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Trade Shows / 01.13.17 / By Farrah Evans

Ready, Set, Show: Your Pre-Season Trade Show Checklist

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The exhibition hall is buzzing as you arrive. You begin assembling your booth for the first big trade show of the season, and as you set up your first banner stand, you realize something is wrong. The banner still has last year’s tagline. All the banners have the old tagline, in fact — the tagline your new CMO hates.

Uh-oh. This isn’t something you can fix with duct tape.

As you gear up for a busy year, avoid last-minute glitches by going through this pre-season trade show planning checklist. That means setting aside an hour (or less, depending on how much gear you have) to fully assemble all your displays and assess what needs to be fixed or updated. January’s an ideal time to do this, because you still have time to update your displays before the busy season kicks off in March.

Pre-Season Trade Show Planning Checklist

 

  • Set up all your banner stands. Are they in good condition? If a stand is broken, or a banner is damaged, let us know. FrontLine Exhibits fixes our displays free of charge.
  • Set up your large displays. Do you see any missing pieces? If you do, we can replace them. Are the graphics relevant to the campaign for the upcoming year?
  • Examine your table drapes. Are they clean and free of stains and tears?
  • Inspect the storage cases. Are they secure? Does everything fit snugly inside?
  • Test the lighting. Do all your lights work? Do you need additional lights? Do you want to update older halogen fixtures with LEDs?
  • Consider the configuration. Did you have good traffic flow at last year’s trade shows? Or is there a better way to arrange your booth components?
  • Ask yourself what’s missing. Maybe a wood-look floor would tie everything together. Maybe an extra literature stand would help you stay organized. These are inexpensive additions that can freshen the look of your booth. Button-hole teammates who staffed the booth last year and ask them what they’d like to do differently this season.
  • Look at the whole setup from a brand’s-eye view. Are all your displays and materials aligned with your current colors, logos and messaging?

If you notice that some pieces seem outdated, don’t panic. There’s time to redo them. To produce an updated 10×10 display for you, we only need about two weeks. Concepting and producing an entirely new island display, however, may take a month. So don’t wait! Go through this pre-season trade show checklist now, and you’ll soon be ready for showtime.

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