What's New In Portable Trade Show Exhibits

Once upon a time there were only Portable Pop Up Displays. Then someone came up with a portable folding panel display and during the rest of the late 80's and most of the 90's there was one copycat version after another of these basic kit designs. So, even in an industry trained to help it's customers stand out in a crowd, the trade show business was full of copycats.

The good news is that there have been a number of exhibit innovations during the course of this decade. The bad news for those looking for a truly portable exhibit is that little by little the new systems evolved into heavier custom systems that required larger, non Ups-able shipping cases. For instance, a 10 x 10 rendering of a truss exhibit on any given web site looks portable enough. To the inexperienced person in the market for a portable trade show exhibit, truss booths appear to be a pretty exciting option due to a combination of factors, including the fact that they can support a lot of weight and also display large format graphics. The problem however, is in the packing. They must ship in cases too large to go via Fed-Ex and it is possible for this fact to go unnoticed until it's too late for the purchaser.

Over the last 12 months on the other hand, a few new systems have come onto the market that once again fall into the portable category. Portable being defined as a display that sets up relatively easily by one or two people and that packs into small enough shipping cases as to ship via UPS or Fed-Ex.

The newest systems are not only portable, but they incorporate a long overlooked display elements that allow for a lot of design related creativity. For example, combine the many different Plexiglas colors with dye-sublimated tension fabric and it is possible to end up with a portable that is up-to-date, modern, custom looking and that presents a first class image.