Your Ultimate Trade Show Packing List

The trade show is the best way to interact with both potential clients and others in the industry in a casual, comfortable way. There’s always so much to see and do, and getting over-excited might lead you to be a bit too hasty while getting prepared. Never risk underperforming because of a lack of resources, and keep your trade show packing list of essentials handy!

Your Next Trade Show Packing List!

We’ve divided up our list into helpful subcategories to make it easier to read and easier to check things off and get it all ready to go!

Your Promo Materials

First and foremost, you’re there to represent your company and put out awareness – so you’ve got to have your promotional materials ready! This includes (but is not limited to):

Signs and Banners

Decorate your booth, draw in their attention! Nobody’s going to visit a booth without anything there, and forgetting your branded signage is a massive faux pas.

Business Cards

There’s never such a thing as “bringing too many business cards”. You can bring boxes and boxes and it’s still a great idea to keep another box somewhere else as a backup. Keep them handy, keep them plentiful, and keep them wherever you go to really capture those leads.

Media 

If you have presentations, graphics, videos, or anything else of that vein prepared for your booth, make sure you have both the means to display them and as many copies of it as possible available. Hosting your materials on the cloud makes it readily accessible, but that still comes with its drawbacks. Make plan A having your media on a flash drive or external hard drive with you.

Tools 

Utility Knife

A good, sharp blade comes in handy so much more often than you’d think. Opening packages, removing tags, cutting down paper – a good utility knife will do it all. Keep one handy, but be careful!

Superglue

The end-all fix-all for a number of minor alterations you’re probably never going to see coming. Such a little bit can go a long way for patching up holes or fixing any broken display products in a pinch, so a tube or two never hurts.

Screwdriver

A good flat head screwdriver is more powerful than just a stick used to tighten down loose table legs. With a bit of creativity, this becomes a versatile tool for a surprising number of day-to-day problems.

First Aid Kit

A venue with a lot of people walking and milling about is bound to have some accidents here and there. Keep yourself and the people around you safe with a small bag of bandages, antiseptic, gauze, ace wraps, and cold compresses just in case!

Office Supplies

Pens, Pencils, Markers, Highlighters

Information is king, and being able to write down numbers, figures, names, places, or dates as quickly as possible is a massively important ability. Pens and pencils for writing, a marker for making a statement, and highlighters for demonstrating the most important parts of a document. Always keep these on you.

Stapler, Tape, Rubber Bands, and Zip Ties

We’re bundling all these together (Ha!) into one block because they all serve roughly the same purpose – keep things where they’re supposed to be. It’s up to you to decide where these will be applicable to your area, but having them all around never hurts!

Sticky Notes

Keeping notes around for yourself and others can make or break an event – never catch yourself fumbling around for spare paper and peel yourself off a slip just like that!

Extension Cords and Power Strips

Devices need power, but sometimes the closest outlet is just not nearly close enough. Have your power right where you need it and never be caught with your pants down.

Bags, Bags, Bags!

Ziploc bags, shopping bags, tote bags, you name it. Nobody likes juggling around armfuls of loose items, so keep these handy for anyone nearby! Bonus points if they’re branded, of course.

Storage Boxes

Back on the idea of a place for everything and everything in its place – keep all your stuff neatly organized and not only will finding things be much easier, but breakdown will be that much simpler at the end.

Personal Effects

Extra Outfits

Mistakes are going to happen, but having spare shirts, pants, and shoes ensures that you’re going to keep looking your best and representing your brand perfectly!

Phone Chargers

Nothing’s worse than being without a charged cell phone. Keep connected and keep a charge – you never know when you’ll need to make an emergency call. That, and having spare chargers available for any passerby in need puts you in good graces with them right off the bat.

Portable Batteries

Just another extra layer of preparedness – if the outlets are full or if you’re not in a position to sit down and charge, you can still keep your devices alive and well for a little while longer with a good power bank.

Hand Sanitizer

You’re going to be shaking a lot of hands, handling a lot of materials, and overall being busy as can be. With that in mind, keeping your hands clean is probably a really good step – especially if you plan on eating. 

Snacks and Water

Speaking of eating, you’re going to need to keep yourself going throughout the day. If there’s a beat between visitors or if lunch plans got canceled because you need to man the booth, having some small snacks and drinks nearby will get you by. You’ll thank yourself later for this one.

Exhibit Pros Have You Covered!

Now, thanks to our trade show packing list, you should be good to go. For everything that you can’t have packed and ready to go at the trade show, Exhibit Pros is there to have your back. We have large tradeshow booths, furniture, A/V, and more to help your booth look and run its absolute best. Contact us and we can help get you on your way to stand out in the crowd now!