If you’re starting your search for a pop-up trade show display, you may be finding it hard to compare one display to another during your initial search, in part because the differences are most apparent in person. Therefore, you may be looking for some guidance on which specifications to insist on, and which might not matter as much. Well, we have one piece of initial advice: Avoid Velcro.
Veteran trade show marketing professionals will tell you that using “hook and loop” (the generic name for Velcro) to attach graphic mural panels to a pop-up display frame isn’t the way to go. While Velcro has its place in the trade show exhibit world for certain applications, such as attaching temporary graphics to fabric panels, the best way to attach full-size graphic mural panels to a pop-up display frame is with magnetic strips. Even for someone installing graphics for the first time, a magnet-to-magnet connection is quick and easy, and the result is a perfectly-aligned graphic. The polarization of the magnetic strip helps guide the graphic panel into place. By contrast, Velcro-applied graphics can be a struggle to install and align properly. Velcro can attach too early or too strongly, making adjustments difficult. And even when Velcro panels are finally aligned, the result isn’t usually a smooth and clean joint, but often a wrinkled gap between the two panels. A display with magnetic graphic panels, however, appears to be a single continuous graphic backwall, with seams that are only visible if one looks really closely.
Our second piece of advice for the new pop-up purchaser: Visit a trade show exhibit showroom to verify that the fit and finish of the display you are considering meets your quality standards. Get a demonstration of the setup of the display and test it out for yourself. Will this display be something that you and your staff will be able to manage the setup of? Will the presentation be clean and professional and reflect your company’s values? While there are more options and quality specs to consider than just how the graphics attach, insisting on a pop-up display that uses magnets is a good start to getting something that will work for you, your team and your business.
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