In 2014 we conducted a survey of electric fees charged at the larger trade show venues in the United States (see results of this survey below). We looked at all venues with at least 500,000 square feet of exhibit space, which translated into 32 convention centers. If you've never exhibited at a trade show, the high costs will likely surprise you. For example, floor power alone averaged $148 per show for the lowest tier (typically 500 watts) of service! And this figure does not include electric labor, which averaged nearly $100 per hour extra!!! So if you're planning to add or move an outlet, run extension cables, or do anything other than plug-in your lights or other equipment in to a single outlet, get ready to be abused by the show's electric contractor!
We would agree these numbers are ridiculously high. Fortunately, there is something that you can do about...and it's called battery powered lighting! Most exhibitors need power to run their lights and charge up a cell phone or tablet. This is why we created our Mobile Power Center, which is capable of both running our super-bright, ultra efficient LED arm lights and charging most of your typical mobile electronic devices...including of course nearly every cell phone, iPad or tablet on the market today. So stop wasting money on overpriced electric fees and invest in one of our battery powered lighting systems that actually pays for itself in only 2 or 3 shows!
...Stayed tuned for our new 2016 electric fee survey which will be out in the coming months.
2014 SURVEY OF ELECTRIC COSTS
U.S. Trade Show Venues With Over 500,000 Square Feet of Exhibit Space
Wow, incredibly high electric rates at the larger venues. Do you have any plans to survey some of the smaller venues? That would make for an interesting comparison. I suspect the rates will be a little lower based on my experiences.
Hi Jeff, we do not have any immediate plans to survey the smaller venues. The anecdotal evidence suggests the rates are a bit lower at the smaller venues, but not by much. Interestingly, some of the highest rates we've seen are at smaller "hotel venues" (i.e. events held in the ballrooms and other meeting space at hotels). Given the relatively small size of these spaces (and by default the events themselves) we felt it better to focus on the bigger venues that more exhibitors are likely to attend.
