WHY EXHIBITORS SHOULD CONSIDER DOUBLE DECK EXHIBITS FOLLOWING COVID-19
If your exhibit design currently optimizes floor space with two stories, your investment in this type of exhibit design may just be one of the best business decisions you have made.
COVID-19 has brought on many new obstacles for large event holders and group gatherings. One of the largest obstacles for events moving forward will be occupancy limits, as spacing guidelines will most likely be in effect for quite some time.
How will you have a leg up on the exhibitors in your industry who haven’t yet set their sights on a double-deck exhibit? A recent article published by FRAME, the world’s leading media brand for interior-design professionals, addresses this spacing shift we may need to see implemented in large gathering areas. The company asked new designers to devise concepts addressing post-pandemic spaces. They asked these designers to invent new ways for adapting to our new normal of social distancing.
One designer and his team created an idea based around “balconies of the future” as a solution for COVID-era social gatherings. The team’s main goal was to reconnect people in a safe way. They used the six-foot social distancing guideline to develop hexagon-shaped flooring modules that can be puzzled on top of nearly any surface.
Since floor space becomes limited when people are expected to distance themselves from others, this is where the design team suggests a system that works its way upwards, similar to scaffolding. Creating different levels of flooring in one area helps to extend the floor space vertically, instantly allowing for a greater occupancy.
This idea is very similar to what we have already seen many exhibitors do prior to COVID-19. A two-story exhibit allows for more space for attendees to roam about the exhibit while minimizing the cost for additional (and expensive) floor space.
Only now, the idea behind two-story exhibits won’t be so much about saving money on floor space for the persistent exhibitors. Having a second level of your exhibit will still allow you to save money on floor space, yes. But now it will also give you more bang for your buck since booth capacities will be more limited, and a second level will give you the room to allow more guests into your booth space at once. More guests mean more opportunities to speak to potential buyers and generate more sales.
However, the main saving grace of a two-story exhibit is that it will allow exhibit halls to keep people more safely distanced.
If your business is waiting to get back out on the show floor, we highly recommend looking into a double deck exhibit! These impressive structures are not only great for increasing floor space for products and attendees, but you can also use them to create meeting rooms. You’ll have the option to utilize your second level however you would like! It’s important to have the ability to invite highly qualified prospects to a second level meeting room to discuss business above the main trade show floor. This allows for social distancing and for conversations to be more comfortable as privacy can be maintained.
If you have yet to look into double deck exhibit systems, reach out to Skyline Entourage to discuss the future of exhibiting! The designers from FRAME are forward-thinking with their predictions of the ways that event spaces will need to shift in the new COVID-era.
It’s so important to make the most of your space on the show floor, and with a two-level exhibit, you’ll definitely be making the most of your space by shifting upward while keeping your booth guests’ safety in mind.
By: Briquelle Neyens –
