Welcome to the wild world of trade show planning, where the terrain is as tricky as a jungle and your booth space is your base camp. Imagine you’re on an expedition, map in hand, ready to claim the perfect spot on the show floor. You’re eyeing the best routes for foot traffic, scouting for visibility, and steering clear of natural hazards like the dreaded column or the much-avoided bathroom.
In this jungle, the flora varies widely – from the common inline (linear) booths to the majestic island booths, and occasionally, the elusive peninsula and endcap configurations. Selecting your space is like choosing your adventure based on a 2-D map, where a peninsula might masquerade as an endcap. So, what’s the big deal about these two? Let’s dive into the wild differences!
Peninsula booths are the show floor’s peacocks: open on three sides with a full back wall, flaunting an 8ft standard height for that wall, and half of each side, without a care for line-of-sight restrictions. They’re the spot to make your brand strut its stuff.
Peninsula booths are the show floor’s peacocks: open on three sides with a full back wall, flaunting an 8ft standard height for that wall, and half of each side, without a care for line-of-sight restrictions. They’re the spot to make your brand strut its stuff.
Endcap booths, on the other hand, are the chameleons. Positioned like a peninsula but with a twist – they’re surrounded by inline booths, with three open sides but a tricky back wall rule. Only the central half can rise to the standard height, ensuring everyone gets a piece of the visibility pie.
Our venture into the trade show wilderness taught us a valuable lesson in adaptability and preparation. What we had envisioned as a grand peninsula booth turned out to be an endcap—a mirage in the desert of our expectations. Despite the initial shock, this unexpected terrain forced us to innovate, utilizing our dual 10’ backlit displays to make the most of the limited space. This twist in our journey underscored the unpredictable nature of trade show exploration, where every turn can bring new challenges and opportunities.
This experience served as a stark reminder of the critical need for thorough reconnaissance. Ensuring the terrain matches your map is paramount; when the Exhibitor Kit lacks clarity, a direct line to your show operations guide is essential. Such diligence can prevent being caught unawares in the wilderness of trade show planning, allowing your team to thrive in any environment, be it the open plains of an island booth or the dense foliage surrounding an endcap. In the end, our expedition was a success, not in spite of, but because of the obstacles we overcame, proving once more that the most memorable journeys are those with a few unexpected detours.
Guest Blogger: The Exhibitor Advocate/ Melanie Swanson. The Exhibitor Advocate amplifies the voice of exhibitors to ensure the enduring success of exhibitions and events by collaborating with all stakeholders to promote and cultivate open communication, consistent standards, and industry best practices. https://exhibitoradvocacy.com/navigating-the-trade-show-jungle-peninsula-booths/#
