Good Day – I have just returned from The Exhibitor Show and while the show floor seemed much smaller this year, and there were no resounding must-sees – it was still, a great time to talk with old and new friends and experience the initial upswing most exhibitors seem to be seeing.  What did we see?  New technologies at reduced pricing.  In fact if I walked away with any one great feeling it was that manufacturers have come to our party – we all must lower pricing in order to challenge our clients to change their exhibitions.

The other note – as we are primarily (90%) a rental house – many more companies have joined our bandwagon.  If you are an exhibit house or broker and do not offer rentals … you are in trouble.  Rentals are the way of the world, owning your exhibit is a thing of the past.  Not your small exhibits – but certainly your larger builds.  Many of the portable modular exhibit manufacturers are offering rentals, as are the custom houses.  Now is the time to make an alliance with a rental builder – there are many of us out there.  Here are some prime questions to ask a new resource:

• Where do you deliver in the country?
• Will your company include the Installation & Dismantle supervision and labor as part of the billing?
• What is included in my rental package:
• Design?
• Fabrication?
• Project Management?
• Flooring?
• Furnishings, AV, Silk Plants?
• Graphics?  And are they done in-house??
• Installation and Dismantle?
• Shipping Costs?
• What is my discount?
• Is everything listed above in one price?

This is a very important group of questions.  Many rental houses do the build only and then you are on your own.  Coordinating everything else or paying allot more money to have the rental builder to complete the rental service.  Think about this.

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We have had a number of shows completed in the past few weeks – and the major complaint we heard time and time again was the dinging of our client’s credit cards by the show contractors. We try to emphasize to any and all exhibitors that you must meet the show deadlines for service purchases to get the discount. And if you do not meet the deadlines, no one can get those discounted prices for you.


How can your exhibit house help you? I cannot speak for all exhibit houses but we do your paperwork for you in regard to electrical, electrical labor, cleaning, material handling, rigging, internet connections, lead retrieval services, and additional services such as plumbing, forklifts, and refrigerated storage. We then send completed paperwork to the client for their credit card information and they or we return fax it to the show.

Having a partnership with your exhibit house can help clients stick to deadlines and keep within budgets. What happens on the show floor? Impulse buying, not thinking through your needs beforehand, items are brought to show site that need additional electric capacity, or simply the realization that your forgot furniture items, a plant or two, or a water cooler.

Again, be a forward thinker, have a planning meeting with the people that are going to be in your booth space, and take an emergency supply box – we know you can always buy tape, or pencils, or an extension cord on site – but at what price?

Jan Koren - jkren@AbsoluteExhibits.com

First Blog – kind of nervous – I have been writing a blog and a company newsletter for about nine years – but never with a national forum.  We are a family run business both in Tustin, CA and Las Vegas, NV - Absolute Exhibits, www.AbsoluteExhibits.com, We started as a portable modular sales company and after all of the turmoil this decade we are a 95% rental exhibit company with enough stock to build a 45-50 larger exhibits at the same time.  We now have a wholesale side to our company, www.WholesaleExhibits.com,  that services other exhibit houses and brokers.  And if you learn one thing about the exhibit business from me – it is that in 90% of cases – renting an exhibit is the right choice.

For exhibitors I have an incredible amount of information to take you through the nightmare of trade show paperwork from how to read your exhibitor’s manual to how much electricity to order – it is hand holding at its best. And when you are looking about for an opinion – Too many trade shows within an industry? Too much money for floor space? How to meet a real budget? Well, I readily dispense that too.

Today’s blog is for exhibit houses and brokers.  Times have changed and exhibit companies must learn to work together.  If you have a rental program in Seattle and an exhibitor that needs to rent in Orlando – you need a partner to complete the equation.  If you have nine exhibits to take to Orlando – then go right ahead – but you still need a colleague when you get there – for labor help, quick fixes, and etcetera.  I tried to establish a circle of exhibit houses for years and finally we went out on our own and created personal relationships.  And it works!

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