Interactive Trade Show Booth Design

Creating a Trade Show Booth Part 3: Walkthrough

Congratulations! You’ve arrived at one of the most exciting stages of the trade show booth design process: the walkthrough. Now is when you’ll see your booth come to life, be able to walk through it (as the name would suggest), and imagine how attendees will experience the final result.

While the ship has likely sailed on making large structural changes at this point (hopefully Part 1 and Part 2 helped you sort out the big ticket items), most of the time you can still make small adjustments such as where certain products are displayed, lighting temperatures, and details like that. Let’s take a walk through the walkthrough and learn a bit more about this particular stage.

What to Expect

The walkthrough is where you really start to get an understanding of what your attendees will experience when they arrive at your booth space. This is also the time when you’ll be able to see just how transparent you’ve been with your trade show booth design company to enable them to create your dream booth. If there’s been cloudy communication, there might still be some things that need to be decided on at this point — but if you’ve been straightforward and detailed with your expectations, prepare yourself for an “oh wow” moment.

When you arrive at the booth design company’s offices, they will have cleared out a patch of warehouse space and literally built your booth. It’s a great feeling to round a corner and BAM, there it is! Enjoy this opportunity to see your vision brought to life for the first time. If some of the wall wrapping isn’t yet on or the lighting isn’t finished, don’t fret — there’s still plenty of time to finalize the details. Think of this as your chance to make sure the big picture is what you want.

Make the Most of It

This is your last chance to make any esthetic tweaks or rearrange an item or two, so make the most of it! Really take your time during the walkthrough — if you’re working with a seasoned trade show booth design company like mackenzie EXHIBIT, they know that this is a crucial stage and will let you take all the time you need.

This is a great time to bring some people along from your own company to act as guinea pigs. Choose people who haven’t been a part of the design process at all so that they have a completely fresh view and then listen to their feedback — there’s a good chance they’ll look at things in a new light and give you some invaluable thoughts to consider.

Once the walkthrough is complete, the booth company will make any final changes and then box everything up to be shipped to the trade show.

Tweaking the Trade Show Booth

Don’t give your trade show booth design company a heart attack by walking in and telling them that you want to move walls or change the entire flow of the booth — those are things that should have been addressed in Part 1 and Part 2.

What you CAN change at this point are esthetic details. If you want a picture moved from one wall to another or want to rearrange the shelves within a storage column, that can be done. A great detail to pay attention to at this point is the lighting: is it the temperature what you want? Is it pointing at what you want to showcase? Take some time to imagine the exhibit hall and space you’re in and think about the surrounding light that your booth is already bathed in and how you want your own lighting to interact.

Also stop to consider the add-ons that will need to go with your booth. Is there room behind the counter for a few stools for your employees to use? Or that corner over there — would a standing table fit well and give some room for sales people to review your catalog with potential clients? Really envision how your trade show staff will utilize this space and think about what will make their lives easier and your clients’ experience more memorable.

Say This not That

As the previous parts in this series have said, be as detailed as possible when giving feedback to your trade show booth design company. Professionals like mackenzie EXHIBIT might have been doing this for a while, but that doesn’t make them mind readers — be honest and open with your first, second, and third impressions as you walk through your booth.

Finally, let’s take one last glance back at that list of three to five crucial things you wanted this booth to accomplish. Did all of those boxes get checked? Hopefully so! If not, speak up and your booth company can tell you what is still within the realm of possibilities.

What’s Next?

We hope you’ve enjoyed the walkthrough process! It is truly one of the most exciting stages of the entire trade show booth design experience.

What comes next is even more exciting: seeing your booth in the wild. Your trade show booth design company will now make any final adjustments that you requested during the walkthrough and will then break everything down, pack it safely into crates, and deliver it to the exhibit hall. If you choose a full-service company like mackenzie EXHIBIT, you’ll also be able to have them set up your booth in the exhibit hall so that the stress on your employees is minimal and you can walk in the day before the show to a beautiful, fully-assembled trade show booth.


Ready to get started or have some more detailed questions on the booth design process? Give us a call at 801-621-7500 or email us here.