It’s common knowledge that paper-based literature printing, shipping and storage is a drain on exhibitors’ budgets. That could all change with the introduction of the Green Box eSolution from Viridistor, LLC. Viridistor’s management team says it has created the first viable alternative for reducing the costs and environmental impact of distributing tradeshow-related, paper-based literature.
The Green Box combines high capacity USB flash memory devices with in-booth distribution devices and software to drive down the cost of handouts by eliminating the paper and printing required for physical copies. In addition to providing a new service offering for show organizers, the Green Box should benefit corporate exhibitors through significant reductions in the costs associated with paper promotional materials.
“The cost savings for this system could well change the way the tradeshow industry does business, and the reduction in environmental impact could be even greater,” said Terry Mullin, Viridistor’s president and CEO. “The Green Meeting Industry Council estimates that meetings generate 10.5 million tons of garbage per year, a staggering 21 billion pounds in the United States alone. When you multiply the roughly 8,250 trade shows that are held worldwide each year by more than 800,000 exhibitors and more than 30 million attendees, the cost and environmental impact is staggering.”
How the it works
- Show organizers offer exhibitors the new service for replacing paper-based literature at a cost that’s no more than half of what a company typically spends for printing alone.
- When exhibitors sign up to use the service, they will receive access to Viridistor “cloud” servers where, prior to the show, they upload their electronic literature.
- When exhibit staff arrives at the show, they check out their Green Boxes for use in their booths, just as they would pick up badge readers. At that time, their uploaded content will be downloaded onto their Green Boxes. This content can be Word documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, videos, slide presentations, photos or conference session documents.
- When show attendees register on-site, along with their show badges they receive a lanyard with a free high-capacity USB drive attached. As they tour the show and see a product they want more information on, they simply insert the USB device into the Green Box in the booth and the exhibitor’s materials are downloaded in a matter of seconds onto the USB drive.
“One of the many benefits of this solution is that users can easily collect literature from virtually all of the booths at a show and store it on a single USB device,” Mullin added. “Each attendee drive is specific to that particular show and includes the ability to download materials in multiple languages, if exhibitors provided different language versions.”
Each USB device also contains an interactive electronic show guide, session guide and floor maps so attendees can search exhibitor offerings by company name, product category or booth location. They can also download schedules to their smartphones for use on the show floor. After a show, they can review the collected materials, keep what they want and transfer it onto their Mac or PC, share information with colleagues, and then erase the USB and use it as a standard external memory device.
“Management at convention centers and meeting facilities can reduce their costs by eliminating the single biggest source of post-event waste, since tradeshows are second only to the construction industry in the volume of waste produced,” Mullin said. “Plus, event attendees will no longer have to lug around literature at an event, and they get a powerful content-manager-on-a-stick that lets them manage all event-related information during and after the event.”
The bottom line, according to Mullin, is quite simple: “With this solution you now can ‘go green’ without going broke.”
Those interested in the Green Box eSolution, can visit the web site at www.viridistor.com.
Aleta Walther is a marketing communications professional and freelance writer with several years experience as a corporate exhibit manager. Contact Aleta at Aleta@prwriterpro.com.
