The Best Floor You Can Use At Trade Shows
A well put-together booth is one of best ways to make a splash at trade shows — so what does your floor say about yours? You know that thousands of feet have trampled all over that manky old carpet already installed at a lot of centers and let’s face it. You want your clients standing on the best floor you can use at trade shows — because standing on concrete all day just flat-out sucks.
When you add in the factor that a lot of trade show centers require you to lay down some sort of tradeshow flooring anyway, there’s no reason you SHOULDN’T be considering the best flooring you can use.
Why does it matter?
It can depend on what kind of vibe you’re ultimately looking to give off to your visitors, but the type of flooring you use can help pull that feeling together perfectly. You can be fun and quirky, or rugged and versatile, or even make your customers feel as if they’ve walked into a miniature upscale store, instead of being inside a booth at a trade show — it all depends on how you tie your look together.
Great flooring can also help make the boundaries of your booth clear, while helping to cover up tripping hazards like wiring. This also can offer your visitors a soft place to stand after hours of walking around on hard concrete floors. Their feet don’t like walking on it anymore than you like standing on it!
It is so important you might even want to consult a graphic designer for your trade show flooring.
What to look for.
The first thing you want to think about when you’re reviewing the best floor you can use at trade shows you is, ‘how easy is this going to be?’.
You’ll want to take into account how much manpower you’re going to have to assemble and install everything, and branch out from there. (If there will only be one person, picking up and rolling out a large carpet and pad is not a great plan.)
It’s recommended to look for trade show flooring systems that are quick and easy to set up — after all, time is money, and the more time you spend setting up your booth, the less time you have to wow your visitors.
The product you’re selling is also an important factor in deciding what flooring you purchase. Heavy items, items of an industrial nature, and machinery, for instance, would do better on a more rugged style of flooring such as heavy-duty rubberized mats — where as a fun and quirky foam puzzle pattern might be the best floor you can use at trade shows that are focused towards kids or geeks.
Your options.
There are many different options available for your flooring now, with more being added every day. Here are a few of the easier to use and maintain types:
Interlocking Tiles – These are probably going to be one of the most common types of flooring you’ll find available now, and for good reason. They come in a highly versatile range of materials, and they are quick to assemble and dismantle.
They also give you the option to easily replace individual tiles that become damaged, instead of having to replace whole sections of your flooring. (Buy a few extra tiles, so that the printed colors will be from the same batch.)
These tiles are simple for even one person to install, and are very light weight, so your shipping and drayage costs will be minimized. Quick to install and breakdown, these tiles are a great choice, even for those who use rented trade show booths.
You can find interlocking trade show flooring tiles in colorful foam, PVC, carpet-topped foam, and even hardwood pattern styles. They all offer the high density anti-fatigue foam material, which helps relieve the pressure of being on your feet for long hours in the day.
It’s recommended that you look for styles that have beveled edges (not the edge finisher add-on strip), as the integrated beveled edges will help your booth floor look more finished and also help prevent your customers from tripping on your flooring as they enter your booth.
Mats – These typically come in either a rubberized form good for heavy-duty usage, or a carpeted style that usually has a rubber backing to it. These styles are good for printing logos on, and might be good to use in a very small booth area, as you’re probably not going to need to worry about covering a lot of space. The rubber will also help reduce fatigue.
Rolled Vinyl styles – These are made of roll-able vinyl, and offer dozens of different patterns, including many stone patterns and also many hardwood floor styles. They can be used with or without a high density foam pad, depending on what you need.
There are also some styles of rolled flooring that are made of actual wood, such as bamboo. This is more durable, but more expensive, and also not as comfortable as the softer flooring.
Vinyl is very easy to keep clean, but it can also be very easy to damage if you are not careful. As long as you use a bit of caution and are careful handling this flooring, it shouldn’t be an issue.
Carpeting – If nothing else but traditional carpeting will do for your booth, you have the option of carpeting tiles, and of course, rolls of carpet. The interlocking carpet tiles are the lighter weight, easy to install solution, but some times only rolled carpet will provide the right look. If that’s the case, just make sure you have a couple of staffers ready and willing to handle the heavier carpet rolls. As long as you’re careful not to damage the backing, handle rips quickly, and use a carpeting pad, this option should give you years of use.
Whatever the choice you make, you need to add trade show flooring to your to-do list.
While this list can’t cover every option available, it gives you a great place to get started. We’ve got all your trade show needs covered — come check out our online, one-stop trade show shopping catalog!
Just remember, if your booth has the best floor you can use at trade shows, that speaks volumes about your company — what does yours say about you?
