Exhibitor Rules for an Aquaculture Show: Live Samples, Chemicals

A veterinary medicine exhibitor for aquaculture brings ten sample bottles to the booth to hand out to visitors. A hatchery exhibitor brings in a tub of live shrimp as an illustration. An equipment exhibitor runs a pump at a volume that stops the neighboring booth from talking. Three problems, three times the organizer has to decide on the spot in the busiest hours, because the rules have no line about any of them.

This article is about exhibitor rules for an aquaculture show. The frame comes from the exhibitor contract items and the floor rules in the CEM guides, and the second part covers the rules particular to aquaculture that a show must write.

Three layers of a rulebook

The rules do not live in one place. As the guides describe it, they pass through three layers.

1. The booth contract. The exhibitor commits to follow the rules, the official floor plan and the venue's regulations. The organizer keeps the right to interpret, to change with notice and to remove an exhibitor that does not comply.
2. The detailed rules. The guides recommend taking the IAEE's Guidelines for Display Rules and Regulations as a base, putting them in the exhibitor guidelines and service manual so everyone follows the same safety rules.
3. The kit sent after signing. The exhibitor kit carries deadlines, forms, move-in hours and procedures.

Last comes the person walking the floor, who reminds and records breaches the way the article on the floor manager describes.

Contract items, per the guides

The CEM guides list what an exhibitor contract should contain. Here are the ones that matter most for an aquaculture show.

• Exhibitor name, contract date, booth number, cost of space.
• Agreement to abide by the rules, regulations and official floor plan.
• Nature and schedule of payment.
• Exhibit hours, the time installation must be completed, move-in and move-out times.
• Height and sign limitations.
• Space-sharing rules.
• Operation of sound and lighting equipment.
• A save-harmless clause for the organizer and the venue.
• Security.
• The right to photograph and videotape the exhibitor, booth and booth staff.
• Music licensing.
• Use of attendee data.
• The venue's labor requirements, if any.
• Safety and fire regulations.
• Garbage removal and storage.
• The right to modify booth space.
• The right to cancel the event because of force majeure.
• The organizer's right to interpret the terms and remove an exhibitor that fails to comply.
• Cancellation terms.

Three items link to other articles: force majeure in the article on force majeure, indemnity in the article on indemnity and insurance, and agreed damages in the article on liquidated damages. The contract should be reviewed by a lawyer.

The part specific to aquaculture

The guides are written for every industry and so lack these items. They should be added to the rulebook, split into three groups to make them easy to read.

Needs prior approval

• Live samples and sample water. The exhibitor submits in advance the source, containment, volume and how it will be handled after display. Ask the veterinary or local regulator about the rules on transport.
• Booths with tanks. Declare the volume, position, floor load, power and drainage. Details are in the article on booths with water tanks.
• Equipment demonstrations. The guides say exhibitors who will conduct demonstrations should submit an advance form so the venue and fire marshal can approve. Fencing must surround rotating parts.
• Height. Set a maximum by booth type. The guides say cubic content is often allowed up to about 5 meters in the US, depending on each show's rules. Details are in the article on aisle width at an exhibition.

Allowed with conditions

• Chemicals, medicines, preparations: sealed packaging, small quantities, with safety documents. No handing out medicine samples to visitors.
• Sample feed: sealed bags, no spilling. Open feed samples only in designated spots.
• Sound: the guides give a general rule of 85 dB at most for booth activities. See the article on seminars on the show floor.
• Water and waste: the exhibitor looks after the water in their own tank and waste containers, as in the article on wastewater at an aquaculture trade show.
• Product claims: the exhibitor bears legal responsibility for the advertising, certifications and efficacy they state, under local law.
• Filming: exhibitors ask permission from visitors when filming faces clearly.

Banned

• Suitcasing, flyers outside the booth, roaming characters outside the booth, creeping into aisles, unauthorized booth moves: the things the guides list under the floor manager's duties.
• Discharging water, chemicals or biological waste into drains not designated.
• Leaving biological samples open near eating areas.
• Collecting visitor data without consent.

Writing it so exhibitors read it

Rules tend to be long and exhibitors seldom read them. A few suggestions:

1. Open with a one-page summary of the most important points, with illustrations. The rest is for looking things up.
2. Write short sentences, one idea per line, and use both Vietnamese and English for shows with international exhibitors.
3. Give a short reason after each important rule. Exhibitors comply more readily when they understand why.
4. Send it three times: at signing, with the kit and at the meeting before move-in.
5. Invite a few exhibitors to read it first. An exhibitor advisory committee can tell you what is hard to understand and hard to follow.

When a breach happens

Rules do nothing without consistent handling. Use the three levels the guides suggest for flyers: a reminder, a warning that the badge will be taken, then security. Log each time and photograph the booth number. Two exhibitors who commit the same breach must be treated the same.

An example. A show's rules say clearly: medicine on display in sealed packaging only, no samples handed out, safety documents attached. The medicine exhibitor reads the summary page and brings empty packaging and printed product information, no sample bottles. The person walking the floor has nothing to argue about. The decision was made before they set foot in the hall.

Need exhibitor rules written for an aquaculture show?

If you need a rulebook split into three groups, a bilingual summary page or a violation notice template for an aquaculture show, you can send a request through the quote page or book a call with Nguyen Anh Trung. Send the booth contract you use now. The final text should be reviewed by a lawyer before it goes out.

Write each rule before somebody needs it.