By: Richard P. Curran, President & CEO, Expo Convention Contractors, Inc.
It has come to my attention that exhibitors are in need of more guidance when preparing to participate in tradeshows. Budgets do not look like anything before, especially since no one show is the same – shows in different states all come with differing protocols for exhibiting.
Recently, we held a successful execution of the first in-person show for the Miami Beach Convention Center as well as for Reed Exhibitions since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reed Exhibitions did a great job at the JIS Show keeping exhibitors and attendees safe. Although Reed Exhibitions assumed all of the general costs for these safety parameters, the exhibitors had to make adjustments from what they were used to participation pre-COVID-19.
An example was that there were max booth occupancy rules in place. This was based on the size of your booth. Max occupancy signs were provided by the organizer and needed to be visible for safety officials. So in essence, you need to buy the appropriate size booth based upon how many staff you want to bring to balance the attendees that enter your booth. Safety measures and parameters are not only reliant on the show organizers, but requires deliberate considerations when deciding to exhibit at a show.
There are many more decisions that go into attending/exhibiting these days and its best to have as much knowledge as you can to make sure your budget represents the return on investment (ROI) you are aiming for.