Ordering power against the real equipment list
Venue electrical services price and provision power by the drop, and ordering too little means a tripped circuit mid-show while ordering too much wastes budget. We build the equipment list first — every light, screen, and powered fixture — then calculate the actual amp draw before placing the order.
That order goes in against the show's electrical deadline, since late power orders at a busy venue can mean paying a premium rate or, worse, missing the cutoff entirely.
Designing lighting to do a specific job
Accent lighting on a product display, a wash across a graphic wall, and general ambient lighting for the booth as a whole are three different lighting jobs, and treating them as one general lighting plan usually leaves the booth either flat or unevenly lit.
We design each zone's lighting against what it needs to show — a product needs focused accent light, a graphic wall needs an even wash, walkways need enough general light to be safe without competing with the featured elements.
Color temperature matters as much as brightness — a warmer wash reads differently on a graphic panel than a cooler one, and we match the fixture spec to how the client's brand colors are supposed to look under show-floor light rather than daylight.
Fixture placement also has to account for a neighboring booth's own lighting spilling into the footprint, which happens more often on an open island space than on an inline booth with a solid back wall blocking the spill.
Where a client's product is photo-sensitive to certain lighting — a screen that glares under the wrong angle, a finish that shows differently under warm versus cool light — we run a quick on-site test with the actual fixture before the final position is locked.
Distributing power so one failure does not cascade
Putting every powered component on a single circuit is efficient on paper but risky in practice — one overloaded drop can take down lighting, AV, and any other equipment on that circuit at once. We distribute the load across separate circuits where the booth's power order allows.
That separation is a small planning step that avoids a booth going fully dark over what should have been a single component's problem.
Planning for evening events separately
Some shows include an evening reception near the exhibit floor — sometimes adjacent to a venue like the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts near the downtown Raleigh Convention Center campus — and a booth's evening lighting needs often differ from its daytime show-hour lighting.
Where a client has both a daytime show presence and an evening event component, we plan dimming or a secondary lighting scene for that shift rather than running the same flat daytime setup into the evening.
Frequently asked questions
How is the power drop sized for a booth?
We build the full equipment list first — every light, screen, and powered fixture — and calculate the actual amp draw before the electrical order is placed with the venue.
What happens if lighting and AV share one circuit?
It is efficient but risky — an overload on that circuit can take down both systems at once, so we distribute the load across separate circuits where the power order allows.
Does the booth need different lighting for an evening event?
Often yes, if the show includes an evening reception near the exhibit floor; we plan a dimming or secondary lighting scene rather than running the daytime setup unchanged.
Is there a deadline for ordering venue power?
Yes, and we place the order against that deadline, since late requests at a busy venue can mean a premium rate or missing the cutoff entirely.
Does lighting color affect how brand graphics look on the floor?
Yes — color temperature changes how a graphic panel's colors read under show light, so fixture choice is matched to the client's brand palette rather than picked for brightness alone.