Latest / Event Industry News Podcast / Show Ready - The Edit: GES Launches a new premium chapter in its award-winning Show Ready collection
Transcript
- 0:05Hello everybody and welcome along to the event industry news
- 0:08podcast with me james dixon wishing you all a
- 0:10very good morning afternoon or evening whenever or wherever
- 0:13you join today's podcast from i am back in
- 0:16the home studio sat at the piano at home in yorkshire
- 0:20after being out on the road last week with the event industry news
- 0:23team for context we're recording this on
- 0:26tuesday the 2nd of december not entirely
- 0:28sure when this episode that we're going to record today is is going to drop
- 0:31it might actually be before the stuff that we did on the
- 0:34road last week but i'm going to give a
- 0:37shout out anyway we're at the allianz stadium last week many
- 0:41people will know it as twickenham the home of english rugby union
- 0:44and we were hosted by the team at the allianz
- 0:47stadium there we recorded some episodes of the podcast we
- 0:50launched the new conference and meetings buyers guide
- 0:53and had a great day down there so thanks to all the team down
- 0:55there that facilitated that and made it happen and episodes
- 0:58of the podcast that were recorded down there will appear very
- 1:01soon if not that they're already out there so do have a look around
- 1:04but on with today's recording and
- 1:08on today's episode we're very much diving back into
- 1:11the world of trade shows my guest today is
- 1:14going to talk to us about a significant new development
- 1:17within their organization and it's an organization that i'm
- 1:20sure that everybody if not the.
- 1:22Vast majority of our podcast listeners will be familiar with
- 1:25my guest today is penny banks penny is the creative director at
- 1:29ges and joins the podcast today to talk
- 1:32to us about uh something that was officially launched i think just over a month
- 1:35ago ges unveiled show ready the edit elevated design crafted for circularity
- 1:42this is a new iteration of their show ready product penny first of all a warm
- 1:46welcome to the podcast good morning to you good morning.
- 1:50And, yeah, we're up and at them this morning.
- 1:53It's a relatively early recording. We've not really given anybody a chance to
- 1:56sort of really sort of digest their morning emails or even a cup of coffee.
- 2:00I think we're both still on our first half full cup of coffee of the morning.
- 2:04But, yeah, Penny, a warm welcome and show ready. As I said, let's give some context, first of all.
- 2:11Here today on the podcast to talk about this new iteration
- 2:14show ready the edit a new offering within show ready
- 2:17but let's take a setback first of all and explain to
- 2:19people who are tuning into the podcast today what show
- 2:23ready is if they've not come across it before okay so
- 2:26show ready was a was a product that that gs launched
- 2:29some years ago and it was an option
- 2:32for exhibitors that wanted a sort of upgrade from
- 2:36from a shell scheme stand or for the companies
- 2:39that didn't want to go down a bespoke build route so
- 2:42we came up with there's there's
- 2:46quite a lot of different options that you can go for
- 2:48sort of various different stand designs all come
- 2:52with fully branded graphics integrated lighting
- 2:55integrated storage facilities you
- 2:58can have illuminated panels there's all
- 3:02kinds of options there and the idea with it
- 3:05is that it comes at a per square meter
- 3:07price so it's very very simple for an exhibitor to
- 3:11work out how much their their stand is going to cost them
- 3:14they arrive they have a fully branded beautiful
- 3:18looking stand so you know it's been it's been a really great product it's been
- 3:23really well received and it's it's it's done very well but what we were thinking
- 3:29is that there is a bit of a sweet spot between the sort of 30 to 50 square So Show Ready,
- 3:36and we're calling it now Show Ready the Originals.
- 3:39Sort of very much fits that little bracket of the exhibitor that wants to take
- 3:43the step up into having a bit more of a bespoke looking stand,
- 3:47but doesn't want to go down the route of the very costly and very costly.
- 3:53Not particularly environmentally friendly bespoke build yeah
- 3:56absolutely and you know historically we've all
- 3:59seen the sort of the what we call traditional shell scheme you
- 4:02know back in the day and you know it was
- 4:05if we're being honest it was it was efficient in some
- 4:08respects you could build walls you could build structures very easily but
- 4:11it was a bit bland from a construction point of
- 4:14view it required you know tools it required a lot
- 4:17of sort of manual labor in order to put it together
- 4:20and from a display point of view a visual point of
- 4:23view in order to brand it that that sort traditional shell scheme
- 4:26was was not necessarily difficult but but
- 4:28the effects weren't fabulous show ready really represented
- 4:32a huge leap didn't it it was a real sort of paradigm shift in
- 4:35in how you could deliver structures on an
- 4:38efficient level but a level that really allowed
- 4:41a level of visual detail to be added to it by each
- 4:44individual exhibitor absolutely and you
- 4:47know that beautiful seamless finish that you get from the
- 4:50from the fabric graphics you know
- 4:53that's that's something i think that you when you
- 4:56look at a shell scheme stand and you've got the meter by meter panels it's it's
- 5:00a bit clunky and so this sort of really does elevate the exhibitor to that next
- 5:05level and of course you know options like this it also reduces i suppose the the obvious gap between.
- 5:15What we used to you know call shell scheme exhibitors and
- 5:18space onlys you know that it almost felt
- 5:21like the poor younger brother didn't it you know exhibitors who
- 5:24couldn't quite afford a shell space only
- 5:27couldn't afford a custom build oh well we'll just have some shell
- 5:30scheme we'll arrive and pull up banners and for trade shows as well as well
- 5:33as the actual exhibitors themselves there was always an obvious divide wasn't
- 5:37there visually when you walk to show floor and that divide is noticeably it's
- 5:41a much grayer area now isn't it between yeah yeah it's really brought a lot
- 5:47more synergy to show flaws.
- 5:49Absolutely, absolutely. And also giving the exhibitors that opportunity to really
- 5:54bring their brand to life.
- 5:56You know, if you have a shell scheme
- 5:58stand, yes, you can have your pop-up banners and all the rest of it.
- 6:02But actually to have a fully graphic stand, which really concentrates on the
- 6:09brand that it's representing, is quite a big step up from those traditional shell scheme stands.
- 6:17And you know if we sort of dive into just maybe sort
- 6:20of the operational side of things from a construction
- 6:23point of view you know when you're going in when the gs team are going
- 6:26in to actually build these build these shows
- 6:28for clients it's much easier to deploy isn't
- 6:31it that the whole system you're not not just the new one but
- 6:34the show ready the first situation that one of the
- 6:37main points was that it it's much easier isn't it
- 6:40to construct much quicker much more efficient you know you
- 6:42can have shows up in one day that might have
- 6:45taken two days to actually build those old old-fashioned schemes absolutely
- 6:48yeah yes yeah it's a far more more efficient far
- 6:52more efficient system now we're going to do
- 6:55something that we don't don't usually or often do on the
- 6:58podcast is i'm going to throw a picture up there a
- 7:01lot of people most of our podcast followers will be listening to
- 7:04us on a podcast platform and i always say at the end of
- 7:07the episodes to make sure that you go over to event industry news
- 7:10and check out the video versions and it's going to be
- 7:13very very relevant today because we're going to just put a photo onto
- 7:17the screen now in the video and you'll be able to see sort of firsthand what
- 7:22we mean by this sort of this new iteration of show ready show ready the edit
- 7:26there are four what we're calling them options penny it's sort of branded designs
- 7:31designs yeah four distinct design styles.
- 7:37And as soon as we put them on the screen which we're going to do now,
- 7:40You'll see that of these four iterations, there's what we've got,
- 7:45Khan, Luter, Vico, and is that Rho? Rho, yes. Excellent.
- 7:50These are options that exhibitors can now book with GES.
- 7:57The first word I used to describe was they look like bespoke builds, don't they, Penny?
- 8:02That they look, the style of
- 8:04which 10, 15 years ago, you'd have needed a bespoke build to deliver this.
- 8:09Absolutely. and and that was that was the thinking
- 8:12behind behind the edit so we we
- 8:16obviously have show ready the originals which has been hugely popular
- 8:19and it really fits in a certain level of space but that 30 to to sort of 50
- 8:26square meter sweet spot where people are as sort of you know they're wanting
- 8:31that much more of a presence on the show floor they want something that looks bespoke but
- 8:36they don't quite want the bespoke price.
- 8:40That was what we started to look at with the edit. And the edit was very much
- 8:45born out of, and that's why I say it's a curated selection.
- 8:49There's four designs and each one has really been considered in terms of what
- 8:54it can offer to an exhibitor.
- 8:56So we did quite a lot of research. We talked to lots of people about the things
- 9:01that they might need on an exhibition stand.
- 9:04Meeting spaces was one sort of really prominent thing that people were asking for.
- 9:10So the Vico has a private meeting space at the centre of the stand.
- 9:15It's really designed for an island site, but you can equally,
- 9:19you can have a back wall in there as well.
- 9:22But you've got this lovely private meeting space.
- 9:25And with all four designs, the materials have been a really important part of
- 9:31the of the whole design journey that that we've had so it's
- 9:36the edit is very much based on the same principles as
- 9:39show ready the originals that we're using a modular system
- 9:42but we've really considered all the materials that go
- 9:45into each of the designs so we've used
- 9:48things that are not necessarily just
- 9:52recycled we've used interesting materials we've
- 9:55used things that can can be reused so there's there's
- 9:58very much circular design principles that have been
- 10:01applied to to each of the designs that
- 10:04that we've worked on I mean I I think
- 10:07it would be quite nice to just talk about each design individually so
- 10:11well absolutely well you've already flagged up something there that that is
- 10:14is worth sort of pursuing a little bit further today which is that that you
- 10:18mentioned that Vico is designed you know maybe not primarily for but with an
- 10:21island sort of stand in mind which yeah straight away I'm interested in the
- 10:26fact that it's obvious then And when I look at the photos that,
- 10:28you know, each one, you know,
- 10:31can be deployed in certain, it may be different ways.
- 10:35You know, you've got Roe with the back wall, the Luta and the Khan have.
- 10:39You know, the images that we're looking at have clearly got two walls. So corner stands.
- 10:43So there's clearly been an element of that.
- 10:46Been put into the design process hasn't there yeah yeah
- 10:49yeah and I mean each one can be
- 10:53configured in different ways and we have thought about that as
- 10:55well but but yes we're we specifically for
- 11:00that 30 to 50 square meter space historically
- 11:04you're not really going to have three sides you're not
- 11:07going to have one open side are you so so yeah
- 11:10there's either two walls one wall or no wall and and
- 11:13each kind of has its its own its own
- 11:17merits so khan is very much designed
- 11:20towards a product-led exhibitor you've got lots and lots of product display
- 11:24they're all beautifully illuminated and also the ability to to have a screen
- 11:30what we've tried to do with all the designs we've paired back you know these
- 11:34are our suggestions of how an exhibitor can have the graphics on each of the stands,
- 11:40but rather than covering every inch of the walls with images or messaging,
- 11:46we've pared that back a bit, which I think gives it a much more bespoke look.
- 11:52We've also been quite careful with the colours that we've chosen. So I'm
- 11:58I am a designer and so I'm really interested in trends and in particular colour
- 12:04and things that are happening.
- 12:05So what we've tried to do is come up with some very neutral colour palettes
- 12:10that would work with most branding.
- 12:12And we'll introduce new colours each year. So they'll almost be like,
- 12:16you know, the GES colour of the year.
- 12:19These are suggestions. They're not things that we're saying to exhibitors.
- 12:23These are the only colours that are available. But to give people,
- 12:26you know more of an understanding that if their
- 12:30exhibition stand is a little is more considered and the
- 12:33design element has been thought about right from the start they
- 12:37have much more of a an interesting presence on
- 12:40the show floor it's their opportunity to shine
- 12:43and make their brand come to life so so it's that sort
- 12:46of you know that structure to help them to give them
- 12:48that blank canvas to to to bring
- 12:52their brand to life so one thing i noticed penny on the
- 12:55the floor of each of each image and again it might sound trivial in in the scheme
- 13:00of all the work that's gone into designing this system but it there's illuminated
- 13:04looks like led sort of you know strips or something that's around the edge of
- 13:08the the false floor is that you know optional or is that something that you
- 13:13know is is included by default?
- 13:15That's that's it that is something i i
- 13:19think will be included i think you
- 13:22know there's a there's a few things to iron out at the moment because this is obviously you
- 13:25know it's a launch product and and we're sort of finding just that
- 13:28we're prototype we're we've been prototyping things
- 13:32but the flooring was something that we really wanted
- 13:35to look at because rather than just offering a
- 13:38carpeted floor we wanted to offer the option
- 13:41of being able to have sort of cable management integrated
- 13:44so this flooring system is quite a clever flooring system and it
- 13:47has a an integrated cable
- 13:51management tile underneath the actual flooring
- 13:54tile so you don't get any wires or anything so
- 13:57very clever and then it has the strip that
- 14:00goes around the outside takes an led so you
- 14:03can have that illuminated edge all the way around
- 14:05the outside right and how
- 14:08we're offering it is we've got four different options
- 14:11which are all you know give you a nice blank canvas
- 14:14so you've got a wood effect you've got a stone
- 14:17effect a marble effect and and these are all it's a very environmentally friendly
- 14:23flooring system it's made from recycled plastic and it ticked the sustainability
- 14:30box which was which was really really important for us with with all of the
- 14:35elements that we've included in the edit.
- 14:38Because we still see a lot of timber used, don't we, in bespoke stand construction.
- 14:44You know, there's an awful lot, whether it be false floors or building,
- 14:48you know, set flats, that there's an awful lot of timber. And I know that.
- 14:53People will argue that well timber is a sustainable product
- 14:56because it can be reused it's it's a
- 14:59natural product and all the rest of it but if we're
- 15:02being brutally honest how much of it comes up off
- 15:06the show floor at the end of a show and gets dealt with
- 15:08properly we've all seen what it's like during the
- 15:11out of a show everybody just
- 15:14wants to get it ripped up packed up as quickly as possible and get
- 15:17out so having something i suppose it's structured that
- 15:20it almost feels like a really really well-designed lego
- 15:23set something that could be put down quickly deployed in
- 15:27any number of different ways picked up put back
- 15:30in a box and taken off to the next place yeah yeah
- 15:33and that's that was you know the the big
- 15:36thinking behind the edit was that the
- 15:38sustainability was was a key element of
- 15:42the whole design process it was vitally important
- 15:45to me now we have so many materials
- 15:48available to us there is no need for endless
- 15:52truckloads of waste leaving a show floor absolutely no need for it at all and
- 15:58so this is what we wanted to do with the edit was to show exhibitors actually
- 16:02look here is a way of having a beautiful stand that looks like it's a bespoke build but there is.
- 16:10No waste really that come that comes away from
- 16:13from that stand i mean the the graphics are all
- 16:16recycled and we're looking at ways of of even
- 16:19with that finding a way of using a material that
- 16:22has already been recycled and then it is recycled
- 16:26again back into another another fabric the reception
- 16:30desks that were constructed we we constructed them
- 16:33in in a material that is made from
- 16:36recycled paper and again that can it's
- 16:39completely circular it can be recycled again back into
- 16:42sheet material so every element has been been
- 16:45really considered with the sustainability at
- 16:48its key that that was the most important part
- 16:52of the design process for us does that
- 16:55you mentioned earlier about sort of some of the color schemes
- 16:58that you're presenting with these you know these initial visuals yeah
- 17:01and how it's almost sort of very it's it's it's
- 17:04paired back in in some respects you know
- 17:07it's not logos logos logos branding branding branding
- 17:10it's base colors with some branding it looks very very modern it looks very
- 17:15chic like you said very very design-led does does that sort of minimalist approach
- 17:20I suppose to how you're presenting the graphics does that have any any impact
- 17:24on the sustainability element at all does it help if you are printing if something
- 17:28requires less print initially.
- 17:31Not necessarily. I mean, whether we can look at ways of doing that in the future.
- 17:37And this is a project that is going to evolve over time.
- 17:42Like just because we've launched the edit as it is, it doesn't mean that's it.
- 17:46And we're not developing it further.
- 17:49We will always be looking for new materials and new ways of introducing more
- 17:54sustainability into the design.
- 17:56The reason for the pared back graphics is to show an exhibitor,
- 18:02sometimes less is more, and you don't need to absolutely cover every inch with a message.
- 18:09Sometimes you might want a whole wall that's one image, and that's fine.
- 18:13But with messaging and things like that, to pair things back a little bit gives
- 18:19you actually a bit more of an impact.
- 18:21But but one thing that i really want to emphasize
- 18:24with all four designs they are there as a blank
- 18:26canvas so it is it's it's about
- 18:29the product it's about the exhibitor and how they can
- 18:33then turn that into their own space so
- 18:36you know the suggestions we are give we we're giving our
- 18:40suggestions they're not this is what you have to have but uh but hopefully from
- 18:44how we've illustrated and how we've demonstrated what what something can look
- 18:49like it gives people a bit of inspiration and you know adding things in like
- 18:54the you know the the changing color palette each year yeah.
- 18:59Helps people to understand, you know, what's current in interiors,
- 19:02what's current in colour trends.
- 19:04And I don't think that really very many people have been given that opportunity
- 19:09before. So it's quite a nice little added extra.
- 19:13They get a little bonus from me of what the coming trends are.
- 19:19What's the timeline for it from where we speak today, you know, early December 2025?
- 19:26What is the timeline in terms of seeing it
- 19:29you know in the wild if we could well it's it's
- 19:32launched so the sales team are busy working on
- 19:35sales as we speak i believe that there
- 19:38are there's a number of exhibitors that are very very interested
- 19:41in it so i think that we should start seeing things on
- 19:44the floor sort of like early in the new year and
- 19:48and is the intention that that this will be
- 19:51paired with other types of of stand build
- 19:54that you deliver or you know it is
- 19:57the hope that ultimately you can kind of utilize you
- 20:00know one system for for one particular show i've seen
- 20:03examples of that you know sort of delivered and examples of
- 20:06almost i don't know if you could call it a hybrid
- 20:09element but where there's various different types of you know
- 20:12traditional shell and and like the b matrix stuff the amp
- 20:15modular the the show ready you know what's the
- 20:18intention with it so so the the intention is
- 20:21obviously the edit sits within the show ready family and you
- 20:25know we have show ready the originals there's also an
- 20:28enhanced version of show ready where exhibitors can
- 20:31can make something a bit more bespoke so if they want special lighting
- 20:34or they want you know certain type of configuration and then the edit sits sits
- 20:40within that family so you know i think that that's that's the way that that
- 20:45we're going to be marketing it that it it's the it's the upgrade from the shell
- 20:49scheme but you've got these three layers or these three tiers.
- 20:53Which should suit most exhibitors really.
- 20:56And by the sound of things can ultimately all be integrated together fairly seamlessly.
- 21:01Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Fantastic. And, you know, developments like this is
- 21:07not just good for exhibitors, but for show operations as well.
- 21:12If GES are taking on more of the build because of options like this being made
- 21:18available to exhibitors, it means exhibitors are not having to rely as much on stand builders.
- 21:23But also particularly i'm thinking that when it comes to traditional shell scheme
- 21:27you've not got exhibitors traipsing in with you know the the coffins on wheels
- 21:31with their own pull-up banners their own graphics and things like that so yeah
- 21:35from a show operations and during that that really critical build period as
- 21:39well developments like this from organizations like gs are ultimately.
- 21:43Serving a huge benefit aren't they to the operations of
- 21:46the organizers yeah of course yeah so it simplifies that
- 21:49whole build process and also for the exhibitors you know if
- 21:52they're if they were going down a bespoke build project
- 21:56they they may have to deal with several different different
- 22:00contractors with this option it's a it's a
- 22:02kind of one-stop shop for them so it makes it a
- 22:05much much less painless experience of
- 22:08just having that one point of contact no absolutely
- 22:12and we should point out that um you know if you
- 22:15want to read in further detail about this everything that we've
- 22:18referred to on today's podcast is very much available you
- 22:21know online i think we're going to put the link up
- 22:24on screen yes insights.ges.com forward
- 22:27slash news insights.ges.com forward
- 22:32slash news if you go there that's kind
- 22:34of the global news page and information for ges and it's the headline story
- 22:39at the moment so you can you can read in further detail about everything that
- 22:43we've spoken about today see those images that we've referred to so yeah once
- 22:46again if you've been listening to this podcast today thanks very much but you
- 22:50know head over go to that url.
- 22:53And go to eventinstualnews.com as well, and you'll be able to see images of
- 22:57everything that we've been referring to today.
- 22:59It's a genuinely exciting development.
- 23:02You know, I've worked with GS and CGS in action at the Event Tech Live show
- 23:07for the last few years since we moved to XL from the old Truman Brewery.
- 23:12And I've seen just how quickly and easily deployed systems like this are.
- 23:18Just how great they look when you've got the graphics on there.
- 23:20It makes a huge difference to the presentability of
- 23:23the show floor and it adds so many different efficiencies on
- 23:27an operational level that i've i've kind of witnessed firsthand so
- 23:30yeah congratulations to you and the team penny on another product
- 23:33coming to market and and something that no doubt is going to
- 23:36have a big big impact in in the coming months and years
- 23:39and i said head out head over to that to that link i'll
- 23:42put it up on the screen one more time insights.ges.com forward
- 23:45slash news to read more about show ready
- 23:49the edit before we wrap up today's episode i'm
- 23:52just going to give a couple of little mentions for some stuff going on
- 23:54on eventindustrynews.com we've recently launched
- 23:58the conference and meetings guide for 2026
- 24:01that is available now as a digital supplement on eventindustrynews.com
- 24:05so if you head over to the website that's now available to download
- 24:09along with all of the other special features and
- 24:11supplements that have been published and delivered this year
- 24:14by the event industry news team you can
- 24:17also check out the a to z supplier directory if you
- 24:20are working in the industry and you're looking for a product or a service for
- 24:23your event the chances are you will find it listed within the a to z supplier
- 24:28directory on eventindustrynews.com where you can also find video versions of
- 24:33all of our podcasts which i've mentioned a couple of times already but always
- 24:36worth another mention of course.
- 24:38Let's not forget that you may have started your journey on the website today.
- 24:41And that's where you watch the podcast. If you've done that,
- 24:44brilliant. Thank you very much for watching and tuning in.
- 24:46But please do remember to go in the opposite direction and make sure that you
- 24:49like and subscribe to the podcast on your audio platform, whatever that may
- 24:53be, Spotify or Apple Podcasts were available across all of those major platforms.
- 24:58So yes, thank you very much to everybody. And thank you very much today to my guest, Penny Banks,
- 25:02the creative director at GES, for joining us and talking to us
- 25:05about this exciting development and the launch of show
- 25:08ready the edit penny thank you very much for joining us we've got
- 25:11a couple of technical glitches but i'd like to point out that they
- 25:14are nothing to do with my guest today they are fully self-inflicted on my part
- 25:19so if there's any glitches or funny edits in today's episode i'm going to take
- 25:23full responsibility now for it penny thanks very much thank you and uh we will
- 25:29see you all on the next edition of the podcast thanks very much everybody goodbye Bye-bye.