By the Exhibition Stall Design editorial team · Updated 1 October 2026 · 13 min read
Short answer
The 15 questions worth asking a projection mapping vendor cover four things: who owns the work, what the price actually includes, what goes in writing before you pay, and who is in the hall during build-up. Judge the replies by shape rather than content — a name, a date, a document or a number is an answer, and anything that merely reassures you is not.
Key takeaways
- Put the same questions to three vendors and write the answers in three columns. The gaps do the work for you.
- Ask what the vendor would change about your brief. A supplier with no opinion is not reading it.
- Ask what your area can physically hold — at 36 sq.m the honest answer is about 11 visitors and 4 staff.
- Ask who physically does the work. Every other answer depends on it.
- Ask what the quote excludes, never whether everything is included — the second question always gets a yes.
- Get the project manager's name, the crew size and the build-up shift hours in writing.
How this interview works
Most vendor questionnaires fail for the same reason: they collect answers nobody knows how to read. Every firm says the work is in-house, every firm says the quote is all-inclusive, and every firm says their team will be on site. The useful skill is not asking the question — it is recognising, from the shape of the reply, whether the person answering has done this before.
That is why each question carries two notes: the answer that should settle it, and the answer that should worry you. The underlying test never changes. Specifics can be checked; reassurance cannot, and a projection mapping vendor who offers only the second has told you something useful anyway.
Keep to the order. Each stage asks things that are still answerable truthfully at that point: capability before you shortlist, scope while the quote is being built, documents before money moves, logistics once the build is done. Out of sequence, the same questions produce politer and less useful replies.
First stage — is this firm worth briefing? (questions 1 to 4)
These decide who is worth briefing at all. Ask them on a call, before any design or pricing conversation, because they are about the firm rather than about your project — and because the answers are much harder to tailor when the vendor does not yet know what you want to hear.
Notice that they circle one issue: ownership of the work. For event managers, corporate communication teams and agencies running conferences, launches, dealer meets and public shows, that is the single fact most likely to be discovered too late, and it is also the easiest to establish early if you simply ask directly.
01
1. Can I see photographs of finished projects at my size, from a show you can name?
A good answer brings on-site photographs with the show, the city, the stall area and the year attached, including shots of the stand occupied by staff and visitors rather than empty at handover. A bad answer is renders only. A render proves somebody can design; only a photograph proves somebody can build, and the gap between the two is where most disappointment lives.
02
2. How many jobs are in your production queue for my show week?
A good answer is a number, ideally with an unprompted note about which of them is largest — it tells you whether your stand is the priority or the filler. A bad answer is "don't worry, we'll manage", which is what a firm says when the queue is not theirs to see, or when they already know the answer is uncomfortable.
03
3. Who will be my single point of contact, from brief through dismantle?
A good answer is a name, a role and a mobile number, plus confirmation that the same person is physically on site during build-up and show days. A bad answer is "our team" or "our coordination desk". Shared accountability is no accountability, and a contact who changes at handover means nobody carries the history of your decisions onto the floor.
04
4. Have you worked at my venue, and what are its rules on height, rigging and fire rating?
A good answer is specific about the hall — the height limit, whether rigging is allowed, what fire certification the organiser demands, and when drawings have to be submitted. A bad answer is "we work at every venue in India". Breadth is not the claim you need; one correct hall rule tells you more than a list of twenty cities.
Stage 2 — while you are being quoted (questions 5 to 8)
Now you have two or three vendors working from the same brief. These questions are what make their numbers comparable, and they are the ones most often skipped because they feel adversarial. They are not — a vendor who answers them well is making their own life easier too, since an itemised scope is also their defence against scope creep.
Nothing about projection mapping pricing is mysterious; the drivers are listed below. Quoted per show based on surface size, projector count and content length; small stall or stage mapping starts lower than facade shows. What you are testing is whether the vendor can put them in order for your brief specifically. If they cannot, the quote is an estimate wearing a number's clothes.
- Show duration and number of event days
- Equipment size and specification (screen size, projector brightness or drone count)
- Content creation and programming time
- Rigging, power backup and technician crew size
- Permissions, venue rules and rehearsal time
01
5. What materials and finishes are you quoting, exactly?
A good answer names board thickness, the laminate or paint finish, and the fire treatment. A bad answer is "premium quality" or "imported finish". Specification is what the organiser's safety check examines, and it is also the only way to tell whether a cheaper quote reflects a better rate or a thinner board.
02
6. How many light fittings, and where exactly?
A good answer is a count and a set of positions — spots on the brand wall, track over the product, a backlit panel at the entrance. A bad answer is "lighting included". Hall lighting is designed for the aisles rather than for your stand, which makes the lighting count the line most responsible for whether the stand reads as funded or forgotten.
03
7. Are transport both ways, installation, electrical fittings and dismantle inside this figure?
A good answer goes line by line, yes or no, without hedging. A bad answer is a general "yes, everything's included" — which is the reply this question always draws, and the reason to put it as four separate questions. These are the four scopes most often missing, none of them is optional, and all of them get bought at show-week rates when they surface late.
04
8. Is GST included, and what is the pre-tax total?
A good answer gives both figures without being chased, because that is the only way two quotes can be compared on the same basis. A bad answer is ambiguity, or a total that quietly changes basis between the proposal and the invoice. Ask also which organiser or venue charges will be billed through the vendor rather than directly to you.
Stage 3 — before you sign (questions 9 to 12)
Everything here is about converting agreement into documents. Each question seals a gap that would otherwise open during build-up, when every remaining option costs money. The timing is the point: ask before the advance goes out, not after.
Note that none of these is about design or price. They are about documents, dates and authority — the three things that determine whether a stand gets built as agreed or as improvised.
01
9. How are changes priced, and who is allowed to authorise one?
A good answer is a written variation, priced before it is executed, authorised by one named person on each side. A bad answer is "we'll adjust at the end". Verbal agreements made on the floor during build-up are the largest single source of post-show invoices nobody remembers approving, and one paragraph in the contract prevents all of them.
02
10. Who prepares and submits the organiser paperwork, and by what date?
A good answer lists the actual documents — stand drawings, electrical load, material certificates — names who lodges them, and states the organiser's deadline from memory. A bad answer is "the organiser will tell you what they need", which pushes a hard deadline onto the party least equipped to meet it. A rejected submission costs build-up days nobody has spare.
03
11. What drawings will I approve, and by when, before anything is cut?
A good answer names dimensioned plans and elevations with finishes and lighting positions marked, and gives you a date for sign-off. A bad answer is "you've approved the render". A render is an impression; a drawing is an instruction. If what you signed has no dimensions on it, "this is not what we approved" is an argument you cannot win.
04
12. What happens if you are late?
A good answer is uncomfortable but specific: here is the slack in the schedule, here is who we call, here is what we would do. A bad answer is that it has never happened. You are not really looking for a penalty clause — you are looking for evidence that somebody has thought about the failure case before being inside it.
Before build-up: questions 13 to 15
Save these for the fortnight before the show. By then production is finished and everything that can still go wrong is logistical. It is also the stage buyers most often skip, which is precisely why asking gets you an unpolished answer.
What the show finally has to deliver is an experience strong enough that guests film and share it, with a clear brand moment and a call to action timed in the show. These questions test whether anyone has planned for the hours in which that actually happens, because a stand still being assembled at ten in the morning on day one delivers none of it.
01
13. What do you need from me, and by when?
A good answer is a dated list: artwork at final size, product dimensions, staff numbers, any samples to be displayed. A bad answer is "nothing, we'll handle it". Most build-up delays trace back to an input that arrived late, and a supplier who has not asked for yours has not planned backwards from the date.
02
14. What are you bringing as spares?
A good answer is a short, specific list: laminate offcuts, spare lamps, a reprint of the main graphic, basic tools. A bad answer is that spares will not be needed. Transport damage is routine rather than exceptional, and a crew that travels with the fix turns a two-hour problem into a ten-minute one.
03
15. When will the stand be finished, as distinct from when build-up ends?
A good answer is an hour, comfortably ahead of doors opening, with cleaning scheduled after it. A bad answer uses the organiser's deadline as the plan. Finishing at the deadline leaves nothing for the snag list, and every stand has a snag list.
Exhibiting soon? Let's build your stall.
A quick reference for the call
Some answers sound fine and mean nothing. The rows below are those cases side by side with what a real answer looks like. It works best as a call sheet; reading it afterwards is reading it too late.
| Ask this | Good reply | Bad reply |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | An address, a supervisor's name and a date you can visit | A partner network, or a visit that is always better scheduled later |
| What will I approve before cutting | Dimensioned plans and elevations, by a stated date | The render you have already been shown |
| What if something fails mid-show | Spares on site and a named person in the building | Nothing has ever failed |
| What would make it cheaper | A scope trade — simpler finish, fewer panels, a reused frame | A flat discount with no change to the scope |
| What do you need from me | A dated list of inputs | Nothing, we'll handle it |
| Who submits to the organiser | The documents, the person and the deadline | The organiser will let you know |
| What materials are quoted | Board thickness, finish and fire treatment, named | Premium quality, with no specification |
None of the warning signs is a lie. They are all true statements that cannot be verified, which is exactly what makes them worth noticing.
The capacity question worth adding
A final question, and the most revealing of the lot: what will my area actually hold? It takes a projection mapping vendor about ten seconds to work out, which means an evasive answer is not a limitation of the question.
Work it through once and you can check any vendor's answer. Storage: 10% up to 18 sq.m, 15% above. Meetings: 5%, or 20% if that is why you are exhibiting. Display takes the balance, holds one visitor per 2.5 sq.m, and the stand needs one staff member per 9 sq.m of total area.
This is where a lot of disappointment comes from. A stand that cannot hold the traffic the campaign promises will look like a marketing failure on the day, when it was actually a sizing decision made months earlier by someone looking at a different spreadsheet.
| Stall area | Display | Storage | Staff on duty | Visitors at once | Build weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 sq.m | 7.6 sq.m | 0.9 sq.m | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 12 sq.m | 10.2 sq.m | 1.2 sq.m | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| 24 sq.m | 19.2 sq.m | 3.6 sq.m | 3 | 7 | 4 |
| 54 sq.m | 43.2 sq.m | 8.1 sq.m | 6 | 17 | 5 |
| 100 sq.m | 80 sq.m | 15 sq.m | 12 | 32 | 5 |
Same arithmetic as the stall planner: staffing is area ÷ 9 with a floor of 2, and the lead time runs 3 weeks base, +1 from 24 sq.m, +2 from 54 sq.m, +2 for premium finishes and +2 for a second storey.
Answers that should end the conversation
Some replies are not warning signs to weigh up — they are conclusions. The first group below are the failure modes specific to projection mapping; if a vendor's answers point at any of them, you have learned what you needed to learn and the next call is to the second name on your list.
- Under-specified equipment that looks dull in a bright hall
- No rehearsal or technical run before doors open
- Missing backup power or spare units
- Content not built for the actual screen or surface size
- Reference images that cannot be tied to a show, a size or a year
- A refusal to name the workshop or studio, or a visit that is always possible next month
- No answer at all on dismantle, clearing or storage
- A material specification that says premium and names nothing
- A discount offered the moment you hesitate, with nothing removed from the scope
- Every question fielded by the salesperson and none by anyone who builds
- An advance requested before any scope document exists
Ask what is not included. The answer to "is everything included?" is always yes.
Turning replies into a decision
Record as you go, in a fixed order, one column per vendor. This is the whole method: in conversation a non-answer passes for an answer, and in a table it does not.
Finally, judge the whole set rather than the individual replies. The stand is a means to a result, and a supplier who is flawless on logistics but blank on what the show is for will build exactly what you specify — including your mistakes.
- The dismantle plan, and where reusable elements are stored
- What the quote excludes, in writing and signed
- The date on which you will approve dimensioned drawings
- The material specification, including the fire treatment
- The build-up arrival slot, crew size and shift hours
- The project manager's name and mobile number
- The show-day backup plan and who is on the floor
Ask all three at once
Put the brief and the question set out together, unchanged, to all three. Show, city, dates, area, open sides, budget band, and a few annotated references. The replies are a free trial: the speed and precision you get before paying is the speed and precision you get in build-up week.
We are happy to be interviewed this way — written answers, every question. Design free with a confirmed fabrication order, production in our own workshops, organiser submissions handled, and one named project manager accountable from brief through dismantle.
Frequently asked questions
Which question matters most?+
Who physically does the work. It decides who controls quality and who controls the date, and every other answer — pricing, drawings, site crew, backup plans — depends on it.
What is the best question to catch a sub-contracted build?+
"Can I visit the workshop this week?" A firm that owns production answers with an address and a day. Anything that defers the visit — after the order, nearer the show, once design is approved — is the answer by another route.
What should I ask about the venue's rules?+
Ask for the height limit, whether rigging is permitted, the fire certification the organiser requires, and the date drawings must be submitted. Specific knowledge of one hall beats a claim to work in every city.
How long should this take?+
About a thirty-minute call for the first stage, then one document request each at quoting and signing. Set against a build that needs 3 weeks or more, it is the cheapest hour in the whole project.
Should the answers be in writing?+
Yes. Scope, inclusions, exclusions, drawing dates, milestones and the named site contact all belong in the quote or the contract. A verbal answer is a recollection, not a commitment.
Should I ask about things that could go wrong?+
Yes, and the quality of the answer matters more than the content. A vendor who describes the slack in their schedule, the spares they carry and who they would call has thought about failure. One who says nothing has ever gone wrong has not.
What should I ask about dismantle?+
Who does it, whether it happens inside the organiser's window, what is cleared, and where the reusable frames and graphics are stored afterwards. Unpriced dismantle is where deposits and penalties surface.
What if a vendor refuses to itemise the quote?+
Treat the refusal as the answer. Without line items you cannot compare two quotes, remove scope you do not need, or tell the difference between a cheaper vendor and a smaller scope.
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