Truths and Myths of Trade Show Labor

If you exhibit at trade shows in the USA you have most likely run into issues with trade show labor regulations at some point. The rules will vary depending on the city you are in. Some states have laws protecting exhibitors. These states are often referred to as “right-to-work” states.  The following link includes a map state-by-state. The map looks very similar to the electoral college map during elections. The blue states are right to work. Even in a right to work state there can still be regulations as to what you can and cannot do that are mostly based on the contract you signed when you decided to exhibit. It is common for strict union labor states to also allow some exceptions based on the contracts between the show management, General Contractor and exhibitors.

Common ExceptionThe common exception waiver in strict union states is to allow an exhibitor to set up their own display if they meet all of the following requirements. 1. The display is 10′ x 10′ or smaller, 2. Tools are not required, and 3. It can be completed in 30 minutes or less.

Trade Show Labor Options
When show labor is required the local union sets the price per hour in each city. The rate per hour can range from $85 per hour all the way up to $185 per hour depending on where you are exhibiting. Show management will have a contract with a general contractor that can provide the labor, but you can also hire a 3rd party, union certified contractor to provide your labor needs. The cost is almost always exactly the same, but when you hire a 3rd party company you have a higher probability of receiving very experienced workers as well as an account rep that wants you to be happy.

Unfortunate Truths
Unfortunately, many shows manipulate the schedules which can cause very inflated costs for show labor. Standard show labor rates are based on “straight time” which is typically between 8 AM and 4 PM Monday through Friday. If your hire labor for any other hours you will have to pay time and a half or even double-time for each hour. It’s not uncommon for a show to require you to setup during off-hours or on a weekend which automatically causes the additional labor rates to apply. If this is a concern to you, be aware and always request the setup days and times with your show rep before booking space. Show management may be willing to offer you a discount on your floor space to combat this issue if you know to address it upfront.

Exhibitor Appointed Contractors
Any 3rd party that you hire to work on the setup or dismantle of your exhibit would be considered an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor. (EAC) You will be required to inform the show management that you plan on using an EAC. Your show book will include a form to fill out to use an EAC.

Get To Know Your Labor
If you often exhibit in the same cities you should make every attempt to form a relationship with the floor manager and exceptional labor that you may have received. Treat your labor with respect and they will often reciprocate. If you chose to hire an EAC or work with the show management’s GC you should try to get to know the players and make arrangements to use them again in the future. A few notable stand-outs that we work with are Jason Pirotti with Spectrum at the Javits Center, Ken Mattingly with Zenith in Las Vegas and “Cali Bob” with Freeman in Anaheim. Please give a shout-out to your notable laborers in the comments section. We encourage you to elaborate on this article and share any labor-related stories in the comments below.

This article was originally published at: www.cdsdisplays.com/blog

The Pros and Cons of Renting Versus Buying a Trade Show Exhibit

There are pros and cons to both renting or buying a display or exhibit for trade shows. Many companies choose to rent a display over and over again even though they could have saved a lot of money if they purchased their display. Conversely, some companies make significant investments in buying a new display and could have saved a lot of money by simply renting. Here are some tips to help you decide which option is best for your company.


Top 5 Benefits of Renting an Exhibit
1 - No large upfront investment required
2 - You do not have to add the exhibit to your balance sheet as an asset
3 - You can deduct the cost of rentals, compared to having to amortize the cost of purchases over multiple years
4 - Change your display style or design as often as you wish without incurring additional expense
5 - No storage fees


Top 5 Benefits of Buying an Exhibit
1 - Save money over time by eliminating a recurring rental expense
2 - You can store your exhibit at your own facility to save on storage fees
3 - Exhibit purchases can be leased or financed to spread the expense out over time
4 - Additional customization options are available
5 - You can make last minute decisions on event participation and know the display is available.


Nowadays almost every exhibit design is available to rent and competition in the rental business has driven pricing down slightly. A good way to decide weather to rent or purchase a new exhibit is to honestly access your needs. If you plan to participate in at least 4 trade shows with the same exact display you should start to consider purchasing your exhibit. If you plan to exhibit in at least 3 events a year, for 2 or more years, using the same exhibit you should definitely purchase.


If you are unsure ask your exhibit company if they would allow you to apply a portion of your first rental price toward the purchase of an exhibit after you had a chance to see how the design works out for you at an actual trade show. If it worked out well and you plan to use it again, you may want to own it. If it does not suite your needs you can try a brand new design for your next event.


For more information on renting versus purchasing an exhibit visit CDSdisplays.com to compare models and options.

Trade Shows Are Thriving in 2014

Could 2014 be the year that brings Trade Shows back to the "Must do" side of the budget for marketers?

Next week begins with the 2014 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas and all indications are that the show will be much bigger and definitively more crowded that it has been in over a decade.

The 2014 show will feature nearly 3,000 exhibiting companies and takes up two full convention halls as well as outdoor exhibitors. The most impressive statistic is that there are over 600 new exhibitors at this year's show and the 2014 show features the largest number of new products ever. It's great to see new companies such as TurfShade understand the value and opportunity in participating. Below is a picture of a POP Display we produced for Turf Shade. If the show is a success for them you may see this display in retail stored across the country in 2015.

Related to the industry in general, the National Hardware Show ranks around 30th in the countries largest trade shows. Shows like the AG World (Agricultural) and CES (Consumer Electronics) top the list. 







For more information on the size, locations and industries for all trade shows visit www.cdsdisplays.com/resources.

CDS Displays wishes all exhibitors success at their trade shows this year and are always here to help with Trade Show knowledge and expertise. Please +1 this article if you found it worthwhile or interesting.

3 Trade Show MarketingTrends for 2014

We have seen a lot of trends developing late in 2013 that will impact Trade Shows in 2014. Here are the Top Three

1. Bigger Booth Space
Starting in Q3 2013 many customers started to plan for a "bigger" presence at their 2014 trade shows. Most common has been the upgrade from 10 x 20 displays to 20 x 20 island exhibits. An island exhibit is a very smart upgrade for large inline exhibitors. Other than the cost of the floor space most of the associated costs only increase marginally and some costs don't increase at all. An island space provide a lot more impact for the dollar. The biggest advantage is the height restriction. Inline displays have a strict height restriction of 8' in the back and only 4' toward the front of your space. Island spaces almost always allow exhibitors to exceed 16' in height and many venues can support 20' tall exhibits.

2. Space Draw Participation
Booth space location on the show floor plan has become the 2nd most important factor that our clients have been concerned with for 2014 and beyond. Many exhibitors are reluctant to book their space for next year during the "space draw" process that takes place at most trade shows because they are either waiting to see how the show performed or believe that they may get a lower cost for the space later. The majority of our customers are planning to participate in the space draw process at their 2014 events with the hopes of garnering better locations for the following year.

3. Social Media Integration
By now everyone is aware of the value of social media as a part of their marketing efforts and what better way to leverage the power of social media than at a live event. Our customers are adding tablets and ipads to their exhibits to allow real-time interaction and sign ups in the booth. Simple tools such as social media aggregators allow exhibitors to easily display tweets, posts and any social media interaction on a large screen in the booth. This causes an increase in the number of attendees who follow, like and post about the exhibitor simply to see their post or tweet show up on the big screen. Most of these show attendees will continue to be a fan or follower of the exhibitor long after the show. Considering these attendees are truly the exhibitors target audience there is no better method that we are aware of to improve your social media efforts than through trade show interactions and promotions.

For more information on this or any trade show marketing related subject you can contact the author (Joe Bottone) through his company website www.CDSdisplays.com

How To Stand Out From The Crowd At Trade Shows.

We always get questions on to how to stand out from the crowd when exhibiting at a Trade Show. Here are some proven suggestions:

Colors - Every year the trade show industry associations do studies on what color(s) seem to get the most attention at Trade Shows. Every year the answer is the same, yellow wins. Followed by red and then orange. (see how that red caught your eye)

Sound - Any type of unusual sound or sound effects will do, but there are 2 sounds that really seem to grab people. The first is the sound of compressed air being released. This trick has been being used by Fun Houses for years to catch the attention of visitors. The easiest way to get this sound at your booth is by filling balloons. The next the sound (click click) of the prize wheel. Just know that having poor prizes on your wheel like 10% off your purchase or a t-shirt will loose the attention just as fast.

Smells - One of the most successful smells that we have seen is fresh hot popcorn. It reminds people of younger days and of a delicious treat of course. I have seen people wander the aisles blindly simply following their nose to find the popcorn.  

Pretty People - Yes we are talking about Trade Show Models. We are not talking about women in skimpy outfits, but it is true that very attractive, professionally dressed men and women do catch many people's attention and can get you that extra moment you need to stand out.

A Crowd - One of the best ways to stand out in a crowd is to start a mini crowd of your own. People always stop to see what they may be missing when  a large group of people are lined up or gathered. So how do you start a crowd, we'll make that the subject of our next blog post. It's too long to list here, but a celebrity is the #1 way.

Big Bold Message - At most Trade Shows the exhibit booths look quite similar. Except for a handful of companies who really seem to get it, not many companies make an effort to stand out. All of the suggestions listed above will help you to stand out, but once you get noticed you better have something good to say. You should have an offer, a promise or a major value proposition that is BIG and BOLD in their face. Don't be afraid. Your at a Trade Show and that's the name of the game. There is a reason so many Trade Shows choose to locate in Las Vegas. And there's a reason that the Las Vegas Strip is littered with roller coasters, huge water fountains, live volcano's. It's bold and it gets attention.

This article was written by Joe Bottone from CDS Displays for more information of to contact Mr Bottone visit www.CDSdisplays.com.

Big Custom Displays Can Be Portable

It's a myth that a large custom island trade show displays can't be portable.

This myth was created by the display companies who want to build everything out of wood and ship it in even larger wooden crates, but it's just not true. 

CDS Displays has been providing large custom island trade show displays and exhibits for over 30 years and we have hundreds of examples to prove it. Of course we aren't the only ones, but we were one of the first and still one of the largest in the industry.

Today's custom portable and modular exhibit systems such as Delta Matrix (BeMatrix) and Medallion can provide endless customization options and still remain portable.

 

 

Designing using these systems does require some skill and experience, but so does designing for traditional wooden construction exhibits.

I have seen wood and metal custom exhibits that need 19 crates to pack and ship that could have fit in just 4 if a portable exhibit system was utilized.

So remember, before you lock yourself into a multi-year commitment to ship, material handle and store a large exhibit, be sure to see if it could be built using a portable custom system. It will save you money on the initial purchase and every time you use it.

Economy vs. Premium Displays

Over the past 5 years it has become more and more important to compete on price in the trade show industry. I remember when the retractable banner stand first came to market. We were introduced to them by Expand International and sold many of them for what I recall to be around $550 each.

We still sell a lot of the Expand units, but we sell a lot more of the imports that are a fraction of the price. (as well as a fraction of the quality)

Today there are people who sell retractable banner stands online for as low as $100 each. All of these units are made in China and are printed on a very low cost banner material also made in China. If you have a need for a lot of them for a one-day event of if you really need a display and just don't have the budget maybe you can get lucky and these ultra-economy units could work for you.

The economy unit we sell at CDS Displays costs $299 and we sell hundreds each year and have only ever had two complaints. However one of the complaints came just this past Friday. A customer's unit simply "released" and would not roll up anymore. Of course I can tell from the condition that someone had dropped it, and I was able to fix the unit, but the conversation began (from the client) related to the availability of a better quality unit.

I informed the client that his company was buying their units from some sort of a quick sign franchise before finding us and that they were looking for a lower cost option when they came to us. I also informed him that we offer professional quality banner stands from both Expand International and Expolinc USA.

He asked me how much more would these premium units cost and I told him they would be $100 - $200 more per unit. He did not hesitate to say that from now on they will buy the premium units and that he would actually like a quote to swap his graphics from the economy to the premium display stands.

Please comment to share your thoughts on the difference between price and quality for this type of display product.

A Resurgence In Trade Show Attendance

Last month during the New York IBS (International Beauty Show) at the Javits Center in New York City we noticed a very significant resurgence in attendees. I personally have not seen a trade show crown like this since before 9-11-2001. Below are a few pictures that we took at the event to shows an example of the crowd.

Sure there was a big draw at this Milania booth due to the attendance of Real Housewives star Teresa Giudice, but this is a not just a coincidence. We have seen similar attendance increases at many other trade shows so far this year.

 

Of course it doesn't hurt to have a great looking booth like Milania and a celebrity in attendance to drive those crowds to your booth. The show was a selling show for Milania and a big success. They completely sold out of product and as you can see from some of these additional photos the shelves were full.

Milania display by CDS Displays - www.cdsdisplays.com 

How To Choose a Display Brand

At least once a week we are being contacted by another new display manufacturer that is looking to sign us up as a dealer for their products and systems.

Founded in 1983, CDS Displays was a pioneer in providing lightweight, custom, portable and modular display and exhibit systems. Back then there were only a couple manufacturers and very few dealers/distributors in the US.

Most of our competition was building everything out of wood and metal which was very heavy and had to ship in large wooden crates. We competed by offering products that were much lighter weight and very portable. These solutions provided our customers significant savings and flexibility.

Back in the 80's there were only a handful of brands on the market including Featherlite, Nimlok, Channel Kor, Tiger Mark and Skyline. Today there are probably close to 100 different brands competing for space in our showrooms.

It is nearly impossible to introduce our clients to all of the brands and options available. Our approach now requires a stellar interview process regarding our customers needs and goals for their exhibit program.

Not every company is budget conscience regarding their exhibit program, but if we try too hard to understand budgets we risk being viewed as pushy. The truth is that budget concerns is the best place to start when trying to decide on a brand or system to recommend. The following are the factors that need to be understood to help a dealer figure out which of the endless brands and products to recommend.

1 - Budget (How important is it to reduce shipping and storage costs?)
2 - Design (Do you need a completely customized solution?)
3 - Ease of setup (Would you ever set this up yourself or are you concerned with show labor costs?)
4 - Flexibility (Will the exhibit always be used in the same size and configuration?)

With this information an experienced exhibit consultant can surely find you a product that will meet all of your needs and concerns.

Introducing the Featherlite Medallion Display

A smarter, better looking display has sparked a resurgence.

2 years ago when we were invited by Graeme Nelson (President of Featherlite) to visit his hospitality suite at "The Hotel" in Las Vegas during the annual Exhibitor Show our sales numbers with Featherlite were at a 10 year low. CDS Displays has been a Featherlite Dealer since 1986 and had been one of their top dealers during many of those years.

Unfortunately with the flood of lower priced (and lower quality of course) manufacturers hitting the market combined with cost conscience, recession-stunned exhibitors it had become increasingly difficult to sell the premium brands such as Featherlite.

However, what Graeme had to show us in Las Vegas was exactly what we both needed to reverse the trend and rekindle our position as a top Featherlite dealer. We knew immediately that Featherlite had a winner and CDS Display's customers have proved we were right by adopting the Medallion as the new, must have addition to their exhibit programs.

The Medallion has even opened the doors to many new clients we had been trying to meet with for years.

Some early adapters included United Rentals (The largest equipment rental company in the world), Nuance, (makers of Dragon TM Dictation software) and Emhart Technologies (Stanley, Black & Decker Inc.) just to name a few. Here are a few photos of them.




Click here for more information on Featherlite Displays or the new Medallion Display line.

Corporate Display Specialties, Inc.
www.cdsdisplays.com

Find out why the Featherlite Medallion is setting the standard for lightweight portable trade show displays and exhibits. 

Trade Show Traffic Builder

A Simple Traffic Stopper - The Prize Wheel

You know that you have looked around to find the source of the "clicking" wheel with people cheering while walking the floor of a trade show. We all do it. I actually won a Playstation Portable at a show in New York. That's much better than a t-shirt.

We recently rented a Prize Wheel to the Dr. Pepper group and when it came back it had some great prize slots including NBA tickets. (and some t-shirt spaces too)

Some times the main prize can be as simple as an entry to a drawing for a large prize such as an ipad or a large dollar value gift or gas card while the rest of the slots are filled with small prizes like t-shirts or flashlights etc.

Everyone like a free chance to win something and the sound of the wheel spinning will bring more people to stop and look than you would think.



Prize wheels come in many different sizes and can be floor standing or table top units. The prize slots most often can be printed out on your desktop printer and adding color including a photo of each prize will add to the magic. See on our website Prize Wheel.

What actually constitutes a "Pop-up Display?"

The term pop-up display is often misunderstood since there are several types of displays that can fall into that category. To an experienced trade show industry professional a "pop-up display" usually refers to a standard 10 x 10 curved display that utilizes magnetic front panels that are either fabric covered or graphic printed. Pop-up displays often utilize their shipping case as a front counter or podium. The industry term for this is a "case-to-counter" conversion kit.

There are several newer types of displays that fall into the "pop-up" category including big fabric displays and flag frame displays. The difference between a traditional pop-up display and a big fabric pop-up display is that with the newer style, big fabric displays the graphic actually remains on the frame when the display is setup and taken down. Where the traditional pop-up displays need to have the graphics detached and reattached for setup and breakdown.

The flag frame style of pop-up displays also keep their graphics in place when setup and taken down. This obviously makes it much easier to and less time consuming to setup and break down the newer styles of pop-up displays versus the traditional pop-up displays. The main difference between a flag frame and a big fabric pop-up display is the graphics configurations. A big fabric display utilizes a large single graphic graphic where a flag frame unit allows for multiple graphic panels which adds a level of versatility and style.

How to Identify Dates and Locations for Industry Tradeshows

One of the most common questions we hear from clients is: "How can I find a list of tradeshows in my industry?" Of course we want to help our clients to find trade shows to participate in because that means more displays and graphics which is what we produce. For years we would do the research and follow up with the customers who asked with one or two recommendations. It was a lot of work and a frustrating task.

After many years of researching this information the hard way, B2B Communications comes along with a great resource known as "The Trade Show Calendar" which we quickly installed on our website as a tool for our clients to use self-service style. You can see the tool at http://www.cdsdisplays.com/resources/.

The Trade Show Calendar lets you search for trade shows by industry, location, date, and much more. The results include important data such as square feet of the show, number of exhibitors and attendance. Possibly the best feature is that the results also include a link to the website for the show itself.

This feature has been a great addition to our website and provides a great resource for our team internally and our clients. We hope you enjoy its value as well.

Are You Still Renting Flat Screens?

We find it hard to believe that many companies are still renting LCD, Plasma or LED flat panel TVs and Computer Monitors for their trade show booths.

Considering that the cost to purchase these screens has come down so much in the past year, it is actually cheaper to buy them than to rent them even one time in many cases.

We are now recommending that our clients purchase new flat screens for their trade shows and then give them away to either their employees or raffle them off at the end of the show.

In the above scenario you are actually spending the same money or less than when you were renting flat screens, but you now get the added benefit of a very happy employee, customer or prospect while also saving some money in the process. In addition having the screens in advance eliminates the stress related to hoping you have the proper mount or cables that will be compatible with a rental screen.

For one example we had a client who was renting two 50" flat screens for their trade show display and were paying an average rental cost of $1,200 each. They now buy these units for $900 each and have had some really fun contests in their office and at the show for the 50" giveaways.

Our company CDS Displays ( http://www.cdsdisplays.com/) used to rent flat panel monitors to our clients and although we miss the revenue that it generated, we now suggest to all of our clients that they purchase flat panel screens.

How to use Microsites to Increase Booth Traffic at Trade Shows

One of the most successful "pre-show" marketing campaigns I ever executed included a show-specific microsite and a direct mail postcard.

For those of you who don't know what a microsite is - the best explanation I can provide is that it is a secondary, topic, event, or keyword specific website that lives completely outside of your main website. A good example of this is our "trade show display rental" microsite. Our main web address is ( www.cdsdisplays.com ) but we also have several additional websites that are technically "microsites." One of them is ( www.tradeshowdisplayrentals.net ) this is a keyword specific microsite that shows up on the first page of Google when someone specifically searches for "trade show display rentals." Another one we use for our business is ( www.expandproducts.com ) We are a dealer for Expand and the microsite allows us to focus on their product line and also comes in on the first page of Google.

This particular "pre-show campaign" included a product specific microsite that housed a video demo of the new product launch that was to be showcased at the upcoming industry trade show. This was for the medical device market. In order to create buzz before the show and additional traffic at the booth, we created a contest with a laptop giveaway.

A postcard was sent to pre-registered attendees that provided teaser information about the new product launch and drove traffic to the microsite with a contest promotion. Once at the microsite attendees could enter to win the laptop. Of course the entry form included some pre-qualifying questions and asked if the visitor would like to schedule a meeting during the event.

Approximately 3,000 postcards were mailed and the site received 1,800 visitors which is by far the highest response rate we have ever seen from a single postcard mailing.

Surprisingly only half of the visitors entered the contest, but of the nearly 900 who did enter 22 of them also scheduled an appointment for a one-on-one meeting at the show and 16 of the 22 actually showed up and met.

I don't know about you, but anytime you can have 16 pre-qualified, interested party meetings scheduled at your booth 30 days before a show from a single postcard and microsite you are off to a great show.

In addition to the microsite response, bringing the postcard to the booth would also enter you in the laptop giveaway and over 300 attendees showed up at the booth with the postcard. This pre-show marketing campaign was one of the most successful that we have seen and the microsite was the anchor in its success.

Why do prices vary so much for similar products?

Have you ever wondered how there can be such major price differences for similar products from different suppliers? We get that question quite often and the answer is very difficult to answer. Consider the following examples.

I recently needed a new clothes dryer and went to Sears. I was surprised at the range in pricing considering that they all do the same thing. (dry clothes) The least expensive option was only $319 while the most expensive unit was over $1,500. How is this possible? Who would pay $1,500 for a product when there is a competitive option for only $319? (I bought the $450 option by the way.)

Obviously the same scenario plays out every day at car dealerships across the country. You can buy a new car for as little as $14,000, but most people spend between $25,000 - $35,000 for their new car and many people spend $50,000 - $60,000 or even more for a new car. Why?

There are many reasons that there are such a wide gaps in price ranges for cars, appliances and of course trade show displays. The main reason is quality. We all know that quality matters, but how do you compare and put a value on quality? Considering that almost everything comes with a warranty and usually all options (even the cheap ones) have a minimum quality standard that is "good enough." So why does anyone ever spend so much more for similar products when dramatically less expensive options are available?

Is it brand? Does marketing really hypnotize us to spend our money foolishly? Is it service? Maybe. I know that I am willing to spend a little more for excellent service. How about features? Oh yeah, now I'm seeing it - its features. We need to have those power windows, leather seats, and satellite radio right?

Features really are the most logical reason for price differences. That $1,500 clothes dryer was red bright and it was as shiny as a new car. It also had a big circle glass door and a chrome handle - plus a digital display and 32 different temperature settings. Wow!

In the trade show display industry "features" include reconfiguration options, portability, and of course design styling. But what happens when someone "knocks off" a unit that includes all the features, but it is simply made with less expensive components and materials? That's where quality comes back in to the equation.

CDS Displays offers a good quality economy retractable banner stand display for $299. A similar unit from the top "brand" name sells for nearly $600. You can also buy similar display stands online for as little as $99. What would you do? We would love to hear your feedback on this. We know it is entirely possible that the $99 stand may be good enough for some people. We also know that very many people buy the $600 units.

So why do prices vary so much for similar products?
 Please comment - we want your opinions on this topic.

2011 Summer Trade Show Season

The Summer has traditionally been the "slow" time of the year for trade shows, but 2011 is seeing something new. Many of the fall shows have changed their dates for 2011 and will take place in the summer. Specifically the HBA Global Expo in New York's Javits Convention Center.

The 2011 HBA Global Expo is taking place June 28 - 30 this year and is a nice change for companies like CDS Displays who provides displays, exhibit rentals and graphics to several HBA Global exhibitors. We are happy to see this popular show moved to the summer.

CDS has provided so many exhibits for the HBA Global Expo over the years that we actually created a separate micro-site specifically for HBA Global exhibitors. www.hbaexhibitrentals.com is our show specific website. We are considering creating a similar site for the New York Toy Fair since that too is a very busy rental show for CDS Displays. You can see some of our 2010 Toy Fair display examples at our main website http://www.cdsdisplays.com/ and on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/cdsdisplays.

Save Big Money at your next Trade Show

You can save big money at your next trade show by simply reducing the size and weight of your overall exhibit. Don't you know that the shipping companies and show sites charge you to handle your exhibit in transit based on it's weight.

Your shipping fees can be cut in half or more by designing a display that is light weight and portable versus a large custom crated monster. Shipping is only a portion of the cost. The next expense that can be greatly reduced is your "material Handling." (also known as "Drayage") The material handling rate on the last show that we arranged at the Javits Center in New York was $137 per 100 lbs. This equals $1.37 per pound of freight that you bring into the building.

We see many companies who do not hesitate to ship 5,000 or 10,000 or more pounds of crates into a convention center. You can do the math yourself, but prove our point a 10,000 pound crated exhibit at the rate of $1.37 per pound would cost $13,700 just to bring in the convention center. We are sure your company can find much better things to spend $13K on.

CDS has been a leader in designing and producing lightweight exhibits since 1983. We have saved companies as much as $100,000 on their annual trade show expenses simply by designing displays and exhibits with weight and shipping size in mind from the start.

Even if you are not able to look to switch to a lighter weight exhibit right away, we urge you to consider a lighter load. Believe it or not just 2 cases of bottle water packed in your crate can add over $70 to both your shipping and drayage fees. That's $140 or $3 per bottle.

Now how much do you think your paying for that over-sized wooden crate, of those heavy counter units? By simply replacing a heavy wood and laminate based counter with a lightweight, fabric and aluminum based counter you can actually save close to $500 per show - per counter.

We offer some free cost savings worksheets on our website ( www.cdsdisplays.com/costsavings ) to help you determine just how much you can save by thinking light before your next show.