Exhibitor Field Guide Questions worth asking, and what the answers reveal
Questions worth asking, and what the answers reveal
Every question below is free, and each one is chosen because the answer — or the refusal to answer — tells you something the sales material will not.
Ask these in writing where you can. Written answers are specific in ways phone answers are not, and a pattern of vague written answers is itself a finding.
For the show organizer
Is attendance independently audited, and can I see the report? The direct test from choosing a show. An audited show sends a document; an unaudited one sends adjectives. The speed and completeness of the response tells you how the rest of the relationship will run.
How is "attendee" defined in your numbers? Unique verified attendees, total scans, or everyone in the building including exhibitors and press. If the definition is generous, discount the number.
How does space assignment priority work, and where would a first-year exhibitor realistically land? Reveals the point system described in booth space, and whether the rep is honest about your first-year position. A rep who says "you'd get a great spot" at a mature show with a seniority system is telling you about their quota, not your booth.
What did renewal look like — what fraction of last year's exhibitors returned? Exhibitor retention is the market's verdict on whether the show pays. Organizers track it; unwillingness to discuss it is informative.
What do exhibitors get: pre-show list, post-show list, or lead retrieval only? Sets your lead capture plan and part of its cost.
Can I see last year's exhibitor services manual? The single highest-value request on this page. Last year's manual prices this year's budget months before the current one publishes, and an organizer who will not share it is hiding a rate card you will be bound by later.
For the general services contractor
What are the material handling rates, minimums, and surcharge triggers? The drayage economics up front. Ask specifically what counts as special handling — the answer defines how you must pack.
What may my own employees do themselves in this building? The exhibitor-rights boundary from show services, which is building-specific. The answer determines whether you are budgeting labor hours or just a screwdriver.
Which services are exclusive, and which allow outside contractors? Some buildings permit an exhibitor-appointed contractor for install labor with advance paperwork; rigging, electrical, and cleaning are commonly exclusive. This decides whether competitive quotes are even possible.
What does my target window imply for labor rates? A weekend or evening move-in means overtime labor. Better to learn that from a question than an invoice.
For your own team
These are the questions that reveal whether you are ready to spend the money, and the honest answers are sometimes "we are not."
What specific outcome justifies this spend, in numbers we will actually check? If the goal cannot be stated before the show, it will be retrofitted after, and every show will be judged a success. The budget total is the denominator; this answer is the numerator.
Who owns the deadlines? One named person who reads the services manual the day it publishes and holds the dated list from the first-show checklist. A committee here is how floor-rate orders happen.
Who staffs the booth, for every hour, including setup and teardown? Real names against real shifts, per staffing the booth. If the answer is "whoever's available," the booth will be empty at the wrong times.
What happens to a lead within one week? Sequence written, owner named, system chosen — before the show. If nobody can answer, the lead retrieval fee buys a spreadsheet nobody opens.
Would we rather spend this budget on anything else? The uncomfortable one. A trade show competes with every other use of the same money, and it should win that comparison explicitly, not by default because a rep called during a slow week.
Reading the pattern
No single answer disqualifies a show. The pattern does. Prompt, specific, documented answers from organizer and contractor predict a show that runs on rules you can plan against. Evasive answers predict the opposite — and the time to find out is while your signature is still yours.
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