Exhibiting at industry trade shows is crucial for us. Beyond generating leads and new business, they’re opportunities to network, stay up-to-date with trends and insights, raise brand awareness, and launch new technologies.  

But with uncomfortably high rates of waste generated from disposable exhibitor booths, rethinking our approach was necessary. 

In 2023, we made a commitment to eliminate single-use materials from our booth specs and builds at events that don’t offer shell schemes. The solution seemed straightforward: a reusable stand with a perennial design we could pack down after each show, store, transport and reconstruct as required. Not only would this reduce our environmental impact, it presented lots of cost-saving potential also. Simple, right? 

Indeed, obvious solutions can present conundrums. Our events marketing team spend months planning Technetix’ participation at events all over the world. With variables such as size and capacity, site limitations, and constant shifts around product focus, the team meticulously tailor our stands for each show. They need to satisfy different orientations and space allocations, stakeholder requests, and specific technological appetites according to region and market, all while keeping our offering fresh-looking. It’s a tricky task – and that’s before bringing logistics into the mix. 

It was clear that a modular design would be ideal. The structure had to be simple enough to perform well as a componential structure, but needed configuration options that included: 

To bring our concept to life, we engaged the help of CX Global, a specialist company in southeast England. With their expertise and knowledge of stand building and the trade event landscape, we were able to put our modular stand into action at 2024’s Connected North show in April. It then went on to provide us with a time-saving, straightforward foundation at Connected Britain at London’s ExCel in September, and finally, Paris’s Network X show in October. 

Our stand was quick to make a positive impact within the trade show community. At the end of 2024, we were delighted to hear that our modular stand was given the Better Stands initiative ‘Gold’ rating. This rating recognizes the full satisfaction of 10 qualifying criteria for Better Stands’ top accreditation, including reusable display facilities and wall panels, and the use of recycled materials.

If you’re thinking about more sustainable ways to participate in industry activities, reusable exhibition stands are a strong start. We’d be delighted to show you around our setup – you can catch our modular booth throughout 2025 at the following events: 

To learn about how we’re driving sustainability throughout our entire operation at Technetix, head over to our sustainability page for more information. 

Author – Plum Phillips, Copywriter 

Plum works across the scope of the company’s comms functions, and as a committed advocator of corporate sustainability, represents the Marketing function on Technetix’ Sustainability Steering Committee.