Trade show Booth Design Best Practices for Meeting Space

While your trade show booth design will pique the interest of many potential customers, you’ll likely need a designated area for seated discussions or presentations. Here's how to determine which of these trade show meeting space options is the best fit for you.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit our website.

1. Open Meeting Space

An open meeting space provides a casual spot for show attendees to sit and have a conversation with your staff while reviewing promotional materials. While this style works well in booths of all sizes, it is often utilized in smaller booths that lack the square footage for semi-private or private space.

10x10 inline booth

Recommendations & Best Practices:

• High-top tables and stools are a great way to incorporate seating without a large footprint
• Entertain existing clients in a comfortable lounge area through the use of a sofa and side tables
• Utilize a corner of your booth, or otherwise out-of-the-way area, so that it doesn't interfere with the flow of traffic

• Try to keep the space away from loud multimedia or areas in your booth where others will be talking

Limitations to Consider:

• Lacks privacy for sensitive conversations, or for situations that require soundproofing
• Difficult to accommodate group meetings with more than four people
• Lacks flexibility for multimedia presentations that require computers, projectors, or other displays  

2. Semi-Private meeting Space

A semi-private meeting space also provides a casual environment to speak with leads and clients, but with fewer distractions than an open-meeting area. In terms of design, this designated space is created through the use of strategically placed partitions and dividers.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Norder.

20x30 island booth

Recommendations & Best Practices:

• Best for trade show booth designs that are 20x20 or larger
• Utilize clear walls and windows to maintain an open layout throughout your booth
• Strategically placed dividers create a more focused environment for discussions, while also offering additional space for branded messaging

Limitations to Consider:

• Similar to an open-meeting space, this option lacks complete privacy 
• Requires a more strategic booth design, otherwise it could feel cramped and unwelcoming
• May feel too casual for in-depth sales presentations and formal business discussions

3. Private Space 

Private, closed-off meeting room is ideal for formal business discussions, intensive sales presentations, loud multimedia demonstrations, and for exclusive VIP lounges. This level of privacy allows you to provide personalized attention to your guests in a quiet setting at the show.

Recommendations & Best Practices:

• Ideal for a two-story booth or large island booth that is at least 20x30 in size
• Stay welcoming and approachable with an open or semi-private area – in addition to the private meeting room

30x40 split island with an enclosed soundproof room and two product kiosks

Limitations to Consider:

• Your budget – do the benefits of a private meeting room outweigh the cost of more complex construction?
• Building permits – many cities require the pre-approval of two-story booth designs, as they are deemed “structures” and carry a stricter set of building requirements
• Your timeline – the design and fabrication may take longer to complete than more straightforward designs, especially if additional permits and approval stages are involved
• Shipping requirements - complex designs often require special shipping needs
  
  

Next Steps

Meeting spaces can be simple or complex when creatively incorporated in the design of your trade show booth. It's important that the type of space supports your trade show goals, your product or service, your budget, and your timeline. 

Talk to an exhibit house for trade show booth ideas. We will work with you to create the most successful layout for both your exhibit booth and your business goals.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit 3 Side Open Exhibition Stalls.

So I did my second craft show this past weekend and I noticed something interesting. I've read online many times that you should have a layout where people can walk into your booth and see your items. So, when I initially set up my booth I did it in a "u" shape.

However, we were noticing that people were just kind of walking by, scanning, but not really stopping in. So midway through the day, we did a quick switcheroo and moved a 6' table to be facing the aisle and then had the smaller tables kind of back and inside, so people could still walk in but there was much more "frontage" with our items.

We noticed immediately people started lingering and looking at our items more thoroughly instead of just scanning.

Now, this show was totally dead - I ended up covering my fee and gas plus a little profit, but there were some sellers who never sold anything and so since the traffic level was so low it was really hard to say if it was really making a difference or if it was just coincidental and there were more real shoppers at that point in the day.

So - have you guys found any big differences? I've got a nice big show coming up which is much more targeted towards my audience next month and I want to make sure and maximize my effectiveness :) I think the biggest mistake most people make is the dreaded "U". I think most of the veterans here recommend lining up your tables as close to the crowd as possible.

You may not always have that choice but even if you can only fit one table at the front edge of your tent; do it and put your best items there.

There are so many reasons why. First off is thresholds. Crossing a threshold means a commitment. Then think about how many you have with tables to the sides?

You ask your customer to; one, walk into your tent. Two, cross your tables edge, I know that may sound weak but think about how you've narrowed the opening of your tent. Three, people tend to hang outside, so they may even have to walk past them. Four, off the footpath, walkway if your outside. Lastly, they may even have to walk past you.

In retail, it's called the butt bump. People just don't like that. Warehouse stores are partially the result of studies done on the subject.

The closer your tables are to the customer the more they can see.

Lastly, there's nothing between you and the customer, no table, counter or display case. Customers just feel more comfortable that way. If you sell expensive items it's also more conducive to the negotiating process. Think jewelry stores.
I believe table placement depends on the market you are showing in...

A farmer's market tends to have more quick walk by customers so it is productive to have a table across the front of your booth to make them slow down somewhat... You do need to make sure however that you don't have small 'walk away' items on that front table, but enough to draw the attention and interest of the customer into the rest of your booth...

Craft shows tend to have more customers who are there to browse and shop and they generally have no hesitation in entering your booth... especially if things are displayed in a pleasing and inviting manner without to much clutter.

And yes, 'butt bumping' is very important to consider when laying out your booth, don't make your space to crowded or even if you get someone to enter your space, they will feel uncomfortable and crowded and will exit faster than they entered...

In the end, we are normally only alloted a small 10 x 10 area of space to work with and we need to be creative with that space... Customers do not walk with their heads/eyes downward.. you need to grab their attention at eye level and make them want to come in... I've learned that same exact thing about the U shape as well!

I agree with Kevin, he's got the right of it. However I've learned something else, that as long as you have something between you and the customer, such as a table, you can still get away with the U shape. At shows with enough room, I set up a small table as a little cash register and either sit or stand behind it and it made quite a difference. People walked in to my U shaped booth a bit easier.

Of course, I've changed things around now and have an "h" shape with me standing behind my one and only 4' table and walking room to the side of the table. (I have clothing racks in front along the sides and other racks continuing down the right side. When facing my booth, the "h" is flipped.) People walk in much more readily now! You can do the same general shape with tables.

Oh and having a back wall to my booth has seemed to change everything! It keep the customers eyes from wandering to what might be behind and keeps the focus on your booth.

I agree with Shirley too, though. It really does depend on the market. There's one I do where no amount of walk in space would work, things have to be right at the edge. Thankfully there's room to walk on all three sides.

So I think the thing to take away is that no matter how you set up always have something between you and the customer, it makes them feel so much more comfortable about coming into your booth to look around. And have a back wall! Wow, thanks guys for this thread. I've been doing shows for a couple of years recently, and I'm still up in the air about how to arrange my booth. I did very well last weekend but that's because there was no one next to me so I was able to have 10 ft. of table facing the walkway, but also 10 ft. of table down the side that led to an exit door. My best show ever. But I was pretty much able to get all the stuff I brought on 20 ft. of tables. When you only have 10 ft. frontage, I tend to put my table along the front of the booth and put my stuff, as much as I can, on the table flat. I have Tshirts and would like to hang them up, but folks don't go through all of them when they're hanging, usually only the first four or five, then they move on.. It's better for me if they're laying flat folded so the design is visible, but then I can't put everything out either. It's a toss up. I also bring other items, like hand towels, my baskets, some scarves, and usually lady's hankies. (They sell well at craft shows.) But I'm always at odds with my booth buddy about how to set up. She sells only one item and can fit hers along the one 10 ft. table along the front edge. However, I know that it looks awful to have this big 10 ft. square with one table along the front and the whole thing behind us is 'wasted space.' Still haven't found the optimum arrangement and constantly tweaking. Like the idea of having black fabric behind us, but as I come in a car with all my stuff, I couldn't possibly fit anything that big in my car. I realize that booth configuration can make or break a show, but how the devil do you decide what to do 'this time' versus 'last time.' Years ago when I had a B&M store, we were constantly changing the front of the store to look fresh and new. It was a constant battle, lemme tell 'ya. And it's not over yet, is it? Just to give you an example. I am at a show this weekend and the expected attendance for The weekend will be between 25k and 30k and granted there are ebbs and flows in the crowd. But much of the time the aisles are very cramped and it is top ranked show and excellent venue. Believe it or not there have been surveys and studies that show bringing people into your booth rather that lineed up infront of your booth blocking traffic generates greater revenues. I would highy recomend that you attend some shows put on by promoters such as Huffman productions, Gilmore Shows, Christmas made in the South, Sugarloaf, Christmas in the Country, Yellow Daisey Festival. These are all shows that are on my annuals tours and are all in the top 25 nationally raanked shows. You will find a very, very, small percentage of exhibitors have there product line up in the front of there booth, as a matter of fact true juried shows that are juried on a point system just do not allow this type of set up. Do alittle research on juried booth shots. You will not find any with tables lined up across the front pf the booth. Just Google juried booth shots and hit images. See what comes up. Now I realize there is a big difference between fine art jury and craft jury because I do both however, the same principal applies.