Something goes wrong at almost every show. What matters is whether your team knows what to do within ten minutes. This guide covers the typical problems and shows a contingency plan that fits on one page and stays on your stand.
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A contingency plan is not a binder nobody reads. It is one page, printed and kept on the stand, and pinned in the team chat. It says who decides, whom to call and what the first step is. Nothing more. When something happens, nobody has time to read sections.
Most problems at trade fairs are not disasters but irritations: a screen stays black, freight is stuck, a colleague is ill, the Wi-Fi collapses. They do, however, cost exactly the hours in which visitors walk past your stand. A plan prevents the whole team from searching for a solution at the same time while nobody talks to visitors.
For international exhibitors the stakes are higher. Your team is far from the office, spare parts are not a short drive away, and local suppliers speak German first. Write the plan two to three weeks before the show and go through it together at the team briefing on the evening before opening. Ten minutes are enough.
The most common emergency is a missing person: ill, flight cancelled, train delayed. Plan every role on the stand with a backup. Which roles a stand needs is covered in how many people a stand needs.
Your suppliers belong on this list too. Ask in advance how your stand builder, staffing agency and photographer handle a backup. At Pixer we work as a small team rather than a single person, so one person being ill does not automatically cost you the booking. If you need a replacement at short notice, see last-minute trade fair photographer.
Technology rarely fails completely, but it often fails at the wrong moment. The key rule: everything that runs on your stand (booth) also exists offline and twice.
| Problem | Preparation |
|---|---|
| Screen or presentation | Presentation on a USB stick and a laptop, spare cables, adapters for common ports |
| Internet | Mobile hotspot as backup, presentations and videos stored locally |
| Lead app | Paper form or business card box as fallback |
| Power | Power strips, chargers, power banks, plugs for German sockets; hall service number written down |
| Demo equipment | Spare parts, tools, contact for technical support at head office |
Decide who in the team is responsible for tech, and note the number of the organiser's hall or stand service. Which services the organiser offers and how to reach them is in the exhibitor manual.
Not everything can be solved on the stand. Freight, travel and weather are outside your control, but you can limit the consequences.
In winter, snow and ice can delay travel, and strikes in rail or air traffic can happen in any season. Build in a buffer for the first show day and let the team arrive the day before if at all possible. If your stand or an activation is outdoors, keep covers, weights and a bad-weather version ready.
A quiet show day is also a scenario. Use it for customer meetings, conversations with neighbouring stands and for photos and video that are hard to get when the stand is crowded.
Laptops, tablets and small samples are most likely to disappear during dismantling and on the last evening, when there is a lot of traffic in the hall. Decide who locks up at night, where devices stay overnight and who packs them first when the stand comes down. A short inventory list with photos of the devices helps if something goes missing.
A contingency plan only works if everyone knows where to find it. Set up a chat group for the stand team, pin the plan there and keep a printed copy in the stand drawer. If head office is in another time zone, add who is reachable there and when.
After the show, add one sentence per incident to your follow-up: what happened and what changes next time. The template gets better with every show. More preparation points are in the trade fair checklist for exhibitors.
Printed on the stand and pinned in the team chat, with names, numbers and the first step.
Stand manager, product experts and languages each have a named backup.
Presentation, videos and lead form work without internet.
Roll-up, sample product, cables and PDF brochures in case freight is stuck.
Arriving the day before protects you from weather, strikes and cancelled flights.
Each incident is noted briefly and feeds into the next version of the plan.
One page. It lists who is responsible, phone numbers, spare material and the first step for the typical problems.
The whole stand team. Go through it together at the briefing on the evening before opening and pin it in the team chat.
Start with the minimum kit from your hand luggage, contact the forwarder and reorder missing print material from a local print shop.
Ask your supplier in advance how backups are handled. At Pixer we work as a small team, so one person being ill does not automatically cost you the booking.
Arrive earlier, check alternatives such as a rental car or other routes in advance and do not schedule customer meetings too early on the first day.
In the exhibitor manual and the exhibitor portal. Write hall service and first aid directly on your contingency sheet.
One item less on your contingency list: we photograph and film your stand with a small team and deliver within 24 hours.
We reply within 24 hours. During a show week, WhatsApp is fastest.
