A Stand Printed With This Year's Date Has One Show to Live

A study by Ecobooth, reported by Event Industry News, estimates that the UK events industry produces more than 100,000 tonnes of waste a year, most of it burned or sent to landfill. Exhibition stands are a big part of that. Informa reported in 2019 that disposable stands made up more than 80% of the waste from its own events. A stand does not usually end up in a skip because its walls wore out. It ends up there because the date on it is wrong.

The date on the graphic decides the stand’s lifespan

Jennifer Reilly of The Bulb has pointed out that almost everything at an event is branded with the event’s name and date. Wall graphics, fascia boards, banners and floor prints all carry them. Once the show is over, the stand looks out of date, and the cheapest way to deal with that has traditionally been to throw it away and build a new one for the next show.

Informa’s Better Stands programme is aimed at exactly that habit. A Bronze rating covers a reusable structure, walls, platform, furniture and lighting. Gold goes further and also covers graphics, decorative items and floor covering, which are the parts most likely to carry a date and most likely to be binned. Informa has set a target of eliminating disposable stands from its events by 2030, and space-only stands are verified and graded after the show, so what was actually built is checked, not just what was promised in the brief.

What to ask for in the brief

The practical answer is to separate what is permanent from what changes. The logo, brand colours and main graphics can be printed once on a structure designed to be taken apart and rebuilt. The show name, the date and the stand location can sit on swappable panels, inserts or screens, so a second show means a small reprint instead of a new build. A brief that says this up front lets a contractor price the stand as something that will be used more than once, which is the idea behind reusable exhibition stands. It also changes the maths in the cost of building a stand, because the first build may cost a little more while every later show costs a lot less.

Not every stand needs to be reused. An exhibitor doing one show and never returning has less reason to design for it. For anyone who exhibits at the same event year after year, or moves between shows in the same sector, a stand with the date printed on it permanently has already limited itself to a single outing.

Stand Between introduces exhibitors to contractors who will quote for a stand that can be used again, not only built once. If a show is coming up and the brief has not mentioned reuse, get in touch with Stand Between before the graphics are signed off.