When to start
What spoils a stand more than anything is building it in a hurry. This is a schedule the work can actually follow.
| Before the show | What you do |
|---|---|
| 4 – 6 months | Book the space · set the budget · decide what the show is for |
| 3 months | Choose the contractor · get the organiser's manual and read its rules |
| 10 weeks | First design and the rounds of changes |
| 8 weeks | Sign the design off in writing — the most important date on the list |
| 6 weeks | Production drawings · organiser's approval of design and heights |
| 4 weeks | Manufacture · hand over logo and photographs at print quality |
| 2 weeks | Printing · literature and giveaways · brief the stand team |
| 3 – 5 days | Transport and installation on site |
| 1 day | Cleaning and a final run-through before the doors open |
Signing off the design is the date everything else hangs on. Every day it slips pushes everything after it by a day — and the opening does not move.
What it really costs
The stand price is not the whole spend. These are the lines that surprise most exhibitors.
| Item | Paid to |
|---|---|
| Space rental | The organiser — by the square metre, a corner costs more than an inline |
| Design and build | The contractor |
| Electrical connection | The organiser — by load, charged separately |
| Internet | Usually the organiser |
| Entry passes | The organiser — sometimes counted per person |
| Insurance | An insurer — some organisers require it |
| Screens and technology | Hire — usually a separate line |
| Furniture | Hire |
| Hosts and hospitality | A specialist agency |
| Literature and giveaways | A printer |
| Your own team's travel | You |
| Storage after the show | The contractor, if you want to keep the stand |
Ask every contractor this: "What does your quote not include?" The answer to that one question saves more surprises than any other.
Shell scheme or custom?
| Shell scheme | Custom | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Walls and a fascia from the organiser | Designed and made for you |
| Cost | Lower | Higher |
| Time | Almost immediate | 6 – 10 weeks |
| How it looks | Exactly like your neighbours | Seen from across the hall |
| Suits | A first show · a tight budget | Wanting to be remembered · 18 m² and up |
The shape of the space
| Type | Open sides | The note |
|---|---|---|
| Inline | One | Cheapest · the back wall is your advertising space |
| Corner | Two | Best value for the money · more footfall |
| Peninsula | Three | Strong presence · harder to design |
| Island | Four | Highest presence and highest price · needs a design that reads from every side |
Near the main entrance or the session halls beats any other position. Ask the organiser for the expected footfall map before you choose.
Seven first-time mistakes
- Starting late. Most exhibitors start looking for a contractor a month out — when factories are booked, materials cost more, and there is no time left to change anything.
- Choosing the space before deciding the purpose. A prime spot earns nothing if the design does not use it. Decide first: showing a product? Holding meetings? Launching something?
- Assuming the price covers everything. Space goes to the organiser, the stand to the contractor, and power, internet and insurance are separate lines.
- Signing the design off late. Every day of delay costs a day of manufacture. And if the factory has cut material before a change arrives, the material is paid for twice.
- Forgetting storage. Every stand needs a lockable space for boxes and bags. Skip it and the boxes end up stacked in the corner in front of visitors.
- Filling the walls with words. A visitor walks past and looks for two seconds. Ten lines on a wall means none of them are read. One large sentence beats a paragraph.
- Not briefing the team. A beautiful stand with somebody looking at their phone is worth nothing. Decide who stands where, what the first sentence is, and how a visitor's details get written down.
The checklist
Before the show
- Space booked and confirmed in writing by the organiser
- Organiser's manual received and its rules read
- The full budget set, not just the stand price
- Design signed off in writing
- Logo and photographs handed over as vectors at print quality
- Electrical connection ordered at the right load
- Passes booked for the team and the equipment
- Literature and giveaways ready and on site before opening
- Stand team chosen and briefed
- A way to capture visitor details, ready and tested
Every day of the show
- Stand cleaned each morning before the doors open
- Every light and screen working
- Literature stocked and not run out
- Visitor details being written down as they come
- The stand photographed while it is full of people
- The maintenance contact's number with the stand team
In the first three days after the show, contact every visitor whose details you took, while they still remember you. A lead left a week goes cold; one left a month is gone.
Seven questions to ask any contractor
The answers separate a professional from somebody trying it on.
- What exactly is included, and what is not? Ask for it in writing. Most disputes come from a line somebody assumed was covered.
- Who carries it if the dimensions turn out wrong? It should say who measures on site.
- How many rounds of changes does the price cover? If the answer is "as many as you like", there is no real price.
- Is there a team on site during the show? If a light fails on opening morning, who comes, and how soon?
- What is the cancellation scale if things change? It should be written at the start, not argued about later.
- Can I see a stand you built at this same show? Photographs can be made. Ask for a reference you can call.
- Is the factory yours, or do you sub-contract? That decides whether they can fix something quickly when it matters.
And if you are short of time
Six days before the opening? Four? Call us before you withdraw from the show. Our factory in Jeddah runs seven days a week — through public holidays, Ramadan and both Eids — and we have delivered complete stands in under a week more than once.
We may not take every rush job, but we will answer within the hour with a yes or a no, which leaves you time to find somebody else if we cannot.