Trade Show Planner: Booth Location
Your 12 month trade show checklist
Selecting your booth location is just one task in a large checklist you’ll need to complete as a trade show exhibitor. Review my entire pre-show, on-site, and post-show checklist of exhibitor planning activities.
Trade Show Planning:
Select Your Booth Location
12 MONTHS TO GO. PRE-SHOW ACTIVITIES.
Review the exhibit hall floorplan to determine the best location for your booth. Select a space on a main aisle with as many sides open to intersecting aisles as possible.
Don’t forget to analyze the distance between a potential booth space and the hall's entrance, food concessions, and bathrooms. These are high traffic areas.
Is there a competitor you're trying to avoid? Is there a company with whom you want to do business? Try and reserve a booth next to or across from them.
The earlier you reserve your space, the more selection you will have. Remember, exhibitor seniority and previous booth size determine the booth selection schedule. This means that companies that have exhibited for the most years and rented the largest spaces get the first choice of booth selection for the next show. Last year's exhibitors have already been allowed to reserve their space, so a percentage of the total booth space for your show is already gone.
Be sure to have three or four booth location options in your mind. If your first and second choices are no longer available, you can reserve your third or fourth choice. Because the booth selection process is competitive, you can never reserve your space too early.
While your budget will most likely be a critical factor in the size of the booth space you choose, you should also consider the different regulations and requirements associated with an inline, peninsula, or island booth. These include height limitations and whether you will be allowed to hang signs from the hall ceiling.
You may have selected the perfect booth space, but it is not your space until you make a payment. Complete the exhibitor application and make that payment quickly before your space is gone.
Learn more.
Read Chapter 10 of Trade Show 411 for more specific information on selecting the right booth for your needs.
CONTINUE YOUR TRADE SHOW PLANNING WITH RELATED CHECKLIST ITEMS.
Are you new to trade show exhibiting and feel completely overwhelmed?
Trade Show 411: The Essential Guide to Exhibiting Like a Pro is a must-have for marketers and small business owners. It gives you both the strategy and action plan to set you off on the right foot. By linking your pre-show marketing strategy to onsite activities and post-show follow-up, you’ll get the most out of your sales and marketing efforts and maximize your trade show results.
