At the recent AIA Convention in Boston, Reed Construction Data broke away from its traditional tradeshow presence with a new, high-impact booth to emphasise the progress of the resurgent RCD!

All those involved did a great job in delivering a strong presence and very clear messages — all of which resulted in terrific interest in the company’s products and a record near 1,000 leads to follow up!

For those that couldn’t be there, this article contains a mini-diary of the show, punctuated with photos and videos so you can see RCD in action. Also, while it couldn’t be captured on film, at a conference plenary session to 4,000 architects, AIA CEO Chris McEntee welcomed in glowing terms Reed Construction Data as their inaugural strategic partner!

May 15, 2008 – Day 1

8:15am – Fueled by a heavy dose of Starbucks, RCD employees, dressed in all black (our architect camouflage), gather in the booth before the show opens to finalize our game plan.

8:30am – Iain Melville offers his comments to get everyone excited about the show and set the tone for the next few days. Video: Iain’s Pre-Show Pep Talk

8:45am – RCD powers up its 42" monitors and loops its animated BIM video, The Evolution of SmartBIM to capture the attention of attendees walking by the booth. Video: The Evolution of SmartBIM

9:00am – Steve Ritchie and Donna Cahan give us an “official” booth walk-through. Video: RCD Tradeshow Booth Walk-Through

10:00am – Our first group SmartBIM demo is about to start and … all of the seats are full! What a great way to start the show!

11:30am – Detail draws in some curious customers.

1:30pm – More Starbucks. More demos. More leads! Video: Watch Dennis Neeley and Andrew Arnold in Action

3:30pm – Our tradeshow booth staff heads out to find power bars and other snacks for our BIM experts. They have not left the booth all day and they are HUNGRY. Six hours of non-stop demos can wear you out!

5:00pm – Let’s check in with Steve Ritchie, Kristin Cravens, Alan Jacobs and Sacha Yenkana to see how Day 1 went. Video: Recap of Day 1

May 16, 2008 – Day 2

9:00am – Vim Plaskett and KP Reddy make their on-screen debut before the show opens. Video: Getting Ready for the Show

11:00am – Our one-on-one demonstration area, also known as the “Tunnel of BIM,” is looking extremely crowded … what’s the maximum occupancy in this booth anyway?

11:50am – Several attendees make their way over to the RCD’s Exclusive Luncheon: “Maximize the Potential of BIM, Harness the Power of Data.”

12:00pm – Iain Melville welcomes the crowd, provides opening remarks and introduces our guest speakers. The attendees at our luncheon represent some of the leading companies and architectural firms in our industry. We also have a wide range of press in attendance, including our competitors Hanley Wood and McGraw-Hill.

12:10pm – Kathleen Liston, BIM Consultant and co-author of BIM Handbook, provides an overview of BIM.

12:30pm – Markku Allison, AIA in-house content expert, discusses Implications of BIM and Collaborative Delivery Models for the Industry

12:45pm – Our own, Arol Wolford, addresses the challenges of implementing BIM.

12:55pm – The session ends with a Q&A segment featuring all of our speakers.

1:05pm – One last shot of our presenters before we head back to the booth.

2:30pm – Paul Robertson draws the winner for our official giveaway … a pair of Red Sox tickets! Video: A Rockies Fan Wins the Tickets

3:30pm – John Pitt and John Royster exercise their sales skills on a few unsuspecting attendees.

May 17, 2008 – Day 3

10:30am – Our partners at RCMS discuss BIM right before hosting a live demo. Video: RCMS Discusses BIM

11:30am – Paul Price checks in with a couple of booth visitors to get their input. Listen closely and write down Joe’s quote, “SmartBIM is the way of the future.” That has a nice ring to it! Video: What AIA Show Participants Have to Say

2:00pm – The show is officially closed and we have increased our leads five-fold compared to past tradeshows! Melanie Pressley is so happy, she could kiss someone!