Putting Together an Exhibit from Stray Pieces, Part II

This past week I spent an afternoon at my client's exhibit house with them and the exhibit house rep. We're making progress on our "portfolio" exhibit.

We lined up the parts and pieces and got out the tape measure and sketch pad. We paced off the 20x30 space and helped the client visualize the scale and scope of what they will see in New Orleans at the NACStech Show (www.nacsonline.com).

Voila! A plan and options emerged from the discussion. The parts and pieces are starting to look like an exhibit. It is a bit of a game of "loaves and fishes" but, if done carefully and with a strategy, it can work. Saving money is one thing, but looking the part is another. You need to do both.

We started with previously used Skyline Inliten components. The truss was assembled into "football" shapes to give the exhibit mass and workstation locations. The structures will be wrapped in graphic fabric "socks" not unlike a Moss-type hanging sign or other fabric-over-frame graphics.

Add in some previously used cabinets with new tops and there is surface for demos and lockable storage. In this configuration you could have two cabinets per side of the major structure, or as many as 4 per unit. We are choosing to use two "football" shapes, with one cabinet station per side. Monitors will hang above the cabinets using the stock Skyline monitor bracket, possibly modified to hold multiple monitors.

An Inliten "wall" becomes a surround for a conference area. This surface gives us both privacy and another "canvas" for messaging and brand. While it isn't completely private, it shields the meeting space from the aisle.

A rental carpet will be underfoot and a reskinned hanging sign frame with hang above the booth.

Next step: graphic design.

TTSG