Exhibiting in the US Draining Your Budget? Try This!

Exhibiting in the US

Companies participating in trade shows, conferences, and exhibitions in the US often grapple with high associated costs. While some big brands spare no expense on custom stands for each exhibition, other companies, especially startups in sectors like medical, pharmaceuticals, security, and more, opt for cost-effective solutions. This is particularly relevant when they occupy smaller spaces, such as 10ft or 20ft booths.
However, being smaller doesn’t mean you have to keep your brand a secret. When competing in a bustling exhibition environment alongside companies with larger budgets, creativity becomes key to making an impact without breaking the bank.
Although exhibitors can’t control the cost of the exhibition space, there are creative ways to trim expenses. In this article, we’ll focus on the cost of the exhibition stands themselves, illustrated through a recent experience with one of our clients at the Railway Interchange exhibition held at the Indian Convention Center.
Our client, Rail Vision, occupied a 20ft space and had specific requirements:

• Integration of monitors into the exhibition stand

• Backlit elements

• Maximizing size while complying with US exhibition regulations

• Product display area

• Storage space

• Presentation area for staff members

• Impressive design

• Reusability for other shows

• Budget: Below $13,000

Considering these requirements, we immediately understood that a traditional carpentry custom stand wouldn’t suffice.

So, we brainstormed and devised a modular exhibition stand that impressively met all criteria, except for the budget—it initially amounted to $18,000 when installed at the show, leaving us $5,000 over budget.
To bring the exhibition stand within the required budget, we took strategic steps:

• Monitors: Renting monitors in the US costs around $1,500 each. Purchasing them at $500 each saved us $2,000.

• Installation costs: Union staff members charged an exorbitant $3,780 for setting up this modular exhibition stand. Puzzled by the fact that an exhibition stand that can be installed by two untrained staff members can cost that much, we conducted a short training session for our clients attending the show.

With these adjustments, we managed to deliver an impressive exhibition stand that met all our clients’ requirements, ready for installation at the show, and within budget.
Furthermore, our clients will be able to use their stand for other upcoming shows while adapting it to various booth spaces.