Las Vegas is the busiest trade show city in America — and the least forgiving. SET Exhibits designs and builds custom booths at our shop in Haverstraw, New York, then handles the crating, the freight, the union labor calls and the on-site supervision, so your team walks into a finished booth rather than a pile of crates. What follows is what we have learned working these floors: the venues, the rules, the deadlines, and the mistakes that cost exhibitors real money here every single show.
What Catches Exhibitors Out Here
Five things that cost exhibitors money in Las Vegas every single show.
Your hanging sign ships separately
Not with the booth. It goes to the advance warehouse in its own crate, with its own label, marked clearly and including assembly instructions. Pack it with the booth and rigging cannot start — and rigging goes up first, before your booth even exists.
You cannot hang your own sign
At the LVCC, hanging signs go through the general contractor’s rigging crew. Even an outside contractor you hired and paid for cannot assemble it. And your booth has to be at least 400 square feet to have one at all.
Light freight can cost more than heavy freight
Drayage bills by hundredweight with a minimum that applies no matter what you actually ship. A small, light shipment often works out more expensive per pound than a full crate. Consolidating into fewer, fuller crates usually saves money.
Ordering on the show floor costs 30–40% more
Electrical, rigging, material handling, cleaning — every one of them has an advance-rate deadline buried in the service kit. Miss it and you pay the floor rate and go to the back of the queue behind everyone who ordered on time.
A missed dock window bills you twice
Your labor crew is on the clock while your booth is still sitting on a trailer in the marshalling yard. Then you pay overtime to catch up the lost hours. Both charges are avoidable and both are extremely common.
Where the Shows Happen
Five venues carry almost all of the Las Vegas trade show calendar. Tap any one for the full detail.
1
Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC)
3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, NV 89109
The big one
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Exhibit Space
About 2.5 million sq ft
Halls
4 — North, Central, South and West
Meeting Rooms
225 rooms, over 390,000 sq ft
Ceiling Heights
25 to 42 ft
Column-Free
328,000 sq ft in West Hall — largest in North America
Opened
1959; West Hall added 2021 at a cost near $1 billion
Known For
CES, World of Concrete, CONEXPO-CON/AGG
The West Hall column-free floor is why large islands and heavy overhead structures end up booked there. Worth knowing: hanging signs at the LVCC must go through the general contractor’s riggers, and overhead work needs stamped engineering drawings, defined rig points and weight limits approved in advance.
SEE OUR WORK HERE →FULL VENUE DETAILS →2
The Venetian Expo
201 Sands Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89169
Formerly Sands Expo
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Event Space
Over 2.25 million sq ft
Exhibit Halls
5 halls, A through G
Meeting Rooms
More than 350
Opened
1990; expanded 2003, rebranded 2021
Known For
CES and large Strip-adjacent conventions
Strip-adjacent, so your attendees walk rather than shuttle. That helps traffic but tightens the loading picture — it is a resort building, not a purpose-built hall with unlimited dock access.
SEE OUR WORK HERE →FULL VENUE DETAILS →3
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
3950 S Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89119
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Facility Size
About 2.1 million sq ft
Meeting Rooms
Around 125, plus 2 ballrooms
Expansion
$66M added 350,000 sq ft of exhibit space in 2015
Known For
Hotel-connected shows with rooms on property
Being attached to the hotel changes the logistics. Move-in windows run tighter than the LVCC and dock access is more constrained, so freight timing matters more here than almost anywhere in the city.
4
CAESARS FORUM
3911 Koval Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89109
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Event Space
550,000 sq ft, all on one level
Ballrooms
Two at 110,000 sq ft — the world’s largest pillarless
Meeting Rooms
126 rooms and 6 boardrooms
Opened
2020, LEED Gold certified
Single level with no columns is a builder’s dream — sightlines are clean and nothing has to design around a pillar. The catch is two docks for the whole building, which means move-in scheduling is not something to improvise.
5
The Expo at World Market Center
475 S Grand Central Pkwy, Las Vegas, NV 89106
Downtown
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Exhibit Space
About 315,000 sq ft
Location
Downtown, off the Strip corridor
Different part of town, which means different traffic patterns for move-in and a different hotel picture for your staff. Smaller and more manageable than the Strip venues.
The Detail
The parts that decide whether your install runs smoothly. Open whichever applies to your show.
Union Labor — who is allowed to touch what
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Las Vegas is a union town, but it is more workable than most exhibitors expect once you know where the lines are. Four unions typically hold jurisdiction.
Teamsters Local 631 covers installing, dismantling, touch-up and repairs on exhibits, plus freight handling.
Carpenters handle larger structures. Anything over eight feet is theirs.
Electricians do all wiring, hook-ups, electrical signs and cord laying. You may plug in your own low-voltage devices.
Riggers handle machinery placement and everything overhead, including hanging signs.
You can set up your own booth — if the work is done by full-time employees of your company carrying company ID, such as a payroll stub or business card. In practice this covers smaller inline booths that assemble without tools or ladders.
Working alongside union labor is allowed. Where union labor is required, your own staff may work with a union installer on a one-to-one basis.
You can bring your own contractor — an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor — but they must register with show management in advance. And even an EAC cannot assemble a hanging sign at the LVCC.
SET Exhibits handles the labor calls, the EAC registration and the on-site supervision as part of your build. That is what our Union Compliance Support covers.
Freight, drayage and the advance warehouse
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You do not ship to a building in Las Vegas. You ship into a system, and the system has deadlines.
Advance warehouse or direct to show. The advance warehouse takes your freight one to three weeks early, counts it, and stages it for your window. You pay handling but you buy certainty. Direct-to-show saves storage but puts the marshalling yard, traffic and re-routing on your show day.
Warehouse hours are real hours. Receiving typically runs 7:00am to 2:30pm weekdays, with drivers needing to check in by around 2:00pm to be unloaded that day. Late arrivals get charged extra.
Drayage bills per hundredweight, with minimums that apply regardless of your actual weight.
Hanging signs ship separately, in their own crate, with their own label, marked clearly and including assembly instructions and a floorplan showing booth orientation.
Rigging usually carries a four-hour minimum, and rigging goes up before the booth does — it needs empty floor.
Certified weight tickets, bill of lading and crate manifest travel with the truck. So does your certificate of insurance and EAC approval — the general contractor will ask.
Timing — how early is early enough
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Eight weeks is the practical minimum for a major Las Vegas show. Some things need to start earlier.
8 weeks out — confirm your space, engage your exhibit house, book travel. Hanging sign permits should be going in around now.
6 weeks out — design approved, graphic files submitted, service orders placed. This is where the early-order discounts live.
4 weeks out — freight goes to the advance warehouse. Staffing confirmed.
Rigging and hanging signs often need eight to ten weeks because of structural review.
For a custom build, three to four months is comfortable. Las Vegas fills fabrication calendars fast, and rush fees on production, printing and freight are where budgets come apart.
Booth size — what actually works on a Vegas floor
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Las Vegas floors are big and competitive. Size matters less than you think; height and light matter more.
10x10 — fine for a first outing or a regional presence. On a large Vegas floor you will be surrounded, so lighting and a strong backwall do more than square footage.
10x20 — the common step up. Room for product, a meeting corner and a proper graphic.
20x20 island — open on four sides, and the point at which hanging signs and overhead structure become worth it. Note the 400 sq ft threshold for a hanging sign.
30x30 and larger — enclosed meeting rooms, theater seating, large-format LED. This is a headline presence.
See what a booth actually costs in our booth cost guide, or browse our booths.
Everything around the booth
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The booth is one part of the show. SET Exhibits coordinates the rest.
Lighting design — specced and installed with the build, not bolted on after.
AV and screens — sourced, mounted into the structure and tested before doors open.
Hotel rooms — we know which properties are genuinely walkable to the hall and which only claim to be.
Photography — your finished booth on the floor, before the crowds build.
The team that handles all of it is the same team that builds the booth.
Booth Sizes for a Las Vegas Floor
Every standard footprint, built custom or supplied as a rental. See what each size costs →
10x10
100 sq ft
Back wall, counter, one demo point
The standard starter footprint
Lowest total cost of entry
10x20
200 sq ft
Twice the aisle frontage
Product display plus a meeting corner
Same install window as a 10x10
20x20
400 sq ft
Island, open on four sides
The size where hanging signs become possible
Room for several zones
30x30
900 sq ft
Enclosed meeting rooms
Theater seating and large-format LED
A headline presence on the floor
When to Start, Show by Show
The anchor events on the Las Vegas calendar, with the planning runway each realistically needs. Name yours and we will pull its exhibitor manual before we quote.
| Show | When | Venue | Start planning |
|---|
| CES | Early January | LVCC + Venetian Expo | 6 months |
| World of Concrete | January | LVCC | 4 months |
| NAB Show | April | LVCC | 5 months |
| SEMA Show | Early November | LVCC | 5 months |
| CONEXPO-CON/AGG | March, every 3 years | LVCC | 6 months |
| MINExpo International | September, every 4 years | LVCC | 6 months |
CES gets six months rather than four. The whole city books labor, freight and hotels in the same window, and floor-plan approvals move slowly when thousands of exhibitors file at once.
How Your Booth Gets Built
The same sequence on every project, whether the show is in Las Vegas or anywhere else across the 50 states.
1
Week 1
Brief and budget
We start with your show, your space and what you actually need to achieve there. You get a straight answer on what fits.
2
Weeks 1-2
Design in 3D
Layout and graphics built around your placement, sightlines and brand. Revised until it is right.
3
Weeks 3-8
Fabrication in Haverstraw
Built in our own shop in New York. Structure fabricated, graphics printed and mounted, finishes applied, everything checked before it goes anywhere.
4
Before it ships
Pre-build and inspection
The booth goes up in our warehouse before it goes anywhere near a show floor, so install day is a repeat, not a first attempt.
5
Show week
Freight, labor and install
We handle the marshalling yard, the union labor calls, the paperwork and the install. You walk into a finished booth.
6
During the show
On-site support
Someone from our team is reachable while the show runs, not a ticket queue.
7
Final day
Dismantle and return
We pack it properly and handle the return so your team can leave the venue without a checklist.
Major Shows Held in Las Vegas
Among the largest shows on the Las Vegas calendar. Requirements differ significantly between them — tell us your show and we build to its specific manual.
CESWorld of ConcreteCONEXPO-CON/AGGNAB ShowSEMAMINExpo InternationalICSC Las VegasSweets & Snacks
Las Vegas Exhibitor FAQ
Can my own team set up our booth?
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Within limits. Full-time employees of your company, carrying company identification, may set up a smaller display that needs no tools or ladders. Beyond that — larger structures, anything over eight feet, electrical, or overhead work — union labor is required. We handle that coordination.
Do you ship to Las Vegas from New York?
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Yes, regularly. We build in Haverstraw, New York and ship to Las Vegas shows. Freight is a known line item we quote up front rather than a surprise at the end.
What size does my booth need to be for a hanging sign?
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Generally 400 square feet or more. Below that, most shows will not permit one. And the sign itself must be hung by the general contractor’s rigging crew, not by you or your own contractor.
Why is my drayage bill higher than I expected?
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Almost always the minimum. Drayage bills per hundredweight with a floor that applies regardless of actual weight, so a light shipment can cost more per pound than a heavy one. Consolidating into fewer, fuller crates usually helps.
How far in advance should we start?
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Eight weeks is the practical minimum. For a custom build, three to four months. Hanging signs and rigging need longer because of structural review.
Related Pages
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