Building a Trade Show Booth on a Budget

Where to Start | The Podiums | The Desk | Applying Finish | The Backdrop | Testing | At the Show | Learning


Part 7: Wisdom...

So, what did I learn from this process that is worth passing on to anyone else crazy enough to give this a go?
  • First and foremost, eyelets and hooks are a serious pain in the ass! Once you get them made they work pretty well but making them sucks.
  • Try to get large pieces of material instead of lots of little pieces. I don't have a truck so I had to get most of my stuff in 2x4ft pieces. First off, it's much more expensive this way and second, for things like oak veneer it's really hard to match color and grain.
  • Work from some sort of plan. Because of all the curves and interlocking pieces you need to be really careful about anticipating where things will go and how they'll attach. You can't just screw stuff together if you expect things to come apart for transport.
  • If you don't have a trim router, use black formica. I don't have a trim router and my router is pretty hard to wield on curved survaces even with two hands. There are a few places where I hit the formica a bit but was able to use a black felt pen to cover these up.

Where to Start | The Podiums | The Desk | Applying Finish | The Backdrop | Testing | At the Show | Learning
Kondra Systems