Free template
Ten sections covering the show, the deadlines, the logistics, the roster, the history, the goals, every expense line, and a SWOT on attending. Type into it in any PDF reader, or print it and work down it with the team.
Why this exists
I have built booths at national and international shows for an electronics company: crates arriving late, an electrical drop in the wrong corner, a badge scanner nobody reconciled, and a stack of leads sitting in a bag on the flight home. The freight and the floor space were never the problem. The problem was that nobody wrote down what the show had to return, so nobody could say afterwards whether it had.
This template fixes the order of operations. You price the show before you sign for it, you name the person who owns follow-up before you pack, and you keep the expense ledger while the invoices arrive rather than reconstructing it in January.
What is inside
The official name, organizer, venue, booth number, booth size, and who actually attends. Distributor-heavy shows and end-user shows need different booths, different staff, and different goals.
Advance rates and shipment windows are the cheapest money on the whole budget, and the easiest to miss. Every deadline goes here the day the contract is signed, including the date follow-up must be finished.
Freight and drayage, show services, travel and hotel blocks, display inventory in and out, on-site contacts, and the lead capture process. This is the section that saves a Sunday night.
Years attended, what each year cost, who attended internally, who worked the booth from outside the company, leads captured, and revenue traced back. Past numbers beat opinions in the budget meeting.
Qualified leads, booked meetings, new opportunities, average deal size, and close rate. Without these five numbers the show cannot be judged, only defended.
Speaking slots, sponsorships worth considering, in-booth demos, and the named prospects and partners already on the attendee list. Most of these have deadlines earlier than the show.
Who works the booth, in what role, from which company, on which shift. A booth staffed by whoever is free is the fastest way to waste the freight bill.
Planned and actual, line by line, across booth, show services, shipping, staff and travel, marketing, hospitality, and product inventory. Thirty-plus lines, because the surprises live in the small ones.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, written before the contract is signed. Naming a weakness in June is a fix. Naming it on the show floor is an excuse.
Cost per lead, expected revenue, breakeven leads, then go, no go, or go with changes, with a name and a date beside it.
The ledger
Booth space is the number everyone quotes. Drayage, labor, carpet, return freight, and refurbishment are the numbers that decide whether the show made money.
Space and booth
Show services
Shipping and logistics
Staff and travel
Marketing and presence
Hospitality
Product and inventory
The maths
Cost per lead
Total cost divided by qualified leads. Compare it against what a lead costs you through search, outbound, or a webinar. If the show is ten times the price, it needs a reason beyond leads.
Expected revenue
Qualified leads multiplied by your close rate multiplied by average deal size. Use last year's real close rate, not the optimistic one.
Breakeven leads
Total cost divided by revenue per lead. This is the number to put in front of the person who approves the budget, because it turns a $48,000 booth into a target the team can hit or miss.
Do it online instead
Same ten sections, filled in online and saved to your account. It totals the ledger as you type, shows where the money goes by category, calculates cost per lead, expected revenue, ROI, and breakeven, flags what is still missing before you sign, then exports a branded event decision report for leadership. $129, one time.
Open the plannerReading first is fine too: how I decide whether a show is worth attending.
Strategy
If trade shows are a line item nobody can defend, an audit reads them beside your other channels and ends in three decisions.
