Tips for Exhibition Stand Installation and Disassembly
Planning your attendance at the next exhibition or trade show and designing your exhibition stand is a very important part of exhibiting and takes up a lot of time. However, don’t forget to spare a thought for setting up your stand, keeping it together during the show, dismantling it and storing it for next time.
Depending on the size of your stand and equipment involved, this can be a lot of work so remember to take some time to plan the installation and take down of your stand. Here are a few top tips for exhibition stand installation to help you:
Who is the Chosen One?
One of the first things to ask yourself is who will be setting up your exhibition stand. The answer to this is likely to depend on what kind of stand and equipment you are having.
If it is a small stand with portable display equipment, such as pop up stands and roller banners, then it is easy for you or your staff to set up the stand.
If you’re exhibiting with a large or custom-made display then you will probably want to leave setting up and taking down to the professionals. There will be an extra cost for this so ensure you make allowances for this in your exhibition budget.
Follow the Rules
Check with your venue if there are any rules or regulations you must follow in terms of the event or exhibition. For example, any restrictions on size of stand, equipment allowed, power supply or permitted electrical equipment. This is important because before you finalise the details of your stand you need to make sure that what you want is acceptable by the venue.
How Long Have You Got?
Find out from the organisers when you can have access to the venue to start setting up. If it is the day before the show, make sure you know how late you can stay – you don’t want to be asked to leave the venue before you have finished because they are locking up for the night. We would recommend that you arrive as early as you are allowed too – it is better to have finished your stand with plenty of time left rather than rushing to finish it in time for the show to start.
Practice Makes Perfect
Make time to have a practice run at setting up all of your stand equipment in advance of the exhibition. Make sure you know how to assemble everything you are going to have on your stand, not just display products but accessories including literature stands, iPad stands and promotional counters. Practising beforehand will also ensure you have the right tools needed and that there is nothing missing from your exhibition kit.
If you have lights or technological elements on your stand ensure that they work and you know how to set them up. Check all lightbulbs are working and have spares available to take with you. Check you can set up any interactive part of your stand, such as iPads, laptops linked to monitor screens, and that they are fully charged – you don’t want to arrive at the exhibition and have IT that doesn’t work.
Give Yourself Time
Give yourself enough time at the venue to set up your stand. Time your practice run so you know how long it will take to set up your stand and add on an extra hour to allow for unforeseen hiccups.
Know how long it will take to get to your venue and allow for this in your set up time, giving yourself plenty of time to travel, especially if going at peak times.
Stay Safe
Don’t forget the health and safety of staff that are setting up your stand. For example, ensure you have the right number of people to put up a display stand safely – a roller banner can be easily put up by one person, but a larger fabric display stand would need at least two people. If you have a lot of heavy equipment to move, invest in a folding trolley so you can transport things easily without too much heavy lifting.
Pack Your Tool Kit
Make sure you have all the tools required to build all of the display equipment you have on your stand. It’s a good idea to have a basic exhibition stand emergency kit – read our article to find out what to include in an emergency kit.
Don’t Forget to Pack Away Carefully
At the end of an exhibition everyone is always in a rush to leave and get home. However, make sure you take down, and pack away, your equipment carefully. You don’t want to break anything in a rush to pack up. If you don’t have time pack away properly on the day then make sure you take time to sort out your exhibition kit as soon as you are back in the office. You don’t want to arrive at the next exhibition with broken or missing parts of your exhibition stand because nobody had time to pack away properly.
At XL Displays we are experts in exhibition stand design and provide anything from exhibition stands to portable display solutions, such as pop up stands, roller banners and portable counters.
We provide assembly instructions and video tutorials for many of our products – see individual product pages for more details.
We also offer a full exhibition stand installation and dismantling service – call us on 01733 511030 or contact us to find out more.
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