When trying to work within your budget, always consider every item:

• Do I really need an internet connection?
• How many days do I need someone on site to support me?
• Do I have to set (or tear down) the exhibit on Saturday, Sunday or after hours (can I do this on straight time?)?
• Can I reduce my shipment to lower drayage and shipping costs?
• Is renting a booth cheaper than buying one?
• Do I really need to continue to go to this show (that’s a whole other topic).

Look at the list and be prepared to cut or make trades. Read More...

Don’t forget that the beauty of trade shows is that they happen on a fixed date.

That means you need to honor and obey the Ship Date. Read More...

At this point in our business history, we are really all being asked to do more with less. We have to know when to draw the line, but it all about saving and not spending to excess in these tight time.

I had a client ask me, for example, if I had to charge for the middle day of a three-day show on-site because the $600 was valuable to them. When I explained to them that that was cheaper than sending me home from Vegas for one day, the got that being cheap is not the same as being cost effective or efficient. Read More...

Drayage….even if you haven’t heard the word before, it seems a bit ominous by it’s sound.

Drayage, or material handling, is the cost the general contractor of a trade show charges exhibitors to move goods from the dock to the exhibit space on the show floor. Charged by the hundred weight (CWT), it is a fee that grows as the weight and size of your exhibit grows. Read More...

Getting the exhibit to the show is one of the last links in the chain, but a critical one: the show has to go on and it can’t (effectively) without your goods being at the show.

When arranging a truck or van to pick up and drop off your shipment, remember:

1. What are the size, shape, weight and number of pieces you are transporting?
2. When will the be ready to pick up and returned and who is the contact person?
3. Where are they going and who pays the bill?

Sizes and shapes. A trucker or shipping company/broker needs to know how many pieces and how much each weighs before they can give you a quote or estimate of the cost. You need to differentiate between crates, shrink-wrapped pallets or skids and loose items, like carpet rolls and rolls of pad. Since you have to calculate this anyway for your drayage (material handling) estimate and bill, it’s best to know this (or estimate it) as early as possible. Read More...