Exhibiting Nightmares
...ies to make sure you are satisfied. If you are a new exhibitor though, you usually end up with the “bottom of the barrel” workers that will not do any extra work without some extra cash slid under the table. One of the most common complaints exhibiting companies have is that they are not allowed to assist with the construction of the booth or even the installation of their product. The general motto is that if you as an exhibitor doing anything whatsoever to physically assist with the set up process of the booth, you are taking a job away from a union worker. This can include anything from opening your crates to picking up an object that is lying on the floor. I was once disciplined for assisting in the extraction of an item from a crate that was too heavy for the people I had been assigned. Practically nothing happens unobserved on a tradeshow floor. At any given time you can look around and see several union stewards walking around. Stewards usually fit a certain description. They are typically in the late forties to mid fifties, heavily built and mean. Their job is to walk around and observe the work being done by the union laborers and resolve any conflicts an exhibitor may be having with anyone in their setup crew. Stewards are also there to make sure the exhibitors are not breaking any rules as well. It is a forgone conclusion that if you try to assist in any way, a steward will be right there to tell you to stop. The setup environment can be rather unpleasant as well. The convention halls typically do nothing to accommodate the construction process. The temperature is usually ten to fifteen degrees hotter inside the hall due to the fact that the air-conditioning is not turned on. This is fine when the show is in Denver or some place typically as cold, but when you’re in Miami in the middle o...