The small stuff: staging freight

From time to time there are small, detail items that help save us time, money, effort or all three. One of those small things we should sweat is staging freight.

If you arrive at show site before your work starts and before your freight is unloaded, you have a great opportunity to stage your crates and your shipment. By placing the crates and goods around your space before you start set up, you'll be putting hings where they can be unloaded with the most efficiency. Be sure to think about:

• Your detailed manifest and floor plan
• Where the no-freight aisles are
  
• Where your electrical and internet connections will surface in the booth

By having the manifest, you will know what crate (by number) has which items (walls, headers, workstations). Couple this list with your floor plan and you'll know where to place them so the I&D team can move things with the least effort. Make sure you know which way doors open and swing.

Don't put things in no-freight aisles. You'll just end up moving them.

Knowing where electrical and internet terminate in your booth will make rolling out the pad and carpet that much more efficient. Bring a market and tape measure and work with your lead person and electrician to make sure it is clear where things are.

Lesson learned: plan ahead to save your head.

TTSG

Warehousing

Where do you keep your exhibit when it isn't being used? Have you budgeted for the cost to store and handle your booth between shows?

Most of us overlook this less-than-trivial expense when planning our total cost of program budget. No matter the size of your booth (or booths) you need to consider where it's going to live when it isn't either on the road or at a show. You can store you exhibit in one of several places:

1. An exhibit company
2. Your own warehouse or office
3. Another third party

A really good choice is an exhibit company in that they know and understand exhibits. However, this will be the most expensive as they will charge you not only to store the booth and other things, but they will charge you every time your goods are touched (either to ship in or out or inspect and repair).

If you choose to use your own office or warehouse, make sure you have adequate space or a way to handle it. If you use the company warehouse, will the warehouse manager charge your internal budget to store it? Do you need a forklift or a specialist to handle it? Do they understand you need access to it at anytime and do they know how to handle it so it isn't harmed?

If you have a third party who can help you (printer, trucker, I&D company, premium supplier), do they understand the same perimeters--access, handling, care? What will they charge you and how much?

You need to consider the following when choosing a place:

1. How it will be stored
2. The cost to store
3. How it will be handled and cared for

How and where your goods will be stored is important in that humidity, heat, cold and security play a role in how long your exhibit will last. Do you have your own area in the storage facility? Do you have access?

The cost to store takes on many forms: Are you chaged by the square or cubic foot or the "rack". Are you paying for more than the physical space your booth occupies? Are you charged for in and out as well as other types of handling?

Handling and care encompasses who and how your goods will be touched. Do you have an assigned warehouseman or person? Is inspection and periodic repair something the storage place can help you with?

Lesson learned: Choose how, where and with who you store your booth carefully as it can hit your budget in a large way without proper planning.

TTSG

Facing the initial set up at a show

It is always a good thing to show up early to the show floor. You can see if your frieght has arrived, among other things, but basically get the "lay of the land."

Once you get past the usually who-ha of wrist bands and where things are, you get to the booth space to see what awaits you. For example, when I arrived at the space at NACStech at the Gaylord in Grapevine, Texas, I was greeted with a few surprises. Not what I wanted, but not insurmountable.

I specifically had asked when I could arrive to lay down CAT 5 cables for our network BEFORE the carpet was to go down. When arrived at the agreed-upon time, the carpet and pad were already down. No mater, the contractor guys were there and rolled things back. The engineer and I made quick work of getting cables down and labeled. A short conversation with the IT guys and the internet line was installed.

The rented workstations weren't exactly configured the way we wanted them. However, we were able to shuffle graphics and we were back in business. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

Lesson learned: always, always bring your orders to show site and advise your vendors of changes/exceptions as you go.

TTSG

Amps versus watts: what you need to know when ordering electrical service in your booth

When ordering electrical service in your exhibit, remember that watts and amps are not equal.

1 amp = 100 watts

It's one of those things that can add up quickly if you don't remember it. An ampere is a measurement associated with the strength of electric current; wattage or watts are the measurement of electric power in watts (most often associated with the power of a light bulb or fixture).

So, be familiar with how much power your computers, demos and liughts in your booth draw in amps and watts as you draw your layout for power in your booth.

TTSG

(thanks to Jim Anderson, Steelhead Productions, and Wikipedia, for the content of this entry).