It's easy to underestimate the time it takes to properly plan a successful exhibition. To avoid the stress and headaches of exhibiting you need to start planning at least 4 months ahead of the show. This will make life for you and your colleagues much easier and help to avoid last minute panics and extra expenses. Appoint an exhibition co-ordinator with overall responsibility for the show. List out tasks and allocate responsibility and stick to your deadlines. Circulate the exhibition plan to the departments and individuals responsible and chase them up!

A written exhibition plan should provide:

• Objectives
• Time scales
• Budgets
• Space requirements
• Stand and graphic design parameters
• On-site services
• Transportation and logistics
• Staffing levels and training
• Pre- and post-show promotions
• Show evaluation criteria
• On-stand data capture
• Follow-up procedure for leads
• Each part of the exhibition plan works together to create synergy and success.