Stand 14 wants power, a table and a delivery on Monday
An exhibition area in your main hall has forty stands. The organiser sold the stands; your venue provides the space, shell scheme or power, furniture and logistics. Exhibitors email the events coordinator, the organiser, the AV team and sometimes reception, each asking something slightly different. One wants a double power socket, another asks where to send boxes, a third has moved stands and not told anyone.
By build-up day, the coordinator has a spreadsheet, three email folders and a stand plan with pencil notes. Power runs are laid from an out-of-date list.
Exhibitors are many small clients inside one booking
The booking is with the organiser, but the practical requests come from each exhibitor. They need information (build times, delivery address, rules), and they need to order extras that someone has to price, supply and bill. Most venues handle this through email, which does not scale beyond a few stands.
- Stand allocations change as the organiser sells or moves stands.
- Power, furniture, Wi-Fi and graphics orders arrive after the deadline.
- Deliveries turn up without a stand number or a contact.
- Exhibitors' own contractors need to supply documents your venue requires.
- Billing for extras is split: some to the organiser, some to each exhibitor.
Build-up day chaos
Late orders mean last-minute power runs and furniture shortages. Deliveries with no stand number sit in the loading bay. Exhibitors who could not find information phone the venue repeatedly. Unbilled extras leak revenue, and extras billed to the wrong party create disputes with the organiser who brought you the event.
How we build an exhibitor portal
- The organiser uploads or maintains the stand list, and each exhibitor gets a login or unique link to their own page.
- Each page shows the stand number, size, location on the plan, build and breakdown times, delivery instructions and your venue rules.
- Exhibitors order extras (power, furniture, Wi-Fi, lighting) from your price list, with prices shown and payment taken by card through Stripe if you bill them directly.
- Deadlines apply: orders after a date carry your late order rate or need approval, as you choose.
- Contractor documents your venue asks for are uploaded against the stand, and missing ones are chased.
- Load-in slots are booked through the portal, so the loading bay has a timetable.
- Operations receive one list per stand: power, furniture, deliveries and contacts, updated live, plus a stand plan with each order marked.
| Exhibitor task | Where it happens | Who sees it |
|---|---|---|
| Find stand and times | Their portal page | Exhibitor |
| Order power and furniture | Portal, from your price list | Operations and finance |
| Upload contractor documents | Portal | Your events team |
| Book a load-in slot | Portal timetable | Loading bay and security |
Build-up day, planned in advance
Operations lay power and furniture from a current list. Deliveries arrive with stand numbers because exhibitors had clear instructions. The coordinator answers exceptions rather than every question. Extras are billed correctly to whoever ordered them.
The organiser sees a live status of their exhibitors, which helps them chase their own late ones.
After the event, finance has a clean list of every extra ordered, by stand and by payer, and the next exhibition starts from the same portal with a new stand list rather than a fresh set of email folders.
Recognise these signs?
- Exhibitor requests arrive by email to several different people.
- Stand plans are updated by hand and often out of date.
- Power and furniture orders arrive after the deadline.
- Deliveries turn up with no stand number.
- Extras are billed late or to the wrong party.