During EXHIBITORLIVE this past March, nearly 130 attendees joined beMatrix USA in celebrating “The Best of 2014” exhibit designs at the company’s annual beMatrix Awards Breakfast.
Overall, 21 companies entered more than 40 exhibit designs supported structurally with beMatrix “on the inside.” Many of the exhibits were complemented by the company’s value-added accessories and the exhibit-house supplied custom components. These entrants represented a sampling of the number of exhibit houses using beMatrix as the core of their rental programs.
Robert Laarhoven, vice president of sales and partner at beMatrix, reinforced beMatrix’s growing popularity among exhibit houses. He added he counted over 100 exhibits at 2015 International CES alone that used beMatrix “on the inside.”
Additionally, for last fall’s PACK EXPO in Chicago, the company shipped 625 frames in only three weeks for a pavilion installation. beMatrix b62 was chosen because it sets up in half the time of traditional stick extrusion solutions, and weighing in at only 18 pounds a frame, drayage is minimized compared to traditional hard-wall solutions.
“A frame is so light, it can be hand carried,” said Laarhoven.
beMatrix’s 2015 objectives include keeping up with this demand as well as continuing to build inventory and adding staff. The company is already on track with two new hires from Montreal, Canada and Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2014, beMatrix saw its sales increase by 52 percent, and the company grew by 35 percent.
Much of this success stemmed from the launch of the b62 Frame System in 2013. The frame’s width was increased to 62mm to accommodate SEG fabric graphics, to match holes that are 62mm on center, making for perfectly aligned frames during installation.
For these reasons, Laarhoven explained the b62 frame is a major improvement from the older 55mm DeltaMatrix.
The company also saw an increase in rentals, many of which take place between beMatrix customers. One regional exhibit house may rent beMatrix frames to an out-of-state exhibit house that has a client exhibiting in its area. beMatrix often coordinates these partnerships.
Since many beMatrix customers are accustomed to collaborating as far as rentals, it was only fitting they celebrated together at the Mandalay Bay’s Islander ballroom on March 2.
The awards ceremony encapsulated the feeling of success among beMatrix and its customers. Not only did the company highlight exhibit designs and sales achievements, but additionally, budding young designers got their time to shine.
This past January, Emma Christen, an exhibit designer and marketing/PR professional at beMatrix, presented a student exhibit design competition to her alma mater, Bemidji State University.
Laarhoven said he wanted to educate the students on working with the beMatrix frame, so they’d have a working knowledge of the system after they graduated. These students also received the real world experience necessary when looking for work at an exhibit house.
Due to reviewing many innovative uses of the Frame System with exhibit design, beMatrix selected, in some instances, multiple winners and runners-up for each awards category. A few companies also received honorable mentions.
One standout and winner of multiple awards, Evo Exhibits often amazed Laarhoven with its innovative uses of the beMatrix System.
Laarhoven explained that Evo Exhibits designers called off and on asking if an aspect of their design was structurally possible. beMatrix had a few concerns, but in the end, Evo Exhibits pulled off their designs with structural integrity.
