As early as the fall, many trade shows are scheduled to take place across the country. Many convention centers have already announced their plans for mitigating risk and encouraging health and safety while on site. Many event organizers have also made statements about how they will change their exhibition hall layouts to social distance. But what will social distancing mean to your team and your trade show exhibit? Consider the following things that you may want to think about for your post-pandemic trade show exhibit:
Add a Double Deck to Your Trade Show Exhibit
Many exhibitors must have meeting spaces in their trade show exhibit. They want to be able to conduct business while on-site, present new products to current clients, and more. This is facilitated by meeting rooms. However, as social distancing remains one of the most effective methods for avoiding transmission, you might want to rethink the layout of your trade show exhibit. Try adding a double deck. That way, your meetings can take place in a larger space on top of your trade show exhibit and you can distance your product displays on the bottom floor. This is an elegant solution to hosting people inside your trade show booth without worrying they’ll be crowded on top of one another. When not in use as a meeting space, booth staffers can take breaks on the second floor to recharge from a full day on the floor. This will minimize the amount of people interacting on the floor of your booth space at one time.
Be Mindful of How You Space Elements of Your Trade Show Exhibit
Whether you are in a 10×20 trade show booth or larger, you can be mindful of how you space your furniture such as a reception counter, display stations, a table and chairs, and more. You may want to position your furniture so that even if you were only standing feet away from another area, you would be 6 feet apart from the person facing your direction. Alternatively, you might want to remove much of the interactive displays you might have once had to tell your brand story and instead, use the graphics of your trade show exhibit to tell that story. You could also opt for LED monitors playing to tell your brand story instead of touch stations and interactive objects. This might also be the time to insert more white space into your exhibit design, the amount of space you’ll have to freely move around.
Add Sanitizing Stations to Your Trade Show Exhibit
Most sanitizing stations are unobtrusive and small little dispensaries. What if they could also double as a banner stand announcing your newest products? Or what if they were aluminum sign stands that added to the ambiance of your trade show exhibit? By adding sanitizing stations to your trade show exhibit, you gain the ability to take proactive health measures and opportunities to further market your goods and services to attendees.
Rethink Flooring in Your Trade Show Exhibit
Many exhibitors don’t think much about their flooring. It’s often just an afterthought. Maybe it’s time you did some rethinking about it. Instead of opting for carpet, try vinyl flooring. Carpet can become dirty and trap germs in its fibers. Vinyl flooring is an excellent alternative. After all, you can have it printed to look like wood, brick, you name it in order to match your trade show display design. It also allows you to either add social distancing decals to it or to print social distancing reminders in the shape of decals on your flooring. This can be an important step towards ensuring your booth space is socially distanced and that people feel a sense of security while interacting with you.
Minimize Items that People Can Pick Up in Your Trade Show Exhibit
Unless you plan on sanitizing items every time someone picks something up, you might want to consider placing them in display cases instead. Display cases make small products look classy. When you shine lights on them within these cases, they look high end. If you add display cases to your trade show exhibit, map out where the rest of your furniture will be placed so you can observe social distancing rules and regulations.
Train Your Booth Staff
The most important thing about your next trade show will be training your booth staff. They will need to know expectations for wearing masks or facial coverings, cleaning protocol for displays or other surfaces of the trade show exhibit, distancing rules, and more. The better prepared they are for exhibiting, the more likely they’ll be able to observe health and safety procedures. It’s also more likely that they will be calmer and less panicked if someone enters your booth space and doesn’t observe social distancing measures. Training should be as much about following procedures as it is about building your team’s comfort so they can confidently do their jobs in the trade show exhibit at your next show.
For more great ideas, please contact your Account Executive. With years of exhibiting experience, they can make some great recommendations to meet your trade show exhibit design goals while also observing desired social distancing adjustments.
