When a company purchases a trade show exhibit, there are often many things to consider, including how they’ll store the trade show exhibit. Do you outsource this function to your exhibit design house partner? Do you take advantage of their asset management function? Or do you chance it by renting a cheapo storage facility instead? Consider the following before you decide where to store your expensive custom trade show exhibit:
Chancing Your Trade Show Exhibit Being Ruined
Imagine the following scenario- you put your exhibit into a cheapo storage facility and there it sits for almost a year. There may be mysterious leaks, spider infestations, or any number of damages in this kind of environment. Imagine that you’re ready to trot it out a year later and then you’re suddenly responsible for trying to get it out of the facility in one piece without any collateral damage. Further, imagine that you’re supposed to figure out how to transport this trade show exhibit without any damage and figure out how to set it up on the trade show floor. This is a lot of responsibility to assume with a lot of potential for your exhibit to become scratched, drowned, warped, or ruined completely. Is this the chance you want to take for something you’ve shelled out tens of thousands of dollars to purchase?
Asset Management Systems Control the Variables
Exhibit houses with an Asset Management System are incredibly helpful to companies with a trade show exhibit. With an Asset Management System, companies are able to rely upon a third party to ensure their custom trade show exhibit stays in tip top shape. This is because they take pictures of the condition it’s in when it’s checked in, carefully catalogued, and then repaired if necessary, prior to its next use. Every item is carefully tracked, kept together in a nice safe crate in a cool dry environment. Conditions are ideal for storage and the exhibit house is able to make last minute repairs if necessary, ensuring the trade show exhibit is always looking its best. There’s no danger of spider infestations, mishandling that leaves it looking shredded on the trade show floor, or worse. This is particularly helpful with multiple exhibits of multiple sizes, where an Asset Management System can keep careful track of inventory so different offices can use the available exhibits.
Storing Just the Basics
Sometimes, companies just have one trade show exhibit and they want certain elements stored for future use. This could include graphics, a custom reception counter, storage, etc… In these cases, a minor storage fee is charged to ensure everything is packed away carefully in a clean dry crate, categorized, and kept together for future use. This is useful for not only a trade show exhibit purchase, but also for graphics of a rental that may be used again. Depending upon the company’s needs for future uses, storage can scale up or down and ensure things continue to look nice each and every use.
Whether your company exhibits only once a year at an annual trade show, or gets a trade show booth rental multiple times per year, storage must come into consideration to calculate the total cost of ownership or multi-show deals. Consider your options carefully as a little extra up front may save your company thousands in the long run.
