You know the feeling, that sudden dread in the pit of your stomach. The sudden realisation that something isn’t right and you’re not quite as prepared for it as you thought. And the more moving parts there are to a situation, the more likely something like this will happen. It’s just life! And, exhibition setup is a prime condition for this, which is why getting your exhibition logistics sorted from the outset matters as much as anything else in this series.

Because, let’s face it, no matter how carefully you plan, how many trackers you have, or how many pre-show meetings you’ve held to ensure a seamless build, there will always be something that tries to catch you out. Sometimes it’s a delivery that hasn’t arrived. Sometimes it’s a piece of tech that decides the exhibition floor is the perfect place to have an existential crisis. And sometimes, as anyone who has survived a four-day air-conditioned exhibition hall will tell you, it’s something you’d never have thought to plan for at all.

So, let’s take a break from the marketing side for a moment, and let’s look at how to set yourself up for logistical success.

Your Stand: What’s your starting point?

Before anything else, it’s worth being clear about what kind of stand you’re actually working with. Because the logistical considerations for a full custom build at a major industry trade show are very different from those for a tabletop pull-up banner at a local business expo.

For smaller, tabletop events, the stand is often something you can manage largely in-house. A pull-up banner, a tablecloth, some printed materials, and a few carefully chosen props. The logistics are relatively straightforward and mostly within your own control.

For anything larger, a shell scheme stand or a custom build, you’ll almost certainly be working with a stand builder, either directly or through your creative agency. In that case, your job isn’t to build the stand, it’s ensure the brief is clear, solid and describes exactly what you want. Everything else is up to them! That means engaging with your stand builder early, understanding their production deadlines, and making sure everything they need from you, artwork, copy, brand assets, product information, is with them in plenty of time.

The single biggest cause of last-minute stand stress isn’t the build itself. It’s either late-arriving assets, or a complete change in direction how you want the stand to look, holding up a build that was otherwise perfectly on schedule. Get your side of the process sorted early, and your stand builder can do their job properly.

Getting Your Collateral There

Once the stand itself is taken care of, the next question is how everything else gets to the venue. Printed materials, giveaways, tech equipment, product samples, all of it needs to arrive at the right place, at the right time, in one piece.

You broadly have two options. You can either take it with you or ship it ahead. Both work, and the right choice depends on the volume of what you’re taking, how far you’re travelling, and how comfortable you are with the variables involved in shipping.

Taking it with you gives you complete control and removes the risk of a delivery going astray. It works well for smaller events or when the volume of materials is manageable. The downside is that it adds to the logistics of travel, particularly if you’re flying or if the load is heavy. Although it’s not always smooth sailing, like the time an airline lost my pull up banners for a tabletop event. It was a nervy night to see if they would arrive in time.

Shipping ahead frees you up on travel day but introduces its own considerations. Exhibition venues have specific delivery instructions, and not understanding them can mean your materials end up in a holding area with no clear timeline for reaching your stand. If you’re shipping ahead, always check how the venue wants you material labelled, and what the timescales are. Good news is the event organiser usually have these to hand and can help.

Whichever option you choose, keep a detailed list of everything that’s been sent or packed, and check it off on arrival. In the chaos of setting up it’s easy to assume everything arrived when something is quietly missing under a table.

Lighting, Electrics and Furniture

These three tend to either be overlooked entirely or overcomplicated. Neither extreme serves you well, and both can catch you out in ways you wouldn’t necessarily anticipate.

Take lighting. A couple of years ago, a stand next to a client of mine turned up to a large industry trade show with a stand they were genuinely proud of. I could tell while they were building. Clean design, strong messaging, great colours. What they hadn’t accounted for was that their stand was positioned directly under a bank of ceiling lights that cast everything in a slightly sickly yellow that made their carefully chosen brand colours look completely wrong. A couple of portable spotlights would have fixed it entirely. They weren’t expensive and, luckily, they could order some at the last minute.

Good lighting makes more of a difference to how a stand looks and feels than most first-time exhibitors expect. If your stand package includes lighting, check whether it’s sufficient for what you’re trying to achieve. If it doesn’t, it’s worth adding. Even simple spotlights focused on key messaging or product displays can transform the feel of a modest stand.

As for electrics, for smaller stands a single electrical port is usually included. For larger stands you might need to order it. But, find out where the access point is, and where you will need to plug in devices. I always have a set of extension cords with me for just that reason, just in case the plug from the demo desk doesn’t reach the socket. Although, just remember to be tidy with those cables, venue Health & Safety Officers take a dim view on trip hazards.

Furniture should be functional rather than decorative. Yes, you want your stand to look inviting, but you also don’t want it cluttered with furniture so your sales team, and potential customers are all tripping over the sofas and chairs you’ve decided to go for.

Venue Rules And Restrictions

Every venue has its own rules, and they’re not always obvious until you’ve inadvertently fallen foul of one. The exhibitor manual is worth reading rather than filing away unread.

One exhibitor I know learned this lesson in particularly painful fashion. A hotel group attending a large travel trade show had invested significantly in flying their head chef over to cook on the stand, fresh food, live cooking, the full experience. What nobody had checked was that the venue operated an exclusive catering agreement, meaning all food on site had to be purchased directly from the venue itself. I’m not sure what the chef ended up doing, but I suspect it involved standing awkwardly in a corner, bored out of his mind.

The rules most likely to affect you on the day are less about stand construction and more about access and behaviour. Worth checking before you arrive: