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Each year, thousands of exhibitions are held in the UK, with estimated numbers of visitors clocking up at 6.92 million in 2023 alone. If you wish to join these stats and run your very own showcase or expo, you’ve come to the right place. Shortly, we’ll be giving you a comprehensive overview of all the steps you should follow during the exhibition planning process, plus some best practices you can employ to ensure a smooth and purposeful event.
As leading lanyard producers, we’re well-versed in the importance of positioning your organisation as a leading voice in such spaces and are familiar with the challenges. Up to your eyeballs in admin? Do you need a refresher that doesn’t take much time to read? Perhaps you’re completely new to the discipline of exhibition event management. If that is you, then this guide will answer all your questions.
Before we get down to business, though, download our free exhibition planning checklist, as we’ll be working through it step-by-step, explaining which tasks you’ll need to undertake and when.
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- Is Exhibition Event Management for Everyone?
- Exhibition Planning in a Nutshell
- Your Essential 15-Step Checklist
Can Anyone Try Organising an Exhibition?
In shorthand, yes, but here’s our more nuanced take.
Of course, there’s nothing stopping you from organising an exhibition or other large-scale events; however, the process comes with a great deal of responsibility, admin, time management and people skills. Depending on the scope of your envisioned event, it may even eat up a considerable number of hours, so it’s not something to be taken lightly – particularly if you are relying on personal funds to reimburse speakers and hire out venues.
This said, the process is fairly straightforward, and the steps it comprises easy to learn on the job. If you’re self-employed or organising your exhibition as a sort of side-hustle, it’s advisable to enlist friends, volunteers or the support of event management professionals to share the load.
What Does the Process Involve?
While the precise order and nature of tasks will vary between exhibitions, here are the key ingredients of a successful event:
- A refined concept including scale, audience, location, objectives and outcomes
- Realistic budgeting and careful financial tracking
- A unique and recognisable event brand identity
- Consistent event marketing and efficient ticketing
- Clear and timely communication between stakeholders (venue and event staff, attendees, speakers, catering and security)
- An appropriate venue and back-up venues
- Accessibility and event safety, from visitor management to crowd control
- Thorough risk assessment and event space logistics
- Staff identification and visibility on the day
- Effective event follow-up and evaluation
- A calm head and a positive attitude!
Download Your Free Event Planning Checklist
Now, if you haven’t already, it’s time to download our blank event planning checklist. With it, you should be able to:
- Anticipate every conceivable task in the run-up to the exhibition
- Prioritise these tasks according to their importance and timeframes
- Assign responsibilities and track your progress
- Complete exhibition follow-up in the knowledge that your event leaves no task forgotten
Your Essential Exhibition Planning Checklist: 15 Steps to Success
Finally, the meat of the article: how to organise an exhibition. Keep your own exhibition planning checklist to the ready in another tab – or one step better, print it off – and use the following instructions as a springboard to identify and assign the necessary activities within your own team. With the template, you can tick off items as they are assigned and completed, making the management that little bit easier.
6+ Months Prior to the Exhibition
1. Define the Purpose & Scope of Your Exhibition
As with any event, it all begins with the conceptual planning – that’s right, no jumping to the fun stuff like designing your merchandise or ordering custom exhibition lanyards. At this early stage, you will need to crystallise what it is you hope to achieve with the exhibition, whether that’s raising money, bringing together a particular community, showcasing your or others’ work or communicating a specific message, theme or concept to the audience. Get as granular as possible.
Ask yourself these guiding questions:
- Who is this event for?
- What does your ideal audience look like?
- What type of exhibition is best suited to your aims? (Solo, duo, group, trade show?)
- When and where do you want to host it?
- What activities will be there?
- How many people will be in attendance?
- What values do I want to bring to the project?
- Will admission be free, fixed price or on a sliding, ‘pay what you can’ scale?
- What outcomes do I envision? And what are my metrics for success?
The larger the scale of the event, the more effort, support and, realistically, funding you will need to pull it off. Also, don’t underestimate the timeframe by which you need to sure up the details; deadlines creep up much faster than you might expect. As such, you should aim to start planning as early as possible.
2. Set a Realistic Budget
One of the most integral aspects of exhibition event management is establishing a realistic budget and sticking to it, as you’ll need funds for the venue hire, paying speakers, catering, staff, potentially software/tech, and any other resources, such as printed materials, stall stands or exhibition lanyards for participants. A good way to stay on track is segmenting your budget into appropriate categories and allocating a certain amount for each; this way, you won’t run into any nasty surprises caused by overspending in one department.
3. Recruit an Event Committee & Organise Team Roles
As they say, many hands make light work. With large-scale events, this couldn’t be truer. Delegate specific tasks or responsibilities to members of your crew. Examples include communications, marketing, venue management and logistics, attendee welfare, volunteer/ staff coordination, speaker/panel liaison and so forth. Make sure to meet semi-regularly or as the event outline develops to create a culture of accountability and keep the momentum going.
4. Hash Out a Master Plan
At this stage, you will have done enough solo brainstorming sessions and/or group meetings to give you a clearer vision of your proposed event. Now, it’s time to put it in writing.
The purpose of this document is to ensure that every aspect of the exhibition logistics and planning stays on track, whatever unforeseen circumstances come your way, all whilst making coordination between fellow organisers much smoother and more transparent.
Under the assumption that some of the following will be subject to change and flexibility, make sure to include the following:
- Key dates for task completion and project milestones
- The proposed time and date for the event
- Your ideal venue and backup options
- Speakers and presenters to invite
- A rough agenda and schedule
- Activities, quiet spaces and catering
- Attendee sign-up and ticketing method
- Suggested marketing activities, including sponsors and publicity
- Individual organiser responsibilities
- SMART objectives to measure success
Note that we’ll come back to many of these to provide more detail.
5. Select a Suitable Venue & Negotiate the Fine Details
It’s time for some outreach! Contact a handful of venues whose capacities match your predicted/target attendance, enquiring about availability, facilities, layout, equipment, hire length, pricing and accessibility.
Consider what impression the venue will create for your exhibition: are you after the grandeur of a large, historic venue? Or is a community-oriented feel of greater importance? Whatever the case, weigh up your options before blindly selecting your favourite venue.
6. Conduct Risk Assessment
Health and safety are paramount to a successful event, and that means conducting a risk assessment that is proportionate to its scale and the degree of risk involved. You’ll need to evaluate and mitigate the various hazards that may arise, such as:
- Fire safety
- Allergies and food hygiene
- Site safety
- Crowd control
- The influence of alcohol
- Medical emergencies
- Traffic and parking
- Weather
- Security
Fortunately, there are many resources available to help you in this department – we recommend starting with the Health and Safety Executive for the official guidance.
7. Invite Speakers & Special Guests
More outreach! Get in touch with the professionals you’d like to attend as speakers, panellists or hosts and pitch the exhibition to them. The earlier you do this, the more likely they will attend. Be transparent about payment upfront and clear on your expectations. LinkedIn, professional speaker websites and your existing network are great places to start, but don’t underestimate the power of a well-placed call out.
8. Plan Your Pre-Event Marketing, From Branding to Publicity
The importance of marketing in your exhibition planning cannot be understated; it helps potential attendees find your event, keeps people posted and enhances your brand identity.
Speaking of… you should be thinking about it holistically, which means going beyond mere social media posts. Create a cohesive visual identity and brand voice for the exhibition that is instantly recognisable and inject it into the following areas:
- Print materials like flyers and posters, which can be displayed in the windows of local businesses or posted through letterboxes
- Social media campaigns and search ads
- Coverage in local press
- Collaboration with sponsors
- Radio appearances
- Networking events
- Mailing lists
Don’t forget merchandise for your staff either; with multipurpose tools like branded T-shirts or custom lanyards, they’ll convey a sense of professionalism all whilst increasing the exposure and awareness of your brand identity among countless other benefits.
3-4 Months Prior to the Exhibition
8. Obtain Licences & Permissions (If Required)
As guided by your risk assessment, ensure that any licences (e.g., for serving alcohol), insurance and other permissions are dealt with a few months prior to the event. Note that purchasing insurance early protects event organisers against unforeseen costs like cancellations, postponements, or property damage that could happen at any time after your plans are confirmed. Again, it’s a matter of ‘the earlier, the better’.
9. Solidify Your Ticketing
If recent mishaps are anything to go by (see the recent Waterstones BookFest fiasco), appropriate ticketing is essential. It allows you to predict how many people to expect on the day, when to amp up your marketing if sales are slow and, ultimately, ensures the venue remains safe for all. Even if your exhibition is free entry, having someone on the doors checking tickets will help you avoid overcrowding.
Eventbrite, TicketTailor and TicketSource are popular among in-person events, but if you want to avoid commission fees, you could also set up a ticket page on your own website.
10. Plan Event Space Layout and Flow
Visit the venue site and plan the layout and flow of your exhibition, including details such as signage, activity locations, maps if required, seating arrangements, clearance for traversing the site, stalls or displays, and where to designate catering.
11. Firm Up Speaker Details & Schedule
Now that much of the logistics are confirmed, check back in with your speakers, ensuring they can still make the date and feel prepared for their role on the day. Let them know when to arrive, provide a specific timeslot, reimburse any travel expenses and connect them with their liaison or greeter.
12. Finalise, Proof & Order Printed Materials/Merchandise
Ensure that on-stand marketing and other merchandise to be used on the day are ready to print. We recommend exploring your options for roll banners, business cards, T-shirts, caps and, of course, different types of lanyards. Once you’ve checked and double-checked the designs, you can place the order. If in doubt, request a sample.
Week Of the Exhibition
13. Send Final Registration Numbers to Catering
At this stage, you’ll have the most accurate prediction of attendees. As such, it’s time to contact your catering staff and let them know what quantity of refreshments will be required.
14. On-The-Day Logistics
Showtime! After months of careful exhibition planning, it’s finally the day of your event, and success now depends on execution. To keep everything running like clockwork, ensure that each area is staffed, every guest feels welcomed, and all attendees can navigate the space with ease.
On-the-day logistics should encompass:
- A check-in and welcome desk equipped with programmes, maps and schedules
- Stewarding and wayfinding to guide attendees and answer logistical questions
- Announcements and emceeing to keep the audience informed and engaged
- Lanyards for staff identification and access management
A Note on the Often Overlooked Role of Lanyards
The utility of exhibition lanyards is broad, however, often overlooked. Serving a range of purposes from staff identification and access management to networking, brand reinforcement and even inclusive messaging, they’re a brilliant tool for improving visibility and minimising confusion. A simple act like using different designs or colours to distinguish between staff, guests, speakers and VIPs can make all the difference.
They also play a subtle but powerful role in building rapport. Branded lanyards create cohesion among staff, signal professionalism and make attendees feel reassured. Plus, with intentional design choices, they can reflect values such as allyship in the workplace, showing your organisation’s commitment to inclusion and social responsibility.
15. Complete Post-Event Follow-Up Tasks (AKA ‘Mopping Up’)
Well done! You survived planning and running your exhibition – but before you put your feet up and have a well-deserved rest, there are a few follow-up procedures you ought to complete.
First, make sure you leave the venue as you found it, clearing away any items you brought with you and giving the space a quick tidy; thank your speakers; share your event highlights across your marketing channels; and pop a date in the diary to regroup for a thorough evaluation.
On that latter point, you might also want to send out surveys to attendees for more accurate feedback, and when you do begin your evaluation, don’t forget to check in with the SMART goals you created earlier. KPIs like social media engagement, donations, media coverage, attendance and staff feedback are also incredibly valuable yardsticks for success.
Get Your Exhibition Planning Down to a Tee
Here ends your whistle-stop tour of exhibition planning. By following each of the steps laid out in the checklist above and heeding our dos and don’ts, you can ensure that both stress remains low during the planning phases and that, on the day, your event runs smoothly. Remember: hindsight is key, so do anticipate any bumps along the road and put mitigative action in place before they have the chance to develop.
For further insights into all things events and organisation, take a look at the rest of our blog.