There's no question that trade show electrical service has evolved over the past years, not only for display rentals, but for all trade show booths. Once upon a time, you could get a 5 amp outlet for $20-$30 and plug in your extension cords and be on your way. The only time you had to pay for electrical labor was if there was an instance due to needing power for an electrical device or some other heavy piece of power equipment, where it was obvious that you needed an electrician.Then, there are a few of us that fondly remember back 30-40 years ago in Chicago at McCormick place, when the electrical unions had labor control over screwing in the light bulbs in our booth You might think that nothing could be any worse than those days, but in fact, while some rules have been eased a bit, plenty more have been ramped up and have become a great deal more burdensome.You might be surprised that renting an electrical plug wired for 5 amps for a bazillion dollars wasn't enough; Nooooooo, but now you have to pay even more money for putting the plug in the middle of the booth where it has always been put. When forking over that much cash wasn't sticker shock enough a big enough shock, you can't any longer just buy the number of amps that you need, but now you have to distribute it and pay for each area where a 5 or 10 amp outlet is required; none of this using 100 watts here, 300 over there, and another 50 up front. You now have to acquire a 5 amp outlet in each location; how convenient and profitable for the show decorator.So what does that have to do with Display Rentals _ Everything!? First of all, time should be taken to think through the placement of the main drops and be sure the the power cords are long enough to reach from the equipment to the main outlets. I think a little more explanation is needed regarding what I just said above. If your booth has a single 500 watt outlet and you have need for two outlets for the two items you need to plug in and the outlet is located in the booth area where only one of the two plugs that you need to have plugged in, will reach, you'll then need to order another 500 watts of power to service the second device even though the total power consumption in the exhibit space is only 300 watts. Second, that includes using L.E.D. light throughout the booth. Using LED lights will save about 80% in power costs and are not hot like traditional halogens.Third, if you have the ability to do so, order all products such as lights or power equipment, with lengthy power cords so they can stretched from where they're sitting in the booth,to the where the (500 or 1000 watt outlet is located. That will on many occasions lessen purchasing the electrical power and labor for multiple 5 or 10 amp outlets.Fourth, provide your own cube taps and power strips so you won't have to rent these things from the electrical people at the show at inflated prices; but always be sure to buy the electrical strips that are graded at 15 amps or higher, so the show electricians won't confiscate them charging that they don't meet the city codes. Also, always be sure to mark your property with a black Marks A Lot before you arrive at the trade show so your electrical gear isn't taken away by the electrical staff at the conclusion of the show with them believing that it belongs to them.Finally,not paying proper attention on how you manage the electrical in your booth can cost you big dollars, and being diligent in how you manage it, can deliver big rewards.
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You obviously have bigger fish to fry, but the increasing cost of trade show electrical might just put your profit in the frying pan!
Lowell Nickens is the owner of Shopforexhibits.com and Shopfordisplays.com; both of which offer perhaps the largest inventory of higher quality trade show displays found anywhere on the internet at very competitive prices. Click here for additional information regarding Trade Show Booths Trade Show Displays Get a Unique Version of this Article Article Marketing
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