Nomading Film Festival

Celebrate travel and film at Nomading Film Festival taking place at the Mission Theatre on January 28th, then throw down at an epic after party. Beer + music + raffles… all for good causes. What more do you want from a night out? [Link to: https://www.facebook.com/events/218360418246063/]

The after party will be held at Boothster. Join us for the fun.

The following four non-profits supported by NoFF:
Teen Living Programs
http://www.teenliving.org/
ProjectExplorer.org http://projectexplorer.org/
100 Cameras <http://www.100cameras.org/
and Matador Youth Scholarship Fund http://matadornetwork.com/content/matador-travel-scholarship-fund/ .

Boothster Banner Year

Okay, so I just had to say that. “Banner” year…since producing spectacular  banners is one of our creative talents at Boothster. Check out our other creative talents at our  portfolio page.

We’re a collective of designers, engineers, fabricators and client services gurus, all united by a passion for design, sustainable living and music. We thrive on the challenge of designing something innovative and eco-friendly.

Sprout Watches – Eco Friendly Timepieces

Sprout booth made from bamboo and tyvek

Check out one of our latest designs from Sprout Watches. We utilized bamboo, as well as Tyvek print. We have a recycling program for Tyvek, and the rest of the booth is biodegradable!

Portland Pedal Power Reaches the Beach, Smashes Fundraising Goal

 

Last weekend we had the honor of supporting the Portland Pedal Power team to bike over 100 miles to the Oregon coast. The team raised a cool $3000 for the American Lung Association, reaching beyond their goal of $2500. Thanks to Able Sage LLC for getting us hooked up with this awesome cause!

Green trade show displays by Boothster

Around the World in an Eco-Booth

The US Forestry Service’s globetrotting eco-booth was born in 2009, built from locally sourced green materials right in Buenos Aires where it first exhibited at the World Forestry Congress.

A year later, the booth was shipped off to Seoul, Korea for the IUFRO World Congress.  Hardly jet-lagged, the USFS’ exhibit looked as good as ever at it’s second big expo.

Today, the ever-resilient eco-booth is home in Portland, still going strong.  Where to next?

Green trade show displays by Boothster

Stand-Out Booths: Attune

I talked last week about the presence of green trade show displays at the Natural Products Expo. To go a little more in-depth, here’s a closer look at the all-natural experience we built for Attune Foods:

The foundation of Attune’s booth was rich, walnut-stained reclaimed wood. The color of the wood created a warm, down-to-earth feel and made the colors on the product packaging pop (try saying that 3 times fast)

The whole booth centered around a communal table where attendees were encouraged to sit down for a bite with fellow “label readers”. Attune leveraged this buzz-building venue to collect video conversations with their audience.

The take-away: a stand-out booth makes your brand stick with attendees, especially when it fosters conversation. Attune illustrates that materials matter when building a show experience that completes the brand message.

Green trade show displays by Boothster

Conscious Capitalism

A new movement is picking up speed and I think some of us were part of it before it had a name.

I first learned the term “conscious capitalism” upon discovery of this enlightening talk from Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey. I constantly hear use of the word “capitalism” with negative connotation and this can be a misguided way of thinking. The increasingly widespread social and environmental betterment movements have sparked conscious capitalism and a new way to look at how we run our businesses.

Mackey breaks down conscious capitalism with 4 guiding principles:

1. A higher purpose beyond maximizing profits
2. Recognition of all stakeholders, including customers, vendors, the community and the environment
3. Leadership that puts the values and mission of the business before personal interests
4. A whole business culture and sense of purpose that supports conscious capitalism

Reviewing these principles opened our eyes over here at Boothster HQ. Many of our business practices are in line with the conscious capitalism principles and we certainly have room for improvement. A conscious company is never perfect.

How are you adhering to these principles in your business? What are the strengths or/and flaws you find with conscious capitalism? Can you see a future where the majority of business is guided by these principles?

Learn more about conscious capitalism here.

Green trade show displays by Boothster

Turning Up the Green at Natural Products Expo

Each time we attend a trade show, we’re amazed at how far the exhibit industry has come sustainability-wise. The green activity at the Natural Products Expo West was more visible than ever this year with a smattering of our green exhibiting clients participating.

Attune Foods exhibited all of their brands as a family of products for the first time. Their brand new eco friendly display embodied a message of all-natural goodness. Floating cardboard signs above the booth brought attention from across the floor.

To launch their innovative new sustainable bottle design, Seventh Generation and Ecologic Brands demanded a huge presence.  To complement their main display, we created unique and easy to use cardboard teasers that were used as merchandising tools throughout the convention center. A great example of green buzz at it’s finest.

Go Macro unveiled their eco friendly booth for the first time at the expo. This ultra-eco display utilized soy-glue plywood, renewable bamboo and recycled fiber tubes. Go Macro’s “Big Picture” message was communicated perfectly through sustainable booth design.

The warm, gourmet feel of Spice Hunter’s green trade show display shows that an eco friendly booth can be green without looking it.  The kitchen-inspired space is fabricated from reclaimed wood, soy-glue plywood and bamboo banner panels.

After seeing such a great showing of these and other green booths, we’re putting another point on the board for green exhibiting.  See more photos from Natural Products Expo here.

Green trade show displays by Boothster

Diagnosis: Spring Fever

While us Portlanders have been spared the blizzards of the East (so far, knock on wood…) we still can’t help but doze into springtime daydream mode once a day or so.  Bring on the sunshine!

If you’re like us and are itching to get a jump start on warm weather activities, why not start some garden pre-planning? With the help of our friends at Creative Co., we’ve gotten to know the Environmental Seed Producers while creating some blossoming display products for them. ESP supplies high-quality wildflower seeds with a pledge against genetically engineered seeds or plants.  We agree that natural beauty is always in style.  The technicolored wildflowers on the ESP site have us wishing for smellivision even more than burgerville.com.

While ESP caters exclusively to wholesale clients, they provide a great list of resources for at-home green-thumbs.

What are your gardening plans for the spring?

Green trade show displays by Boothster

Go Wild: A Recap

This past Saturday we hosted the Go Wild fashion show party benefiting the Elephant Ivory Project. The main event of the jungle-theme soiree was an eco-friendly fashion show featuring the work of Portland designers.  Body painted models glided down our grassy runway in R.A.W‘s latest lingerie collection and pieces from Adah Lux.  Juicy jewels from Lioness Works, 31 Bits, Lux and Elfenben by Annalee sparkled down the runway.  The models were styled by Jen LaMastra to emulate their inner jungle creatures.  Looptworks presented their latest designs in the show and also donated an elephant sized mountain of t-shirts to be raffled.

The party was a success on multiple levels.  The Elephant Ivory Project raised over $1000 to fund research and a documentary in Congo. (Learn more here) Additionally we expanded our network of fabulous Portland peeps and had a really wild time.  (See what you missed here)

Stay tuned for the next Boothster-hosted bash coming after the 1st of the year. We can’t help it, we’re always trying to one-up ourselves.

Green trade show displays by Boothster