User:Lwnickens

Lowell Nickens, has worked in the hospitality and trade show industries since 1972; the majority of the time working for business he himself created from scratch. His initial employment following his discharge from the Army was with the Hilton Hotel Corporation where is worked as a sales representative and later as a catering representative before becoming the Director of Sales in 1976. In November of 1980, he left the hotel business to begin a start up company called Color & Design Decorating, which was a business dedicated to the set up and servicing of trade shows and their exhibitors in all of the local venues. In 1985 the name was changed to Classic Exposition and during that same year, a display manufacturing business was started called Classic Display which manufactured a flat/hinged panel system. Based upon its' initial success, several distributorships were started around the country.

By 1986, Classic Exposition had become the dominate trade show decorator in the Portland, Oregon market and soon began laying the groundwork for expansion into the Seattle market to coincide with the opening of the new Washington State Convention Center in 1988. In 1990, Greyhound Exposition Services, a regional trade show contractor headquartered in Las Vegas and a division of the Dial Corporation, (now known as Global Experience Specialists) completed a purchase of Classic Exposition in April of 1990 whereby the remaining entities including Classic Exhibits, that were begin operated by Nickens and his staff, continued operating in a new location in the Portland area.

During the 1990's Nickens led the effort to expand the product line of Classic Exhibits by introducing a new flat panel system called the Intro in 1993, a pop-up display system called the Quadro pop-up in 1996, and a laminate panel system with Matt LaBruzza called the LT Laminate system in 1998; all of which have become successful products in the Classic product line.

In 2006, Nickens left Classic Exhibits to market the products of his former company and other industry suppliers on the Internet under the name Shopforexhibits.com. His extensive background in the hospitality, trade show, and manufacturing industries has provided him with the product knowledge and background necessary to implement successful strategies in the ever changing trade show industry through internet marketing.