AIMEE K. WILES Bharat Shah, a project manager for Kodak.com, tests one of the Incredible Picture Lab kiosks in the exhibition trailer that Kodak is sending to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City next month. Named the Kodak Picture Planet Experience, the mobile unit was made by RES Exhibits of Rochester.

By Ben Rand
Democrat and Chronicle

(Tuesday, January 29, 2002) -- Engineers at RES Exhibit Services have learned an interesting lesson from their most important customer: Sometimes it's OK to think inside the box.

RES has turned a 53-foot tractor-trailer into an interactive mobile exhibit for Kodak that will allow Winter Olympics visitors to experiment with various state-of-the-art photographic products and services.

The Kodak Picture Planet Experience left Rochester on Monday for Salt Lake City, where it will stay until the end of the Winter Games next month. For most fans, the trailer will likely become the most visible part of Kodak's $50 million Olympic sponsorship.

The trailer is a first for both Kodak and RES, a family-owned company that historically has specialized in building stationary trade show exhibits and booths for corporate customers worldwide.

This time around, RES was challenged to do what it does best -- but in a confined area. The Picture Planet Experience has about 1,000 square feet for visitors; Kodak's traditional trade show booths have 10,000 square feet.

The trailer began as a stripped down shell. Then RES -- working on Kodak's specifications -- added electrical wiring, designed layouts, color schemes, fixtures and more. Altogether, about 65 of RES' 75 to 80 employees worked on the project.

Mobile exhibits are becoming more popular in corporate America as a cost-effective marketing tool, said Frank Carnevale, sales and marketing manager. Companies can drive a trailer directly to events with a target audience, instead of waiting for the target to come to them.

"It's a better way to reach the end user," Carnevale said.

Kodak debuted Picture Planet Experience at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Visitors rated Kodak the No. 2 corporate attraction.

"It became clear we had to put it on wheels," said Tom Page, manager of business affairs in Kodak's corporate marketing division.

After Salt Lake, the trailer will go on a yearlong nationwide tour. The next stop will be in March at a NASCAR Winston Cup race in Las Vegas.

The company will decide at the end of the year whether to continue the promotion.