When trying to please my wife of over twenty years, I usually go for the home run, but hitting it out of the ballpark isn't always the best strategy. Sometimes, you can cross home plate more effectively with a bunt here, a sacrifice fly there followed by a clutch RBI single. I was looking for a few clutch RBI singles when planning a birthday party for her recently. I trolled for ideas everywhere--my kids, my friends, the Internet--and finally hit pay dirt in a conversation with my mother-in-law. I had walked her through the process of scanning old photos over the phone and she remarked that a particular one of my wife would make a perfect cutout. You've all seen those life-size cardboard manifestations of politicians, athletes and actors. Why not make a personalized one of my significant other? It would be a great party icon and could serve as a conversation starter for years to come. I immediately went to the Internet and started looking for someone who could provide me a good deal on a custom cutout. There are zads of folks out there that do this. Most of them supply them as booth materials for trade shows. There is also a very wide disparity in cost for essentially the same item. Some suppliers must gold plate the damn things based on the advertised costs. I persevered and found Affordable Exhibit Displays in Maine. They were significantly cheaper than many of the other companies whose pages I'd surfed. They also provide banner stands, tabletop and full height displays, counters, folding furniture, cases and all the stuff with which convention road warriors are familiar. I called their 1-800 number and had the pleasure of speaking with Brie who confirmed they could expedite shipping to ensure the cutout would arrive later that week. I sent a followup email to Brie with all the specifics and a jpeg file showing a cute image of my wife as a little girl that would serve as the basis for the cutout. She responded very quickly with a modified image showing what the cutout would actually look like along with a quote ($84) for a three-foot tall image with a built-in easel mounted to corrugated plastic. A called Brie first thing the next morning with my credit card number and was pleased to see they could ship it the same day and save me $20 (the difference between two-day and overnight shipping). Two days later, when it arrived at my wife's girlfriend's house (the party hostess), she called me with an enthusiastic thumbs up. I had to stop by on my way home to see it for myself. "Adorable" doesn't capture just how cute it was! Ref: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/LquOnqmsN3jjWvgQcTI6Yg?select=G_NrMPri8AvKdbS5vOOHWQ It was a hit at the party and was the RBI I needed to round third base and cross the plate later that evening. The cutout now stands in a corner of our den and wears a different baseball cap every day courtesy of my eleven-year-old son. read more

Affordable Exhibit Displays - Product LS2436 - 36" tall custom cutout - Marketing Near Me - Auburn, Maine