The exhibitor's checklist: before you enter the hall

We receive exhibitors at every show we organise, and the difference between the one who finishes in two hours and the one who loses the whole day is not budget. It is four simple things the first knows and the second does not. Here is the list.

Six weeks out · Read the exhibitor manual

Every well-run show issues an exhibitor manual. Most exhibitors never open it, and are then surprised by what it contains. The manual carries the things that cannot be changed later:

• The stand height limit — your design may exceed it without your knowing.
• The date you enter and the hour your truck unloads. A date, not a duration.
• The power points assigned to you and their load — and the load caps what you can run.
• Is it a shell scheme or space only? The difference turns your whole plan over.
• Material conditions: many venues require a fire-rating certificate for what you bring in.

If no manual reached you, ask for one. And if there is no manual, that tells you something about the show itself.

Three weeks out · Print files

The single most common cause of a delayed stand is an unusable print file. The same problem repeats: low resolution, a size that does not match the area, or RGB instead of CMYK so the brand comes out a different colour. Print takes time; reprinting takes twice as much.

• Send the file at final size with bleed, not scaled down.
• CMYK not RGB, and attach your brand colour reference if you have one.
• Fonts converted to outlines, or the machine substitutes another face.
• Ask what will be covered: the reception counter can hide a third of the back wall.

One week out · What travels with the truck

Write down what will arrive, who receives it, and when. Boxes that arrive before your access slot have nowhere to go in the hall, and boxes that arrive after it wait for a busy forklift. Label every box with your stand name and number — on build day the hall cannot tell one crate from another.

Build day · Three numbers in your pocket

• Your stand number and the number of its power point.
• The operations supervisor's number in the hall — not the organiser's office.
• The hour the hall closes. Most exhibitors discover it an hour too late.

One last practical point: the stand is handed over two days before opening, not on the morning of it. Those two days separate a prepared event from one being rescued at the last minute — and they are also what gives you time to notice that the identity panel went up the wrong way round.