Creating a trade show exhibit is an exciting, creative process, both for us and our clients. Sure it can be stressful and hectic, but seeing the end result somehow makes it all worthwhile.

As fun as that process is, our clients often tell us that the process of selecting an exhibit vendor can be long and arduous, especially if they have to go through an RFP process.

One of our clients was able to avoid the RFP pain and go right to the fun part, working with us to create an ambitious custom exhibit.

A Massive Scale

Haeco Americas provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services to large commercial airlines. The company is in the process of building a state-of-the-art facility near its headquarters in Greensboro, NC, and wanted to create a trade show display that kept up the excitement for the next three years.

We had been working with Haeco for a few years, managing rental displays for their trade show program. When they decided to create a large, custom display to promote their expansion, they were going to follow their usual RFP process.

Instead, based on their experience with us, they decided to forgo the RFP and asked us to create the initial designs for their new booth.

The booth was large, measuring 20x60 feet. Their challenge to us was for it to replicate the look of their new hangar in Greensboro, which would be under construction for over two years. Their goal was to maintain the excitement around the new facility while it was being built.

The booth had to reflect not only the size of the new hangar, which drive home the message of their increased capacity, but also its modern design and technology.

We came up with a design that called for the booth to be almost completely enclosed, mimicking an actual hangar. It was a massive structure, reflecting the size and scale of Haeco’s new hangar.

But replicating a hangar as a trade show display -- something that has to be repeatedly moved, assembled, disassembled, moved again, and stored until the next show -- is a unique challenge. We had to make it look big, heavy, and industrial, but still be easy to move.

To do that, we used a mix of lightweight materials to replicate the look of heavy-duty trusses and fabricated steel. We used cellular panels with thin ridgelines and airplane wire to give the booth a cutting edge look. To complete the hangar feel, we created giant sliding doors like what you would see in an actual hangar.

Finally, we used LED accent lighting in Haeco’s corporate colors to give the booth the branded look they wanted.

Rewarding our Client’s Trust

While our final design accomplished what Haeco wanted, it was our initial designs that rewarded their trust in us that led them to skip the RFP process. They told us our initial designs were so spot on to what they were looking for, all that was needed a little tweaking and adding details here and there.

We basically nailed it on our first try, rewarding our client’s trust and saving them the trouble of a painful RFP process.