Most stands that aren’t finished on opening day didn’t fail in the workshop. The trouble started eight or ten weeks earlier, when a decision wasn’t made, a file arrived late or drawings never reached the organiser. This is the plan we work through with our own clients. It assumes a stand of about 50 to 100 m²; for bigger or two-storey stands, add two or three weeks at the start.
12 to 10 weeks out: the big decisions
Be clear about why you’re going. Direct sales, finding a distributor and meeting existing customers each lead to a different stand. A stand built for long meetings looks nothing like one built to show products to people walking past.
Book your space and location with the organiser now. Good spots go early, and whether you get a corner or an island changes the whole design. Settle on a rough budget too.
9 to 7 weeks out: design
Give your stand builder a proper brief: size, open sides, number of products, meeting room, a small store room, somewhere for hospitality. Send photos of stands you like; they say more than a paragraph of description. The first design usually takes one to two weeks, followed by a round or two of changes. Read the organiser’s technical manual at this stage, because height limits, hanging points, power and drawing deadlines differ from hall to hall.
6 to 4 weeks out: sign-off and production
The design should be final here. Every change after production starts costs money and risks the deadline. Send the technical drawings to the organiser and order power, internet and water if you need them.
Start the website side too. If you plan a QR code on the stand or a page just for this fair, it has to exist before the graphics are printed, so the address can go on the wall.
3 to 2 weeks out: graphics and details
Final artwork goes to print. Get someone outside the team to read every line, because a typo on a three-metre wall is hard to miss. Order catalogues, business cards and giveaways, write the staff rota, and decide who collects visitor details.
The final week: build-up
Stands usually go up one or two days before opening. Have someone from your side in the hall on the last build day so decisions can be made on the spot. Pack display products separately and label each box with where it goes on the stand.
After the fair
Contacts you collect are worth very little if nobody follows them up within a week. Decide before the fair who will do it and how.
Every fair in our exhibition calendar has its own page showing this plan with that fair’s real dates, so you can see the day your design should be signed off. If you’re unsure what kind of stand you need, our services page explains the stand types.