Nine reasons for renting

1. Rental provides the flexibility to bend with the prevailing winds without abandoning long-term goals.

2. Rentals allow exhibitors to change their look from show to show or to reinvestment their brands as their product focus shifts.

3. Good rentals help maintain a cutting-edge appearance in the short term without making huge capital investments that could haunt a company down the road.

4. A rental costs 25-35 percent of a similar built-to-own booth. Graphics cost about 20 to 40 percent of a typical rental price. Since clients usually buy and reuse graphics, those renting for multiple shows can often cut those costs considerably. Given those figures, three or four rental exhibits cost roughly the same as buying a comparable exhibit.

5. Rentals allow exhibitors to be a little braver. You can take a risk and do something different.

6. Combination rental and custom options provide flexibility. More and more people are seeing rental as a cost-effective way to enhance a booth property they already have.

7. As companies attend more shows, it's almost inevitable that two shows will run back-to-back or at the same time. It doesn't make sense to buy a new exhibit.

8. A company may attend numerous shows with its own booth but once a year wants to do something dramatic at the industry's premier event.

9. Rentals can open the door to new exhibitors. The prospect of buying a booth can discourage first time exhibitors. A rental can help make their first outing both affordable and productive.