Glossary · 28 terms
Trade show & exhibition glossary
The words you'll meet on floor plans, exhibitor lists and show contracts, each explained in a sentence or two.
- Boothalso Stand
- The space an exhibitor rents at a trade show to present its products or services. "Booth" is more common in North America, "stand" in Europe and Asia.More about booth
- Booth numberalso Stand number
- The code that identifies a stand's position on the floor plan, usually combining the hall, aisle and stand (for example Hall 3, B22). The same code can exist in several halls, so it's always read together with the hall.More about booth number
- Corner booth
- An inline booth at the end of a row, open to the aisle on two sides. More visible than a standard inline booth, and often charged at a premium.More about corner booth
- Edition
- One run of a recurring show, such as the 2027 edition. Exhibitor lists and floor plans change from edition to edition, so each is tracked separately.
- Exhibition CRMalso Trade show CRM, Event CRM
- A CRM organised around trade shows. As well as companies, contacts and deals, it stores each exhibition, the exhibitors at it with booth and hall, and your outreach status per show.More about exhibition crm
- Exhibition organiseralso Show organizer
- The company that runs a trade show: it rents the venue, sells stand space to exhibitors and markets the show to visitors.More about exhibition organiser
- Exhibitor
- A company that rents space at a trade show or exhibition to show its products or services and meet buyers.
- Exhibitor database
- A collection of companies that exhibit at trade shows, with details such as booth, hall, stand size, website and country, and often their history across shows.More about exhibitor database
- Exhibitor directory
- The organiser's online, searchable version of the exhibitor list, usually with company profiles, product categories and booth numbers.More about exhibitor directory
- Exhibitor list
- The list of companies exhibiting at a show. Organisers publish it on the show website, usually with booth numbers and halls, and keep adding late exhibitors until the show opens.More about exhibitor list
- Exhibitor list extraction
- Turning a show's online exhibitor directory, or a list file such as a spreadsheet or PDF, into a structured list (company, booth, hall, website, country) automatically, instead of copying it by hand.More about exhibitor list extraction
- Floor planalso Floorplan, Hall plan, Exhibitor map
- A scaled map of the exhibition halls showing every stand with its booth number and size. Published as a PDF, an image or an interactive online map.More about floor plan
- Floor plan extractionalso Floorplan extraction
- Turning a floor plan into structured data (company, booth number, hall and stand size), typically with AI that reads a PDF or image, or with a reader for the data behind an interactive plan.More about floor plan extraction
- Floor plan platform
- Software organisers use to publish interactive floor plans and exhibitor directories, such as ExpoFP, Map Your Show, a2z, ExpoCAD and ExpoPlatform.More about floor plan platform
- Hall
- One building or exhibition floor within a venue. Large shows run across many halls, each with its own floor plan and its own booth numbering.
- Inline boothalso Row booth, Linear booth
- A stand in a row with neighbours on both sides and one side open to the aisle. The most common and most affordable booth type; 10×10 ft is the North American standard.More about inline booth
- Interactive floor plan
- A clickable online floor plan where each stand links to an exhibitor profile. Easy to browse, but it usually can't be downloaded as a list.More about interactive floor plan
- Island booth
- A stand with aisles on all four sides. Usually the largest and most expensive space on the floor, often with a custom-built or double-deck stand.More about island booth
- Lead retrieval
- Capturing visitors' details at your stand, usually by scanning their badges with an app or device supplied by the organiser.
- Pavilion
- A group of stands under a shared country, region or industry banner, often subsidised for smaller exhibitors.
- Peninsula booth
- A stand open on three sides that backs onto another stand or a wall, typically at the end of a block of stands.More about peninsula booth
- Pre-show outreach
- Contacting exhibitors or attendees in the weeks before a show to book meetings, usually working from the exhibitor list.More about pre-show outreach
- Shell scheme
- A pre-built stand package with walls, a fascia board with the exhibitor's name and basic lighting, common at European and Asian shows.
- Space onlyalso Raw space
- Floor space rented without a shell scheme, for exhibitors that bring their own custom-built stand.
- Stand builderalso Exhibit builder
- A company that designs and builds custom exhibition stands for exhibitors, usually for space-only, peninsula and island stands.More about stand builder
- Trade fairalso Trade show, Expo, Exhibition, Messe
- An event where companies in an industry exhibit to buyers. "Trade fair" (Messe in German) is common in Europe, "trade show" in North America; "expo" and "exhibition" are used worldwide.
- Trade show lead generation
- Using a show's exhibitor and visitor lists to find, meet and follow up with prospects before, during and after the event.More about trade show lead generation
- Trade show ROI
- The return from a show, usually measured as pipeline or revenue from deals that started there, compared with the total cost of space, stand, travel and staff.More about trade show roi
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