Jessica Sibila, Executive Director, The Exhibitor Advocate
You’ve been in that meeting. You raise a concern about material handling rates that have climbed for the third year in a row. You ask why electrical outlet costs just jumped nearly 20% with no explanation. You point out that the exhibitor manual doesn’t define what “special handling” actually means, but somehow you were charged for it anyway.
And the answer you get? “This is just how it is.”
We hear this from exhibitors constantly. The frustration isn’t just about the money, though the money is real and it is significant. It’s about feeling like your concerns don’t count. Like you’re expected to absorb whatever lands in the exhibitor manual without question, and that asking for transparency or fairness is somehow out of line.
It’s not out of line. It’s exactly the right thing to do. And now, for the first time, you have four years of independent, audited data to bring to the conversation.
What Four Years of Data Actually Shows
The Exhibitor Advocate’s 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates — produced in partnership with Tradeshow Logic and independently audited by EVOLIO Marketing — benchmarks real exhibitor costs across 23 major U.S. cities. The picture it paints is not subtle:
- Material handling base rates have climbed 21.3% since 2022—more than three times the national inflation rate
- Electrical outlet rates surged 18.4% in a single year, one of the largest single-category increases in the survey’s history
- Booth flooring costs jumped sharply: carpet up 12.7%, rebond padding up 21.0%, visqueen covering up 22.1%
- Exhibiting in New York costs approximately 75% more than in Atlanta—the widest geographic gap the survey has recorded
These aren’t opinions. They’re audited facts, drawn from publicly available exhibitor manuals and rate forms. And they matter because they give you something concrete to bring to the table—not a complaint, but a data-backed case.
You’re Not the Only One Feeling This
Our companion research, The Evolving Landscape of Event Marketing, surveyed exhibitors across the country about how rising costs are changing their decisions. The results are striking — not because they’re surprising, but because they confirm what exhibitors have been saying quietly for years:
- 80% cite cost management as their top challenge
- 55% say increased costs now outweigh the value they receive at some events
- 62% of event budgets are consumed by non-revenue-generating expenses like booth space, show services, and shipping
- 64% are scaling back their overall presence at events as a direct result of rising costs
When the majority of exhibitors are making the same hard calls—smaller footprints, fewer staff, less sponsorship, fewer shows—that’s not individual budget management. That’s an industry-wide signal that something needs to change.
What You Can Actually Do About It
Here’s where we want to be direct with you: the answer isn’t to walk away from events. The answer is to show up to them differently—armed with information, prepared to have real conversations, and willing to push for the transparency and fairness you deserve.
Most show organizers want their exhibitors to succeed. The best ones will welcome the conversation. Here are concrete steps to get started:
1. Come with data, not just frustration.
Use the 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates to compare what you’re paying against the national average for that city. If your material handling rate in Chicago is running significantly above $1.98/lb.—the 2025 city average—that’s not a gut feeling. That’s a fact you can put in front of a show organizer and ask them to explain. Benchmark every line on your invoice. Pricing that can’t be explained is pricing that can be challenged.
2. Find your numbers in numbers.
Talk to other exhibitors—even your direct competitors. When multiple companies arrive at the same conversation with the same concerns, the dynamic shifts. A collective voice carries far more weight than an individual complaint. If you’re all paying above-market rates for drayage, that’s a conversation the show organizer needs to have with their GC. But they’ll only have it if you bring it to them together.
3. Ask for the right meeting with the right people.
Request a meeting with the Show Director or Operations Team—not just the show management company. The association or organizer running the event often has more leverage with venues and suppliers than exhibitors realize, but they won’t use it if they don’t know the problem exists. Make sure you’re talking to someone who can actually move something.
4. Be specific about what you’re asking for.
Vague concerns get vague responses. Go in with specific asks: a clear definition of what constitutes “special handling” in the exhibitor manual. A breakdown of how electrical rates were calculated. Advance notice of surcharges before freight arrives so you have the opportunity to dispute them onsite. The more precise your request, the harder it is to dismiss with a non-answer.
5. Tie your costs directly to the organizer’s outcomes.
Show organizers care about floor fill, renewal rates, and sponsorship revenue. Help them connect the dots. When you frame rising costs not as a complaint but as a shared problem—“If we have to absorb another 10% increase in drayage, we’ll be reducing our footprint, which affects the energy of the hall and your revenue”—you’re speaking their language. You’re not asking for a favor. You’re proposing a solution.
6. Document everything.
Every conversation, every commitment, every follow-up. Keep a paper trail. If a show organizer tells you rates will be reviewed before the next contract cycle, write that down and send a recap email. Accountability starts with documentation.
The Conversation Is Worth Having
The exhibition industry works best when exhibitors and organizers are genuinely aligned — when both parties understand what things cost, why they cost that, and what fair looks like. Right now, that alignment is under real strain. But the strain isn’t inevitable, and it isn’t permanent.
What’s changed is that exhibitors now have data they’ve never had before. Four years of audited, independent benchmarks showing exactly where costs have gone and how fast they’ve gotten there. That’s not a weapon — it’s a bridge. It creates the conditions for honest conversations that weren’t possible when exhibitors were comparing notes in hallways and hoping their instincts were right.
The next time someone tells you “this is just how it is,” you have a different answer: “Actually, here’s what the data shows. And here’s what we’d like to do about it.”
That’s a conversation worth having. And The Exhibitor Advocate will be right there with you when you do.
The 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates is available now at exhibitoradvocacy.com for $250. Education Subscribers receive complimentary access as part of their $299/year membership.
Image Credit: iStock/Chitraporn Nakorn
