The "Last Thing" You Have to worry about!
Drayage, I&D, Forced Freight, "Sparky", Condor Crew, Driver Check-In, CWT.
My 1st solo trip was to Indy. Not a large tradeshow booth, but it also was 1 1/2 years into my tradeshow career. Still the one thing got me worried. The one thing I wanted to make sure I did right was "Paperwork."
Yup even in our world, if you don't have the paperwork right - it all can go wrong. But which paperwork am I talking about?
Of course there is the BOL to get your booth to the show. The material handling forms you have to deal with. The electrical layout. COI is important also. But that is all pre-show. Can be fixed and worked around without much pain or penalty. People will work with you if you follow the rules. (Stay tuned for Show Services Tuesday!) Yeah - the pros will roll their eyes, maybe even complain about you - in front of you. (And the language on floor is a combination of a Marine platoon with a prison work gang - so leave your sensitive ears at home.) But if you try, if you communicate and if you are "nice" - I've never had a tradeshow professional not work with me. Hint: communicate, be nice and try!
But the one paperwork I want to always get right is the outbound shipping. Why? Two Words: Forced Freight. If you are paying $1000.00 for your logistics, Forced Freight could be $4,000.00. Yeah - It's a penalty.
See at the end of the show they want the freight out of the hall for the next show. Follow the rules, fill out your paperwork and submit it to the service desk by the deadlines after the show you are all good. But forget, or be late, or your driver doesn't check in on time - and you pay.
You pay because now they own the freight at that point and they want it gone. There is no tomorrow. There is no time. The exhibit hall wants that show, and all who worked on it out of the building so the very next day they can start on the next show.
So you can do it all right for months - and if you get the very last thing wrong: You are screwed.
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