originally published at Trade Show Tips and Trade Show Buzz

You've spent considerable time and effort designing a killer trade show booth or popup display. But now you find you would like to emphasize a new product, or a special service your company has just introduced. Do you have to go back to square one and redesign your entire booth?

Definitely not. Just add an extra banner stand or retractable display unit or two. Highlight your new product offering by doing up a special portable JiffyRoll. Or punch up your presentation by replacing those low tech flip charts with a graphically striking retractable display.

These units are versatile enough to be placed near your featured product. Then move it to your presentation area and use it as a graphic backdrop when making your pitch.

A PopUp Display normally covers entire back "wall" of your space. This means that a properly designed PopUp Display provides you opportunity to make a bold statement about your company and your most important product or service. A PopUp Display not only serves as a backdrop to your display, but gives your area definition, and allows you to focus attention on a specific image.. Well designed popup displays makes a powerful statement about your product or service.

Of course it is possible just to throw popup up against back wall, stick a table in front of it, spread our your brochures, and away you go. But you can do better than that. Pay special attention to space requirements and specifications of your popup display, then design your space around it.

First, since you want to maximize dramatic graphic impact of your PopUp, you probably won't want to clutter area directly in front of it. Yes, you have limited space to work with. But rather than putting a table directly in front of your most valuable asset (the PopUp), it is usually better to create two separate areas to either side. If you will be working booth alone, then have a "distribution area" on "incoming" side (the side most of traffic comes from), and a "sales area" on other side of your space. This will help both you and your visitors. They will be able to pick up brochures, samples, etc. from distribution area without intruding on your one-on-one conversations taking place in other area. And you will be able to have at least a semblance of "privacy" — as if this were possible at a trade show — when you pitch your more important prospects.

If there are two of you working booth, then you should have two self-contained sales stations — one on either side. In other words, make use of your space intelligently. Don't clutter up middle, if you can help it.

Which brings us to design of PopUp

I've suggested that your PopUp should do double-duty as both a backdrop, and your most important vehicle for promoting your company's presence and your "Primary Product Message". Stand back from your display for a second and look at it from perspective of casual passerby. What is he or she most interested in?