Here's what DDI's sales manager had to say-
"Gary was outstanding in his pre-conference preparation... he knew our company, products and services very well. He represented our company as professional and knowledgeable. All of us were surprised that he had so much to say (accurately) about our company.
- "He had an uncanny way of knowing a little something about everything, to facilitate meaningful conversation with all attendees. He knew little facts about different places (as when an attendee indicated they were from a particular state or country), current events, even speaking to people in different languages.
- "He was most helpful in screening and qualifying attendees. He quickly determined if they were serious (and introduced them to one of us) or just looking around (he simply invited them in the booth to look around). This helped the team focus on serious prospects, while making everybody feel welcome.
- "He had unbelievable energy, working non-stop for several hours at a time, and keeping such a terrific momentum. Over three days, I never saw his energy lull.
- "He was funny, maintained variety in his conversations, and yet stayed professional.
- "He was very flexible, followed suit with the DDI team, honored unique requests, and demonstrated a "can do" attitude all day, each day."
Mike O’Connor – Sales Manager, DDI
Develoment Dimensions Inc. (DDI) dominated the tradeshow floor at ASTD for the past three years with its booth designed and constructed by Exhibitgroup Giltspur’s Pittsburgh team. That domination was punctuated by DDI’s presence as a fun and different company to work with, demonstrated in their unusual use of CHOPS & Assoc. Live Animation’s live interactive character.
 The booth has been awarded “Best of Show” since 2004 at the ASTD event in Washington DC, where “Doctor D” held court from a plasma screen hanging from overhead truss, above an “oxygen bar” in the center of the booth. In 2005, the character was renamed “Sunny,” and placed inside a giant orange daisy prop where he was the center of attention, particularly among attendees with cameras, at the Orlando Convention Center. And in 2006 in Dallas, “Sean the Star Maker” appeared among light stands and road boxes in a design themed around Hollywood movie stars, and pulled people into the unique booth.
The main reason for using the live animation was to capitalize on Gary Jesch’s ability as a performer to make an immediate and personal connection to attendees as they approached the booth, and then to qualify them with a little dialog regarding their needs and how those needs might be served by DDI.
DDI’s booth staffed noticed that there were several other benefits to using the technology when it was well-integrated into the design of the booth. It created a buzz on the show floor and increased the amount of time people spent in the booth. The booth staff had fun interacting with the character and their customers. The leads turned out to be more solid and significant to the sales staff at the conclusion of the shows.
As a result, DDI earned a reputation for going “all-out” at the show, both with their spending on the booth and the resulting design and implementation. The booth was never boring and had much more impact, making it an easy decision for the ASTD to give its award.
The 2004 Show
The booth was very colorful, and the scientific theme was supported in several ways. It looked really good as people came down the elevators to the newly renovated Washington DC convention center.  DDI’s booth staff worked well with the installation contractors supplied by E-G and the account managers, lighting technicians and AV supplier. The CHOPS control booth was in a back closet, while the plasma screen display was hanging about seven feet off the ground, with large speakers high in the truss, pointed at the floor below.
An oxygen bar supplied by Oasis kept attendees around for another 10 minutes or so, once they were attracted into the booth. Oxygen is served through nose cannulas with scents and “flavors” in an oxygen bar.
The 2005 Show
The theme for 2005 was a greenhouse, complete with fresh flowers and with an unusual centerpiece, a giant orange daisy surrounding a round screen where the live animation character “Sunny” appeared.  Sunny spoke with attendees and posed for photos for three days during the Orlando show of ASTD, and the cameras came out of purses and pockets everywhere. Attendees seemed to love the photo opportunity and the chance to send their friends a funny picture of themselves posing with this character, even over their cell phones.
View the great video clip of Sunny in action.
DDI also provided a “smoothie bar,” serving juice drinks in the booth. Sunny would speak with attendees and try to learn what was relevant to their needs. If he determined that they were just looking around, he’d invite them to enjoy a smoothie. If DDI could serve them, he’d call a DDI representative to assist, and if they were already a customer, he would thank them and congratulate them on their good sense.
The 2006 Show
In Dallas, the 30x30 foot booth was a little smaller, but had just as much impact as previous years. The E-G design developed a Hollywood-theme with posters around the booth using look-alikes of stars like Steve McQueen and others. At a central point, they mounted a plasma screen in the upright (portrait) position, surrounded it with road boxes and light stands, and presented the virtual character, called “Sean the Star Maker.”
 “Sean” was allowed to be a little “crazier” for this booth, but in a fun way, and the results were quickly apparent. Performer Gary Jesch was able to remember some of the attendees from the two previous shows he worked, plus he was getting quite proficient at knowing the product and service lines of DDI. The character wore a French beret, an ascot and a thin mustache, giving him a fun and strange cartoon appearance.
In fact, Jesch was using his newly-updated animation system with the Toon MX software running on a notebook computer. For DDI and Exhibitgroup-Giltspur, this meant reduced traveling expenses and no drayage fees to get the live animation equipment onto the show floor, plus set-up times were cut in half and there were more animated expressions in the character.
And once again, the cameras came out frequently, providing DDI with a bonus marketing result, when attendees shared their pictures with colleagues and friends back home.
The “Best of Show” awards were a surprise each year, and the result of a team effort, a team that included many members who worked well together to accomplish the mission of making the DDI exhibits something special. They demonstrated why people should collaborate effectively to improve the results of the whole project.
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