Pros & Cons of Trade Show Exhibit Truss

In the short timespan since posting this hub in January, 2009 a new lightweight truss system has been introduced that I really like. The biggest reason I like it has to do with shipping expenses. As mentioned below, tradition truss is either square or triangular. Either way, it takes up a lot of room when packing to ship so the choice was either to use a lot of portable clamshell shipping cases or to pack into larger non-upsable tubs or crates. The new system, while not design to support the weight of traditional truss, does provide the handsome hi-tech look while, at the same time, packing conveniently into the smaller shipping cases.

Truss exhibit designs have proliferated over the last two years and have brought truss booth options to the attention of many exhibiting companies. It is important to examine the pros and cons of trade show exhibit truss prior to making an investment in one.

Truss has been around for many years and has served as the sturdy framework on many TV and movie production sets as a way to suspend the heavy duty lights used in studios. It was introduced within the trade show industry primarily for decorative purposes or as support for heavy products.

Over the last two years new truss display kits have been designed that provide a lot of positive benefits. Among them is the fact that you can fill up and control an island exhibit with truss for about 50% of the cost of a custom laminate exhibit system. The new designs lend themselves to large format graphics, a major step forward from the truss design available 6-7 years ago. With Truss, you can combine large format graphics with height, product displays, plasma/LCD presentations and conference areas.

As a matter of fact, for the company on a budget in the market for an island exhibit truss makes a lot of sense. Regardless as to whether you have a more expensive laminate system or truss, you are going to be shipping crates via common carrier and hiring show labor for set up and dismantling.

The real question is as to whether the pros of truss outweight the cons when it comes to in-line exhibits.

The reason for this is that truss is bulky and heavy which means that even a 10 x 10 truss exhibit is most conveniently packed into a non-UPSable tub. Also, depending upon the rules of the convention hall, it may take longer to set up than you are allowed without hiring show labor. Now that there are also new portable trade show display designs on the market, portable being defined as a booth that packs into UPS-able shipping cases and sets up faster, the question for companies in 10 x 10' and 10 x 20' booth spaces is do you really need the sturdiness of truss?

Even portable displays hold plasmas. Not as large, perhaps, as truss is capable of holding but in an in-line exhibit they are adequate. Portables also excel at displaying large format graphics so though truss can now do this, too, this alone is not a reason to go with truss.

Why would you want truss in a 10' exhibit space? For one, Slatwall. You can have a nice mixture of Slatwall panels to display product, hang clothing, etc., with tension fabric mural panels. Secondly, if you have a heavy product that needs to be mounted you may need truss. Finally, shelving. You can have an entire backwall of shelves. This works for Ad Specialty companies and a host of others.

So, what to do? Determine your budget if you are in an island. Display truss will be the most affordable way to go. Figure out what your priorities are if you are an in-line convention space. Portability or maximum use of space for product display? This will help you in determining which exhibit style is best for you.