that we are creating these really great pieces for and so you know, in the near term, that's something that I'm really proud of, I know the team is really proud of it, and it's going to help us you know, kind of weather this tradeshow storm, but also really set us up for the future, to be able to have digital events and digital offerings like this in our toolkit going forward, you know, no matter global pandemic or not.
The Mag
So now what's the pain that a company's having? Where exhibit concepts or indoor Next Lab is the solution?
Joey DiFranco
Yes, think it's that full-service piece. So next slide, being part of Exhibit Concepts, and not being a third party entity or an external vendor, it's when a client comes to us to solve their branded environment, you know, request, we have everything under our roof. So we can, you know, create their media for them do all their design, help them with their creative, and then physically build or digitally build the solution. So nose to tail, we're there with them the whole way through. And that is our reputation in the industry. You know, this, this white glove, kind of high level of service that we can keep throughout the entire process and really allow our clients to focus on what they need to do for their business and not have to worry about all the different parts and pieces that go into to creating you know, some of these very large scale events.
The Mag
Now, what about the kind of internal talent? How are you doing from that standpoint? Is that something you're always looking for good folks to be part of the team?
Joey DiFranco
Yeah, you know, we're always on the lookout, and especially now as we start to grow our technology and digital offerings, you know, from a development standpoint, or media standpoint, and the nice thing is, you know, with Exhibit concepts having our office here in Dayton, we have a different office in Chicago, and then we have a few remote workers that are around the country. And, you know, obviously, in the current climate, it's a lot easier for everybody to all connect remotely. And so for us, you know, looking for talent, we've always been able to cast a little bit of a wider net, and have been forward-thinking about that. But you know, as part of our business kind of shifts to adapt to everything that's going on in the industry, you know, I think there's going to be that, that opportunity to still be able to grow, you know, down down the line here, as a lot of companies, are kind of shrinking or changing in size.
The Mag
So now, are you looking for recent graduates? Or is it something that you got to be kind of a veteran in order to really do well at Exhibit Concept?
Joey DiFranco
Yeah, it's not necessarily industry-specific. I think it's more technology, basically, at least, you know, what I'm always looking for, on my team, but you know, we do work a fair amount with kind of college graduates and entry levels, we have different internship programs and things that we've worked with different colleges and universities in the past. That is a little bit more difficult here in 2020, obviously, with our office, you know, not being open to all employees right now. But historically, for us, you know, we've partnered with universities that have kind of tradeshow and environment, creation programs, as well as you know, museum design and exhibit design. So we are kind of keeping people within the funnel. But I know as our technology, capabilities widen, we're able to work with folks that maybe have not had the event experience, but have really strong technology experience that, that they can use their talents to create things for our environments.
The Mag
If somebody wants to learn more, have a more substantive conversation with you or somebody on your team, what's the best website?
Joey DiFranco
The best website is exhibitconcepts.com. And there's a contact form pretty much on every page, so feel free to connect with us through there.
The Mag
Well, Joey, thank you so much for sharing your story today.
Joey DiFranco
Absolutely. Thank you, Lee.
The Mag
All right. This is Lee Cantor. We will see you all next time on Dayton Business Radio.
Image source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joey-difranco-creative/
