Why is it so hard to determine a budget for an exhibit? On the purchaser’s side it seems a matter of showing your cards – if you tell the exhibit house too much they will spend it all; too little and the argument begins before the first design conference is finished. On the exhibit house side – you already have great ideas, however they are your ideas and may very well not fit the budget. This I know for certain – everyone needs to be upfront or no one is happy. And the worst is to agree upon a budget, come to the table with a design that fits the budget, and then you are told that “we forgot to mention we want services included,” or the worst of all – “we love it. But we really only have half of that first budget.”

This has become the name of the game. We suggest having the exhibit house send you pictures, NOT renderings, but pictures of exhibits that have been built and taken to a show with a budget. In that way the compromising starts before the designing and everyone is on the same page. Exhibitors need to be upfront – does their $35,000 budget need to include show services such as electrical, rigging and drayage? Exhibit houses need to clearly define what is included, especially on the I&D side. When you meet the $35,000 budget and then you send a post show bill for $8,000 – well, you really did not meet the budget. Trust is really the issue here – get the exhibit house references and then check them. And once again – ask for pictures from the show floor – renderings are great – but did they get built?