New Year’s Resolution: Lose (Exhibit) Weight

According to Statistic Brain Research Institute, the #1 New Year’s resolution for 2015 was to lose weight.  At the end of a trade show season, you may be looking to do the same for your exhibit.  The weight of your exhibit has a direct impact on your shipping and material handling costs – and therefore your event budget.  So if you are looking to lighten your exhibit load in 2016, here are some ways to do just that!

• Instead of building your exhibit out of wood, look at aluminum or Xylea-wood as a lighter weight solution.  Either can offer a strong foundation that can achieve the same exhibit goals, including hanging large monitors, custom features and shelving. 

• Over the last several years, printing processes have improved on all fronts.  If you have used rigid printed graphics in the past, an alternative that are just as impactful are fabric graphics.  Not only are fabric graphics themselves lighter, but they also pack down much more compactly, which can reduce the size or quantity of your shipping crates.

• If part of your exhibit weight includes your large, heavy products, you could leave them back at the office and conduct virtual demonstrations or share videos.  If you can properly showcase your products without shipping them along, this is a great option.  And it doesn’t have to be all or nothing – maybe you choose to scale back by shipping the products to your bigger shows and using technology for the smaller events.

• Speaking of technology, while monitors are certainly much lighter than they were in the past, they can still add some weight to your exhibit. Projection can offer you the large visual display without the added weight.

• Ensuring your company’s name is high and clearly visibile is so important on a busy trade show floor, so it’s no surprise everyone is trying to get their name as high as possible.  Including a tall tower, which you would build from the ground up, adds weight to your exhibit, whereas rigging signage from the ceiling will secure your high branding without all the weight below it.  

• The furniture in your exhibit can be rented from show-to-show instead of you owning and shipping it each time.  This will also give you the flexibility to change the layout or specific furnishings depending on the event.  When the show’s over, the rental items are picked up so you do not have to worry about them!

If your New Year’s resolution is to lose exhibit weight, let’s talk through the options to determine what would be the best fit for you and your exhibit goals.