Rent or Buy?

At Total Displays, you can rent or buy our products. Because this is a tough decision, we will help you though this process. One thing you have to think about moving into this position is: what is going to best suit your company and if you want to invest in a booth or you aren't sure and want to rent products. 

When you are researching your booth needs, you’ll need to determine whether you are going to buy or rent. There are pros and cons to both that you should consider. Most trade show companies you work with will provide the option to rent, which gives the client the ability to use the product once and not have to worry about storage after the show. If you are heavily involved in trade shows, buying might be cost effective decision. 

 

Renting products for trade shows can be less of a hassle without the commitment to the display. You won't have to deal with traveling with it, you are not responsible for it after the show and you don't have to worry about storage. You also have the flexibility of what booth products work best for your needs and allows you to keep up with trade show design trends. If you plan on using these products once a year, this might be a good choice. One potential con to renting is that the client takes on the responsibility of ensuring the items for the booth are returned undamaged. There could be cost incurred by the client if there is damage, but at Total Displays we work with you to find the most cost effective and safe way to ship your booth to minimize the risk of damage.  

 

When you buy trade show products, you gain the responsibility of storage, transportation and overall maintenance of the product. If your company is involved in many trade shows throughout the year or you plan on keeping the same layout every year, this would be a good choice. When you buy, there is just a one-time booth payment instead of having to rent each time from your supplier. There is a feeling of security that you are able to use the booth whenever you need, instead of relying on availability. This is a great choice if you choose to stay consistent with design, layout and use. 

 

At Total Displays, you can rent or buy our products. Because this is a tough decision, we will help you through this process. We’ll help you make that purchase or rent decision to make sure your company’s needs are met. 

Crates, Shipping & Show Services

Let's face it. Getting back to live events, has not all been a walk in the park. There are still some industries that have inexperienced staff and have staff services. A lot of those shortages are on the show floor in the form of show services crews. As a result, the people that are there are either new or sometimes they are struggling to get the job done. So in many cases corners are being cut.

Crates are a necessary part of shipping rental exhibits and island exhibits or equipment. Recently a customer had a very badly damaged crate come back and they blamed us. We offered to have production repair it at cost, just parts and labor, but she didn't want to ship it to our production facility for repair. I suggested she send it directly to a local partner that we have used for crate building. 

Here is the reality. Our crate building partners have been doing this for 30+ years. No one can build a crate that can withstand the abuse that goes on now during show set up and tear down.

I have personally watched what they do on the floor. When the crate is empty, they want to get them out of the aisles as quickly as possible. That means they don't want to wait for forklifts of pallet jacks to move empty crates. Here is what they do.

The use long handled Lever dolly like below. They tip the crates up on end and then drop them onto dollies, like below.  Depending on the length of the crate that can be a long drop and can easily buckle the floor of a well-built crate.

                                         

I have written about the abuse that is happening to crates on the show floor (THIS IS NOT DURING TRANSIT - THAT IS A COMPLETE ADDITIONAL STORY).  You can read about our personal experience here:  Crate Damage by Show Services.

Today, yet another crate on a rental came back with the floor damaged. You can see the floor damage in the picture above. Now, you may be tempted to say, that it MUST be the crate builder's fault. This is a different builder than the customer crate mentioned above. This builder has been in business and building crates for 20 years.

Another recent crate return you see below. They sheared off two of the skids so it is now resting on a cart in our warehouse.

We have NO control over what happens to a crate when it gets shipped, when it is handled by show services, when it is handled by an install crew that we didn't subcontract.  We will stand behind our product as it relates to defects, but we know the quality of these crates.

I will tell you over 80% of crates coming back from shows are coming back damaged. We have trashed three crates this year that came back and were beyond repair. Luckily most of them have been used for years so it was ok.  These kinds of expenses are hard on exhibit houses, and we have NO recourse with the show management crews in filing claims.

Be kind to your exhibit house. They are likely building you great crates, but they are being abused and mishandled on the show floor. If your crate comes back damaged, I suggest taking it up with the Freeman's and the GES's of the world, don't beat up your exhibit house.

The Double Take

Graphics is one of the most important components of your display. There are many different ways to design your booth, which could include stands, table throws and counters. When figuring out design options for your booth, think about the attendees who will be stepping into your booth. What are their needs? How will you be interacting with your potential clients? What do you want them to takeaway from their experience? When you stand out you want to be memorable and make your booth engaging to those walking by. Find out how to get started and get on the level of the double take.  

The beginning process of designing starts with assessing what you currently have from creative elements and branding requirements to booth hardware. But if you’re starting from scratch, a designer can help you through the process. During the process of designing the display, there can be a lot of back and forth, so be prepared to have different visions and opinions, which is ok and can be fun. This helps the designer understand different styles and understand your vision for the display.

One of the most important things to do during this process is to communicate with your designer. Whether through emails or virtual calls, it is best to have the complete team on the same page early on in the creative process. This will ensure that the designer gains all the details. These initial brainstorming discusses should be open-minded to get everyones’ ideas. The designer needs to know the goal of your deliverable, but also can give some valuable input in what they have previously done. 

The design of the booth is a critical part of the process. It's what will help drive people into your booth and helps create an image for your company. It can also help show how invested you are into making a good first impression and the importance of quality not only in the booth, but also in the product or service you are selling.