Trade show checklist for exhibiting teams
Exhibiting at a trade show commits a large share of the marketing budget months before anyone stands at the booth, and most of that spend is locked in by deadlines in the exhibitor manual. Miss them and the following weeks go to paying show-site rates for services that had an early-bird price, chasing a crate that never left the advance warehouse, and typing up scanned leads that sales expected the Monday after the show.
This trade show checklist covers the work for the marketing or events team that runs the booth, from booking the space through services orders, shipping, staffing, and lead capture, to handing qualified leads to a named sales owner after the show closes.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should you start planning for a trade show?
Six months before the show for a booth of any size, and no later than three. The exhibitor manual's early-bird deadlines for services and shipping usually fall six to eight weeks out, and booth graphics need final artwork several weeks before that, so a shorter runway means rush fees at every step.
Who should own the trade show checklist?
One person on the marketing or events team owns the whole checklist, even though sales staffs the booth and takes the leads afterwards. Split ownership is how order deadlines get missed, because each side assumes the other submitted the form. The owner can assign individual steps out, and still tracks all of them.
What do you do if your booth shipment is delayed or lost?
Call the show's general contractor first, since freight often sits unlogged in the advance warehouse or on the loading dock. If it is genuinely lost, the fallback is same-day banner printing near the venue and furniture rented through the show services desk. Logged tracking numbers make the search fast, so keep them where the on-site team can see them.
Does pre-show outreach belong to the booth team or the wider marketing calendar?
Outreach that books meetings at the booth belongs to the booth team, and brand campaigns that happen to mention the show do not. The practical test is whether the email carries a booking link for the show floor. Booth-meeting outreach has to land three to four weeks out, so it sits on the same deadline list as shipping and services.
Can you run a trade show checklist in a spreadsheet?
A spreadsheet works when one person runs the whole show. Once the rota, the shipping, and the lead handoff belong to different people, a shared task list is safer because each step carries an owner and a due date. Teams that coordinate in Slack can run the checklist there with an app like Chaser, so shift owners check items off where they already work.
