At DMA, we like to break the rules and, having just returned from the recent United Fresh 2010 show in Las Vegas, we’re gonna break the biggie. With so many outstanding exhibits of excellence, we feel that what happened in Vegas SHOULDN’T stay in Vegas! We were blown away by booths, bites, brochures and a beauxcoup of brilliance and wouldn’t feel right keeping them to ourselves. Congratulations are in order for those companies and individuals who brought their “A” game and elevated the United Fresh experience to excellent. Were your eyes and ears open during your United Fresh 2010 experience? What blew YOU away?

Killer Conference Highlights:

• Michelle Obama Loves Salad Bars!
  We’ve always thought that the First Lady was a great voice for fresh produce, and she added a level of excitement and “yes, we can” attitude to the entire United Fresh event, via a personal letter to attendees read at Wednesday’s General Session. Mrs. Obama’s vested interest in our mission, our causes and even our specific efforts energized our troops and will continue to be an invaluable promotional tool, speaking to consumers and industry members across the country. This provided the perfect “kick-off” to the A Salad Bar in Every School initiative. We feel that this is exactly the type of “all for one” goal that our industry, as a whole, can and will support. And, as a byproduct of our unity, will be much, much more successful.
• Lorri Koster’s Speech at the Reception Honoring Women in Produce
  Well, we knew we’d need some tissue for Lorri Koster’s speech as the guest speaker at United’s 2010 Reception Honoring Women in Produce, but we really weren’t prepared for how real and uplifting Lorri’s story would be to us. Without a doubt, DMA couldn’t think of a woman more deserving of the opportunity to share her story, and we appreciate the selection committee for recognizing the character that makes Lorri an inspiration to so many. Lorri’s warm memories of her father and brother and the story of her strength as she stepped into a leadership role all the while worrying about the impact on her husband and two young boys reminds us that even the most difficult times bring out the best in us. We take from Lorri’s speech a new favorite quote for DMA, “Tough times never last. Tough people do.” Congratulations Lorri!!!
• Conference Makes a Tradeshow Floor Appearance
  The addition of the four Learning Centers spaced throughout the show floor brought education to the exhibition area and worked very well for both aspects of the United event. What presenter wouldn’t want walk-by traffic stopping in to catch their session? And, exhibitors loved that the show floor sessions kept the attendees close to the booths and potential sales. Congratulations, United, for having the guts to try something new – it paid off!!

Tradeshow Triumphs:

• HarvestMark Booth
  Sleek. Clean. Contemporary. Cool.
  All adjectives we thought of when we saw HarvestMark’s new booth and show promotion. We usually walk tradeshow floors looking at booth after booth of similar structures, material and layouts. It’s a rare occasion for us to see a booth so blatantly unique that nothing else on the show floor compares. Kudos to HarvestMark for your ingenuity! And not only was the booth one-of-a-kind, booth workers (well-dressed to match the booth) were passing out high-quality, classy sales brochures. These handouts were definitely a few notches more sophisticated than the standard tradeshow marketing collateral! Yep, we’d say all-in-all, HarvestMark left a pretty cool impression on us this year! Check out the on-site insights HarvestMark’s Creative Director Caspian Michalowski shared with us here.
• C.H. Robinson’s Tropicana Tropicals Pineapple and Mango Salsa
  Ok, so I (Marci) admit that I’m not a fan of mango. Never have been. Never will be. But in the spirit of trying new recipes as we walk the show floor (and as a diehard fan of chips and salsa), I decided to give this nontraditional concoction a whirl. Um… DELICIOUS! And not only did it taste great, it has an excellent array of colors to make a beautiful presentation for parties and get-togethers. Not only do I recommend it to those leery of fruit salsa concoctions, I plan on making it myself at my next soirée.
• Mission Produce’s Restaurant Style Guacamole Mix
  Excellente! That’s what we think of this new fresh guacamole mix. Mission Produce has partnered with renowned Chef Rick Bayless to develop the ONLY guacamole mix made with fresh produce including tomatillos, sweet roasted garlic, green chiles and cilantro. For those die hard guac lovers that still prefer fresh avocados over packaged guacamole products, this is the perfect quick fix solution that still maintains an excellent fresh vegetable flavor. And it comes in single serve packages to boot. Now, it’s too easy to enjoy guacamole with every meal!
• Mastronardi Produce/SUNSET’s Tomato Vending Machine
  Fruit began making an appearance in snack machines last year (much to our delight!), giving us an alternative to candy bars and Skittles. Now, it’s about time salty, savory snacks like chips and pretzels are given a run for their money. Welcome the new Mastronardi Tomato Vending Machines! These state of the art, nutritious snack meccas were featured at United Fresh and will, hopefully, take center stage in office breakrooms and school cafeterias, soon! Put down those Cheetos and trade up for one of these much healthier, satisfying tomato snacks.

Show Stoppers:

• United’s iPhone App
  It’s no secret that we love technology, especially when it’s bundled in a nice, neat package that fits in the palm of your hand! We downloaded United’s iPhone app within minutes of getting the email announcing its availability. And not once did we rely on the traditional printed show directory to decide when and where we needed to be next. We are big fans of iPhones and we’re even bigger fans of companies who take advantage of this cool new way of communicating with their audiences.
• John Cameron’s Bowling Clinic
  There was a new bowling instructor at this year’s PAC Bowling Tournament and we all could have benefitted from his tips. John Cameron of Desert Glory joined the DMA team and, thankfully, saved us from last place with his crazy good spins, strikes and spares. What’s better than a turkey? We coined John’s four strikes in a row an “ostrich”. Way to go, John!
• Chep’s Blue Martini Promo
  Martini glass-shaped “coupons” were passed out at the poolside opening reception encouraging attendees to stop by the Chep’s booth the following day for a free cocktail. That the coupon distributors were gorgeous gals tastefully clad in tight blue spandex probably didn’t hurt the promotion.

The DMA Team left United Fresh 2010 feeling both united AND fresh – and, based on our conversations with others throughout the event, we’re not alone. We see a shift of people understanding the difference between and the value of quality of leads over quantity of foot traffic. Exhibitors and attendees are taking advantage of their opportunities and connecting with people and partners with whom they have a future. Being present at an industry event where big things are happening – The Salad Bar in Every School initiative, seeing and impacting public policy on the ground floor, etc. – has us very excited for the 2011 United Fresh event. We can’t wait for a fresh start in New Orleans!

Posted by: The DMA Solutions Team