Your Guide to Increasing From Inline Exhibits to Island Trade Show Booths
Many exhibitors start off by using 10×10 or 10×20 inline exhibits at a few conventions and increase to island trade show booths once they’ve seen solid ROI from these marketing efforts. Leveling up to a bigger booth space is fun and exciting, though it does involve learning new regulations and different show services before you can start the trade show exhibit design process.
If you’re well-versed in inline exhibiting and are breaking into the world of island trade show booths, here’s everything you need to know to set yourself up for a successful convention.
Get to Know the Regulations for Island Trade Show Booths
The regulations for inline trade show booth designs are pretty straightforward. You generally have to keep the display’s height at eight feet or less and abide by standard line of sight rules. However, when you exhibit in a 20×20 island—or even in a larger island space—you have a lot more freedom to be creative with your booth ideas. And you can even add an attention-grabbing hanging sign to your design!
Understanding Height Restrictions and Line of Sight Rules
Each trade show organizer and venue might have their own exhibit rules and regulations for the different types of displays, so it’s important to check your exhibitor manual before diving into your trade show exhibit design. In general, ground-based structures in island trade show booths are allowed to be up to 16’ or 20’ tall.
Additionally, many shows require that island exhibitors leave some open sightlines around the perimeter of their booth space. This means you usually can’t build tall, solid walls that completely block attendees’ line of sight to other exhibits. You can generally still place graphics, kiosks, and other structures near the edge of your booth space, but you have to allow a little room between them.
The exception to these normal guidelines is a cubic content show. These events basically allow island and peninsula exhibitors to build to the maximum height anywhere in their booth space. This lets you get even more creative with your trade show exhibit design since you’re not tied to height restrictions or line of sight rules—the booth space is yours to fill as you please from the ground to the height limit.
Both standard island regulations and cubic content rules normally allow (and even encourage!) exhibitors to broadcast their logo throughout the show hall with a hanging sign.
How to Pick Your Hanging Sign
One of the best ways to grab attendees’ attention on the show floor is with a hanging sign. There are a few things to keep in mind here, so when you’re brainstorming booth ideas that include a hanging structure, ask yourself a few questions:
- How big does your sign have to be to make an impact on the show floor?
- What shape will your sign be? Options range from standard rings and squares to custom design ideas that are built in the shape of your logo.
- Will your sign be printed only on the inside, or will you have imagery on the inside as well? If you prefer, you can even have a covered bottom so your booth visitors can look straight up and see your logo.
- Should your sign be centered over your island booth space, or do you want it off to one side or hanging over a corner?
You’ll also have to decide how high the sign will hang. Your exhibitor manual will dictate the minimum and maximum hanging heights for your ceiling-based structure, so use that as a starting point and then see what works best with your overall trade show booth design.
Submitting Your Booth Designs for Approval
Before the show—and before your island trade show booth goes into production—you’ll likely need to submit your booth designs to the show for approval. This is generally a quick process and involves emailing images of your display to show management. Your exhibit design team will send you booth drawings calling out the dimensions of your booth space, the ground-based structures, and the hanging sign so you can obtain approval quickly.
When it comes to booth design approval, it’s always better to ask for permission rather than forgiveness. If you don’t get your exhibit designs approved well before the show, you might be forced to change things on the fly during installation at the convention center. Getting design approval from the event organizer gives you the confidence that your island trade show booth abides by all show regulations so you can focus on having a great convention.
Learn About Island Trade Exhibit Show Services
In addition to the different regulations, Island trade show booths tend to require more complex show services than inline displays.
For example: when you’ve exhibited in a 10×10 or 10×20 space, you might’ve taken advantage of show service packages that included things like basic carpet, a standard electrical outlet, and maybe even material handling (also known as “drayage”). However, ordering show services for island trade show booths requires a bit more work. Here are a few of the forms you’ll have to fill out:
- Electrical plan (and possibly plumbing, if applicable) with dimensions to each outlet, including the surrounding booth space numbers so the onsite electricians can correctly orient your cords and cables.
- Hanging sign layout, which indicates the hanging height of the top of the sign, the height of the sign itself, dimensions from the sign to the edge of your booth space, and the surrounding booth numbers for correct orientation.
- Material handling based on the shipping weight of your booth. This is generally calculated by a certain fee per 100 pounds and will vary depending on whether you ship your exhibit to the advanced warehouse or directly to the convention center.
- Installation and dismantle forms, including the setup instructions and dates and times you want your exhibit built before the show and then disassembled and packed after the show. If you’re hiring an outside company to send in their expert labor, you might instead submit an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor (EAC) form to let show management know that you’ve approved a third party to handle your booth labor.
If all of this sounds a little daunting, don’t worry! You can hire professionals to take care of all your show service forms so you just arrive at your booth space after the installation and enjoy the show.
Explore Island Exhibit Trade Show Booth Design Ideas
Once you understand the regulations and have a firm grasp on the show services for island trade show booths, the real fun can begin: the design process! Because island spaces generally allow for bigger structures with fewer regulations, you can get really creative with your booth designs.
Determine Whether to Purchase or Rent Your Exhibit
You might think that rental island trade show booths are boring, cookie-cutter displays. However, nothing could be further from the truth! In addition to countless kits that you can put your own graphics on, there are virtually infinite ways to create a custom rental exhibit. In fact, you can even rent individual rental components like aluminum extrusions and tube structures that your professional exhibit designers will build into a purely custom—yet still mostly rentable—display.
So, is renting or purchasing the right option for your company? Both solutions allow you to have a custom island exhibit, so it really comes down to cost and how many times you’ll use the booth. If you plan to exhibit in the same island booth size at more than three or four shows, it’s likely beneficial to purchase the display since you’ll have to pay rental fees for each event. However, if you’re just dipping your toes into island trade show booths and only plan to use the exhibit once, renting might be a better budgetary decision.
Incorporate Fun, Interactive Elements into Your Island Trade Show Booths
Regardless of whether you purchase or rent your island trade show booths, you can bring in eye-catching elements that’ll draw people into your space as well as interesting, interactive components to keep your prospective customers interested. Here are a few booth ideas you might want to include:
- Cool technology
- A meeting space for private customer conversations
- Custom product displays
- Interactive kiosks
- Booth games with prizes
- Comfortable furniture for attendees to rest their legs
Bringing the right features into your trade show exhibit design can be the difference between an event with low ROI and a hugely successful conference. So have some fun, get creative, and enjoy brainstorming all the awesome amenities that island trade show booths allow!
We’re the Experts for Island Trade Show Booths
When you increase your booth size from inline displays to island trade show booths, you’re leveling up to an entirely new convention experience. We’re here to help with your booth designs, show services, and everything in between.
Contact us today to learn how we can create a custom rental or purchase island exhibit that’ll help make your next trade show a success!