Hidden Costs of Exhibiting

Submitted by Brian Keobke CME

Even the most seasoned exhibitor can be caught off guard with expenses that could potentially ruin a carefully planned trade show budget.

In this posting we look at the cost for some items at tradeshows that often have no relationship to "real world" pricing. Just like beer at a hockey game or chocolate bars at movie theatres, trade shows have their own unique cost structure. Some of the most common items missed in a budget are:

Drayage

You pay a courier to get your display delivered to the show but not to your exhibit space. What you may not know is that there is usually another charge to move the display from the shipping door into the exhibit hall and on to your rented space (think of it as a mini-courier). The cost for this service will depend on the weight of your display and the type of equipment required to move it. For example, a forklift is much more expensive than a hand truck or dolly.

According to Exhibitor Magazine, the typical costs to move 100 pounds of display materials (in 2003) is $68.27. The weight will also be averaged up to the next hundred pounds so that a display weighing 220 pounds would be rounded to 300 pounds for a cost of $204.81.

Set-Up Help

Many exhibitors arrive at a trade show with the intention of setting up their own display. However in several of the most unionized cities like Chicago, New York and San Francisco you may not be allowed to set up anything but a "simple display". A simple display is often deemed to be one that "can be set up in less than 30 minutes and without the use of tools". If your display is more complex than this you will usually have to hire union workers to install and dismantle the exhibit.

Electrical

Your exhibit package will usually provide a form that allows you to pre-order electricity at a reduced rate. While 750 watts (enough for two lights) used to be sufficient you may not have ordered enough power to support cell phone chargers, LCD monitors and notebook computers. The cost of ordering extra power on the show floor can be twice the price of what it is on the pre-order form. Also be aware that in a unionized facility even the cost to change a light bulb can be expensive.

Display Cleaning

If you expect your display carpet to be cleaned every night then you have to order this service. If you order cleaning or any other show service at the show make sure that you ask the price before work begins. One client at a show in San Francisco ordered vacuuming for their 50 x 80 foot display and as the workers began work he casually asked "how much will the vacuuming cost". The answer was $2,000 which brought about the immediate cancellation of the cleaning request. In most exhibit halls you are allowed to clean your own booth and a quick trip to Wal-Mart for a $300 vacuum netted a $1,700 savings.

Quick Factoid

If you were to draw a line across a US map from New York to San Francisco you would find that almost all of the cities above the line are Unionized work sites where you have to use the union workers even if you could do the work yourself. By contrast, all the cities below the line tend to be "right to work" sites. This means that you can usually set up the display yourself, hire your own "outside contractors" help or request the assistance of the union.

Have you encountered a "surprise" expense at a tradeshow? Let the trade show community learn from your experience by adding your comments below: