DeanHouston client Autolite is taking a unique approach to bringing some positive light to the COVID-19 situation by developing a social media contest that encourages people to partake in a fun “stay at home” activity.

Called the Paper Car Classic, the contest not only provides the opportunity to spend extra creative time with the family, you can also enter to win a cool vintage sign! It’s simple - all you have to do is download and print out this PDF, design it the way you like, build it, post it and tag Autolite to be entered in the #PaperCarClassic contest to win the perfect vintage sign for your garage!

The contest ends May 26, so make sure to complete your car today! For more details, visit the Autolite Facebook page. To learn more about Autolite, please visit autolite.com.

As the country slowly starts to inch its way toward recovery, longtime partners are joining forces to help convenience-store and petroleum retailers fight COVID-19.

DeanHouston and Exhibit Logistics are teaming up with their trusted partner of 30-plus years, OPW, to offer COVID-19 protective face masks for use by essential workers in the c-store and retail/commercial petroleum industry.

With good reason, too.

According to a recent survey, 85% of convenience-store and petroleum retailers have had an employee test positive for COVID-19 – while only 28% of those same retailers have given face masks to store employees. Given the nationwide shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), it can be difficult to locate suppliers of these much-needed items.

“When it comes to fighting COVID-19, it’s an all-hands-on-deck situation,” said Dale Dean, CEO of DeanHouston. “That’s why it’s so good to have a partner like OPW – one that we have such a history with. It’s an industry that desperately needs these face masks, so it means a lot being able to help out in any way possible.”

Distributors can directly apply to OPW Co-Op marketing funds to assist in the purchase – meaning co-branded masks will cost 50% of the listed price to those distributors.

DeanHouston is also donating one mask to medical or community caregivers or the nonprofit of OPW’s choosing for every 10 masks ordered, in hopes of helping alleviate the strain felt by those on the frontline of fighting the virus, such as nurses, caregivers, healthcare organizations, etc.

For more information, please contact Tyler Houston at tyler.houston@exhibitlogistics.com. 

Longtime partners are coming together to help fight against the spread of COVID-19 as businesses around the country hope to continue toward recovery from the global pandemic.

With a historical partnership of more than 30 years, DeanHouston is proud to be a preferred supplier of branded, washable and reusable face masks for Dover Corporation. Exhibit Logistics, a subsidiary of DeanHouston, has shifted its production, manufacturing and logistics capabilities to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) to help keep people safe and slow the spread of COVID-19.

“With everything going on, it’s an honor to join with Dover to be partners for the common good,” said Dale Dean, CEO of DeanHouston. “It’s critical that businesses continue to safeguard their employees to help stop the spread of this virus. We hope we can provide a little support in the fight.”

Leveraging its Dover MS Printing Impres 4320 printer, software from Caldera and inks from JK and Sawgrass, Exhibit Logistics is producing CDC-compliant masks in a safe, sanitary and private facility in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Designed for all-day comfort with flat elastic, the face masks come in either over-head or over-ear. The wire nose bridge provides snug fit, minimizing eyeglass fogging.

DeanHouston is also donating one mask to medical or community caregivers or the nonprofit of Dover’s choosing for every 10 masks ordered, in hopes of helping alleviate the strain felt by those on the frontline of fighting the virus, such as nurses, caregivers, healthcare organizations, etc.

For more information, please contact Tyler Houston at tyler.houston@exhibitlogistics.com. 

During a recent lunchtime conversation, the topic of discussion ranged from a new type of desk chair for the office to fugitives running loose in the ‘burbs.

For a brief moment, everything was back to normal for DeanHouston Chicago.

As the DeanHouston Chicago office continues to work remotely due to the shelter-in-place order in Illinois, team members have found creative ways to keep the camaraderie alive. Small-group “lunch hangouts” is a recent example.

Like many other healthy work environments prior to the pandemic, members of DeanHouston Chicago would regularly go out for lunch together. The organization has adapted in so many other pivotal ways amid COVID-19, so why not lunch, too? And so “lunch hangouts” became a thing. Here’s what we’ve learned from our digital lunches:

In the second episode of the Inspire Podcast, DeanHouston's Dale Dean (CEO & Founder) and Colton Stombaugh (Director of Digital Marketing) sat down with OPW's Ed Kammerer (Director of Marketing and Global Product Strategy) from OPW Retail Fueling again to share updates on OPW's successful virtual trade show. The conversation also touches on emerging opportunities for companies in the digital space and how organizations can utilize these tools to build and connect with their audience.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) — Israel has isolated a key coronavirus antibody at its main biological research laboratory, the Israeli defence minister said on Monday, calling the step a "significant breakthrough" toward a possible treatment for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The "monoclonal neutralising antibody" developed at the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) "can neutralise it (the disease-causing coronavirus) inside carriers' bodies," Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement.

The statement added that Bennett visited the IIBR on Monday where he was briefed "on a significant breakthrough in finding an antidote for the coronavirus."

It quoted IIBR Director Shmuel Shapira as saying that the antibody formula was being patented, after which an international manufacturer would be sought to mass-produce it.

The IIBR has been leading Israeli efforts to develop a treatment and vaccine for the coronavirus, including the testing of blood from those who recovered from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus.

Antibodies in such samples - immune-system proteins that are residues of successfully overcoming the coronavirus - are widely seen as a key to developing a possible cure.

The antibody reported as having been isolated at the IIBR is monoclonal, meaning it was derived from a single recovered cell and is thus potentially of more potent value in yielding a treatment.

Elsewhere, there have been coronavirus treatments developed from antibodies that are polyclonal, or derived from two or more cells of different ancestry, the magazine Science Direct reported in its May issue.

Israel was one of the first countries to close its borders and impose increasingly stringent restrictions on movement to hamper the domestic coronavirus outbreak. It has reported 16,246 cases and 235 deaths from the illness.

(Reporting by Dan Williams; Editing by Peter Cooney)

In the blink of an eye, they were gone.

As the black cloud of COVID-19 gathered across the country, waves of trade shows were cancelled – victims of the global pandemic. While an inconvenience for some, this was a life-or-death problem for a company like Exhibit Logistics, which specializes in trade show services.

With no in-person trade shows, the company’s revenue stream became a pinched hose – with no answer of when everything would return to normal.

"Trade shows were one of the first industries hit during this pandemic," said Tyler Houston, Business Development Director at Exhibit Logistics. "I went from going into work managing timelines for shows to a complete stop in the workflow in a matter of about a week or two. It was very surprising and alarming. Our job is to travel and engage with our clients, which is hard to do working from home."

Adapt, they say, or die.

Exhibit Logistics, which is the trade show division of marketing agency DeanHouston, pivoted its focus in order to not only survive as a company, but help mitigate the spread of a virus that brought the world to its knees. While live trade shows were no longer an option, Exhibit Logistics began to manufacture high-quality face masks, face guards and other Personal Protection Equipment.

“Things are tough for a lot of people out there, but we knew that nobody would sit around feeling sorry for us,” said Andy Dean, VP & General Manager of Exhibit Logistics. “We had to think fast and get moving. There was no other choice. This is one of those cases of necessity being the mother of invention.”

The Cincinnati-based company converted its Impres™ 4320 direct-to-textile printer for full-scale production of washable face masks and face shields for their clients, employees and other organizations with workers exposed to the public.

The printer has the capacity to print up to 2,500 masks an hour and DeanHouston's sewing capabilities can produce 1,000 finished masks per week. The drastic change put Exhibit Logistics in a totally different world – with new products, new suppliers, new channels and new marketing.

"We chose masks and shields because it’s what we had at our disposal," Houston said. "During times like these, you kind of look around and say, 'How can we help with what we have?'"

The collective effort came from knowing many DeanHouston clients were deemed essential manufacturers but had trouble securing masks. For example, 85% of convenience and petroleum retails have had an employee test positive for COVID-19 but only 28% of those retailers have given face masks to store employees, according to a recent media survey.

Exhibit Logistics quickly realized that an industrial-sized digital printer and their connections let them mobilize swiftly and fulfill an emerging need to help keep people safe and slow the spread of the global pandemic – and allow businesses to confidently stay open during the crisis.

"I couldn't imagine being on the frontlines of this," Houston shared. "My hope is that our masks and shields give protection and comfort to those on the front lines of this pandemic."

Although Houston initially came up with the idea, he credits the face mask team at Exhibit Logistics for taking it to another level.

"This has truly been a 100% team effort, and I'm so excited to be a part of it," Houston exclaimed. "It takes a village, and we've got the best around."

In the spirit of coming together as one to fight the pandemic, DeanHouston is donating one mask for every ten that are being purchased. For more information, reach out to Andy Dean at andy.dean@exhibitlogistics.com.

With school closures happening all across the country due to the Covid-19 outbreak, millions of parents are now homeschooling their kids. For those parents having to make this adjustment, here are the top 7 tips we found to help make homeschooling a success.

Experts in telecommuting have already figured out how to stay connected to the office from home, but even these professionals may struggle to look presentable and stay focused. Many feel that video conferencing and using a webcam to capture your every move at home is stressful. As video conferencing takes over as the go-to-meeting option in response to many of us working from home, we take a look at how you can look your best while video conferencing.

1.) Pick A Plain Background
If you can, choose a blank, neutral wall without any patterns for your backdrop. Light gray, light blues, off-white, and beige are perfect color choices. Color theory studies often point out that orange, yellow, and red, although vibrant and bold, can also be off-putting in a scenario that is more calm.

2.) Make Sure We Can Hear You
Avoid any room that doesn’t have soundproofing when you’re on a phone call or video conferencing meeting. Tile and hardwood floors don’t absorb enough sound to limit echos. You should opt for a room with carpet and window treatments so that your team can hear what you’re sharing loud and clear.

3.) Make Sure Your Camera’s At Eye Level
Adjust yourself and your webcam lens so that your eyes meet it. Experts recommend sitting three feet away from your screen so that other video conferencing participants can see you without you being too close. Having the camera at eye level directs the attention to where it matters and leaves you looking professional and presentable.

4.) Stretch Before A Meeting
Practice physical anchoring exercises such as grounding, breathing, and stretching before a meeting to reset and refresh your mind and body. Stretching and exercising is great for everyone, and especially useful to those who have a long list of video conferencing meetings on their calendar.

5.) Mute Your Audio When You Are Not Speaking
Mute your audio before hopping on a video or audio call with a large number of people. This will limit excess feedback, distracting noises, and disruptions. You can mute and unmute as the conversation goes on, but you should let whoever organized the meeting start things off and keep the meeting on task and organized.

6.) Turn Off Your Camera
Apps such as Google Meet and Zoom can be used as wonderful tools to connect with your team, stay on the same page with projects, and brainstorm creatively from all over the world. But their default settings can also be distracting, choose to turn your webcam off on occasion to eliminate distractions. If there is a lot taking place on the screen behind you, chances are those on the call are being distracted by what is behind you and not paying attention to what you are saying. Turning off your web camera is a good option for the at-home office workers who occasionally take calls in their cars or organize meetings with a lot of people running around the house.

As technology and our current situation continue to change the way we work, we must continue to have discussions on how to adapt and change along with it. Having to finally remove the tape from your laptop’s webcam for fear of the spying FBI guy can seem daunting. Still, we’re lucky that we exist alongside the invention of the slide-able computer camera cover. It will be interesting to see what other new ideas emerge from so many people adjusting to the new norm of working from home.

Hydro Systems wants to show its gratitude to all the janitors, custodians, building service contractors and other facility cleaning professionals who are working tirelessly to limit the spread of COVID-19.

From now until June 30, the Hydro Frontline Heroes contest is seeking stories about incredible facility workers going above and beyond expectations during this difficult time.

Each week, Hydro Systems will select and feature a new Hydro Hero to win a JBL® Wireless Bluetooth Speaker.  At the end of the contest period, Hydro Systems will select one overall winner and donate $2,500 to the food bank of their choice.