New American Rental Association (ARA) member Elevation 3D has always lived up to its tagline of “Let’s Elevate You.” This major trade show and experiential company, with locations in Las Vegas and Boston, has created exciting and interactive events to help people engage with a company or an industry, whether that is at a Lexmark users conference, the NEC New York Showcase or at the popular CES, the annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association, to name just a few.
However, all that elevating interaction stopped when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit.
“The pandemic devastated the entire exhibition and live events industry. Here in Las Vegas, it was a ghost town as it is a city that is 75 percent driven by hospitality,” says Dale Beyer, vice president of business development.
Company leaders, who just prior to the pandemic had a full schedule of trade shows, experiential activation and live events for companies and industries all over the globe, knew they had to adjust to survive. They looked at their strengths, their existing inventory and the community need.
“We were able to transition and come up with new offerings that allowed us to reallocate our rental inventory for schools and hospitals and then develop new business,” Beyer says.
The first change was to move to the digital realm for trade shows and events. “Trade shows were being canceled and many were looking to move to virtual platforms. We reached out to all our existing clients and then others to offer our virtual events. These events are not just like a Zoom call, but a virtual platform that can be customized to create more of a trade show-type experience, allowing you to experience the atmosphere like a trade show without leaving your home. We always had digital content and the ability to create digital experiences, but the pandemic really forced our hand in this arena. That was an important part of us evolving our business to get a foothold on more technology. Many companies took advantage of it while others buckled down and tried to wait it out,” Beyer says.
That prompted the second turnaround.
“We have 2,500 panels in our rental inventory that can be reconfigured in a wide variety of ways with different materials such as fabric, vinyl or harder composite materials. These options were disposable or
reusable and cleanable. We saw that our inventory could be used to create safe spaces,” Beyer says.
The company reached out to schools, restaurants, churches, hospitals and even the National Guard. The panels could be used to create temporary structures, from classrooms and dividers to hospital rooms, such as what was done at the Javits Center in New York City.
“Elevation3D has traditionally been a live event production company. Once the pandemic began, we quickly shifted gears and began providing virtual event solutions and protective equipment. That was a big transition, but it allowed us to utilize our people, tools and resources in a more relevant way. Our team created a variety of plexiglass-type shields and protective barrier partitions for schools, offices, restaurants and hospitals,” adds Adam Karns, president, noting that the local Fox 5 TV station even did a news story about this reallocation of inventory. To view the story, click here.
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) immediately took Elevation3D up on its offer.
The team at Elevation3D worked on numerous projects for the university, from creating cubicle stations to installing plexiglass shields and dividers at the Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, the library, the executive offices, the campus services area, the student union, the cafeteria and the campus store.
“Our people were going to the university every other week as they were starting to reopen or planning to reopen. We were part of the planning process. Because of this work the university was able to open sooner and more safely than what they had anticipated,” Beyer says, adding that other schools and churches followed suit.
Another service the company had offered for quite a while — commercial interiors — grew during the pandemic.
“What we found is companies that had been spending sometimes millions of dollars on trade show exhibits had not updated or rebranded their facilities. They realized that they needed to have the same branding and initiatives in the showplace of their home as what they have had out on the road. They needed to bring their brand experience to the work environment. When companies weren’t sending people on the road, they decided to spend money on the infrastructure of their own buildings. They decided it was time to do all this stuff they had put off for years — like rebranding or doing anything different to their home environment,” Beyer says.
By seeking out new opportunities, Elevation3D was able to survive the worst of the pandemic. As the world is starting to open back up, Elevation3D is ready to take what it has learned during this time to help their clients “deliver custom-brand experiences” that tell their stories through exhibits, virtual and hybrid solutions, live events and commercial interiors.
As it relates to trade shows, Beyer says companies are “cautiously optimistic. They know the value of face-to-face interaction with existing and prospective clients, but they also have to consider their responsibility to protect employees and the company from further outbreaks related to COVID-19. So, we are seeing a more hybrid solution and developing a physical space while also utilizing technology (virtual, digital and sales tools) to create a hybrid of the two — virtual and physical happening at the same time for those who cannot attend in person. We believe that moving forward, trade shows will always have some sort of virtual, digital and/or hybrid piece.”
Beyer also sees a continual demand for the company’s commercial interior work. “As companies start to bring their people back from remote work, they are looking at updating their work environments, their meeting spaces, etc. We have our own in-house designers, engineers and production professionals who can do everything from start to finish, so we are continuing to work with companies to redesign and rebrand their work environments,” he says.
While the pandemic was very painful for the company, “we learned that we can pivot,” Beyer says. “We now have much more experience over a more diverse portfolio. We not only have the trade shows, the live events and interiors, but we also have more relationships within education and other organizations, and we are able to apply those different offerings on a much broader scale. We are smarter, stronger and better prepared for the future.”
Joining ARA was a natural move
Elevation3D, with locations in Las Vegas and Boston, decided to join the American Rental Association (ARA) earlier this year because it was a logical next step, says Dale Beyer, vice president of business development.
Beyer has firsthand knowledge about the value of associations. “In my prior life experiences, I worked with a lot of companies involved in the construction industry. When I made the move into trade shows and events, I became a member of select industry associations, such as AEM [the Association of Equipment Manufacturers]. Many companies we take care of also exhibit at The ARA Show™, and the fact that our industry is moving to 75 percent rental with companies not interested in purchasing and storing their exhibits, it just made sense to now join ARA as well,” he says.
Besides access to all the resources that ARA offers, joining offers a perfect way to “create connections and build brand awareness within the equipment and event rental community,” Beyer says. That is a win-win for all involved. Visit elevation3D.com for more information.