Mr. Kulchawik was the first U.S. president of the International Federation of Exposition Services
LIBERTYVILLE, IL, July 3, 2015, Larry Kulchawik, Principal of Larry Kulchawik Consulting, has been named a Worldwide Branding Entrepreneur of the Year in trade show consulting. While inclusion in Worldwide Branding is an honor, only a small selection of members in each discipline are chosen for this distinction. These special honorees are distinguished based on their professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, years of service, and the credentials they have provided in association with their Worldwide Branding membership.
For more than four decades, Mr. Kulchawik has been working in the trade show industry, specializing in trade show marketing. Now, as principal of Larry Kulchawik Consulting, he is responsible for providing consultative advice to the trade show industry on an international basis.
With his ability to engage others, trustworthy nature and open-mindedness, Mr. Kulchawik has created a successful consulting business. He started the business as a way to give back and share his experiences with others in the field. In the coming years, Mr. Kulchawik intends to perpetuate the growth of the trade show industry.
Mr. Kulchawik received a degree in design from Southern Illinois University in 1971, where he studied under Buckminster Fuller building geodesic domes. In 2005, he became the first U.S. president of the International Federation of Exposition Services (IFES) and received its Roger Taurant Award for leadership in 2009. Further, Mr. Kulchawik became president of the Exhibit Designers and Producers Association (EDPA) in 1997, and became the first recipient of its Ambassador Award in 2000. He was also awarded the Hazel Hays Award from the organization in 2008. During his tenure as president of EDPA, he helped to establish a master’s degree program at the Fashion Institute of Technology in exhibit design, as well as led a task force with Underwriters Laboratory regarding safety standards when building trade show exhibits.
In 2015, Mr. Kulchawik released a book highlighting his experiences in the trade show industry. Titled “Trade Shows from One Country to the Next,” the book acts as a guide to the different venues, regulations, exhibit styles and cultural differences when exhibiting in 45 countries.
In his book, Mr. Kulchawik points out the challenges and misdirected thoughts that some companies face when it comes to marketing their products and services internationally. Many companies will send a few employees from their main office to a foreign location, as well as a selection of employees from a branch that is closest to that location. As a result, the main office employees tend to be fixated on minor concerns like currency difference, transportation to hotel, tipping, and language rather than their main mission— communicating the benefits and value of their products and services in the trade show environment. To combat this problem, Mr. Kulchawik highlights the importance staying focused on your mission while respecting and understanding local thinking and engaging methods rather than get bogged down in the minutia of the entire culture.
Larry Kulchawik Consulting provides advice to those in the $300 billion international trade show industry, as well as the design and fabrication of trade shows from one country to the next. For more information, please visit http://www.larrykulchawik.com.
- See more at: http://www.worldwidewhoswhoreleases.com/press-release/larry-kulchawik-named-entrepreneur-of-the-year-in-trade-show-consulting
