Suitcasing / Outboarding Policy

Due to numerous complaints about suitcasing and out-boarding over the last few years our exhibitor’s have asked us to put a policy into place to prevent this practice from impacting the business practices of legitimate exhibitors. The problem is really starting to affect our exhibitors and their ability to do business on a level playing field when they have a competitor not paying to exhibit and they are trying to take away their customers. This has become such a large problem nationally that most trade shows have adopted suitcasing/outboarding policies to help protect their exhibitors and the cost they put out to market and exhibit at trade shows.

TransWorld wants to create a level playing field for all exhibitors and is doing its best to help all exhibitors have a successful show. As such, we are mandating increased measures to protect exhibitors from suitcasing/outboarding at the show. This is TransWorld’s suitcasing and outboarding policy, which will be posted on signage around the exhibit hall.

What is Suitcasing?

Suitcasing is a parasitic business practice in which unethical companies will gain access to an event by obtaining some type of event credential attendee badge and then solicit business in the aisles or other public spaces used for the conference. This practice skirts the support of the organizer and the industry. This does not pertain solely to soliciting the attendees of an event. As we all know, some of your biggest customers/vendors can be other exhibiting companies. So, when a salesperson for “Joe’s Manufacturing” (who is not exhibiting) shows up in your booth in an attempt to earn your business as a sub on your next big contract, they are suitcasing. Suitcasing includes any business trying to solicit business at the trade show without exhibiting. In addition any outside event or trade show/conference attempting to promote at the show that is not affiliated with TransWorld and trying to solicit exhibitors or attendees to attend their show is also considered suitcasing and this conduct will not be permitted without written consent from TransWorld Trade Shows.

Some Examples of Suitcasing:

• Passing out marketing materials or business cards
• Attempting to sell product on the show floor without exhibiting
• Dropping of marketing materials on tables, counters or in booths
• Promoting outside events, trade shows or conferences
• Booth sharing with a company or person that is not exhibiting
• Approaching people on the show floor or at offsite events and soliciting them.

Basically if anyone does not have an exhibitor badge or consent from TransWorld they cannot solicit you or anyone else at the show or any of its events.

TransWorld’s Official Suitcasing Policy

TransWorld has a zero-tolerance policy regarding suitcasing. Please note that while all Trade Show attendees are invited to the exhibit floor, any attendee who is observed to be soliciting business in the aisles or other public spaces, or in another company’s booth, will have their badge removed and will be asked to leave immediately without refund.

TransWorld recognizes that suitcasing may also take the form of commercial activity conducted from a hotel guest room or hospitality suite, a restaurant, or any other public place in proximity to our event. For the purposes of this policy, suitcasing violations may occur at venues other than the exhibition floor and at other sponsored events. It is for this reason TransWorld must be informed of any hospitality suites where business is being transacted, and expressed consent must be obtained from TransWorld prior to the event.

What is Outboarding?

Outboarding refers to an individual or firm who attends the conference in an official or unofficial capacity and hosts unauthorized exhibits, meetings, demonstrations, presentations, events, and any such related activity, in any space in the conference hotels, restaurants, nearby properties or at their own personal business without consent of TransWorld Trade Shows. This includes any exhibitor at the event. You must have written approval from TransWorld to hold any onsite or offsite events. This policy was put into place to protect our sponsors from losing the opportunity to have as many attendees show up at their approved sponsored event. Bottom line is, if you want to hold an event or get together and solicit TransWorld attendees or exhibitors to attend, it must be approved by TransWorld.

Some examples of outboarding:

• Holding any type of event/gathering while in town for the event with non-employees without consent from TransWorld.
• Dropping of marketing materials on tables, counters or at events without approval from TransWorld.
• Approaching people at sponsored onsite or offsite events and trying to solicit business when your company is not the sponsor.
• Soliciting attendees or exhibitors to attend an offsite non-sanctioned event by any means of promotion including social media posts prior to or during the event.

TransWorld’s Official Outboarding Policy

TransWorld has a zero-tolerance policy for outboarding.

• Each person must register individually, under their company name, and must wear their official conference badge to enter conference spaces and the exhibit hall. A person using a badge under false credentials will be required to forfeit their badge and leave the conference.
• Non-exhibitor or non-sponsor attendees are prohibited from soliciting business or distributing marketing materials in any part of the conference venue, exhibit hall or offsite properties.
• Exhibitor and sponsor attendees are prohibited from soliciting business or distributing marketing materials in any part of the conference venue or exhibit hall outside their assigned booth space or designated sponsorship.
• All requests for event or meeting space, whether onsite or offsite during an TransWorld Show/Event week require TransWorld’s approval. Any request made directly through the hotel for event or meeting space, including hospitality suites, will be forwarded to TransWorld for approval. TransWorld reserves the right to decline any event request and cancel any unapproved events or bookings. The reason for this is conflicting events can be detrimental to approved sponsors success. In order to protect their investment all events, meetings and gatherings in the town of the event must be approved by TransWorld.
• Meeting rooms are generally unavailable at TransWorld conferences. If any meeting rooms become available, they will be offered to sponsor firms only on a seniority and first come first serve basis. Prior year sponsors have a first right of refusal to any current years event that they sponsored the previous calendar year.
• No attendee, exhibitor, or sponsor may extend invitations to activities, events, and meetings or gatherings during any time of the day or night during the week of the event including set-up, conference event days or teardown without the express written consent of TransWorld.
  
• Violations:
  Any attendee or firm observed to be engaging in outboarding will be required to stop their activity and may be forced to cease all business opportunities for the remainder of the show including booth space being closed down and badges being forfeited without refund.  Additional penalties may be applied at TransWorld’s discretion including being banned from future events.

The Suitcasing / Outboarding Prevention Team

TransWorld has created a Suitcasing Prevention Team that will be in place for the duration of the conference. The team will consist of TransWorld staff, conference security and the most important member of the team, YOU! Exhibitors will be our greatest asset in preventing suitcasing since there are so many of you, and it directly affects all of us.

What to Look For?

Identifying potential “suitcasers” is fairly simple. First, look for those non-exhibitor attendees who appear to be initiating contact in the aisles or in booths. Look for people handing out fliers/business cards or dropping marketing materials on tables. Any attendee who appears to be handing anything out in the aisles is suspect, because as we all know, distribution of anything is restricted to one’s booth space unless otherwise approved by TransWorld. Identifying an outboarder is straight forward.

What Can You Do?

If you observe any suitcasing or outboarding activities during the conference or prior to, please call or text Rich Bianco at 412-812-1773 or Jennifer Thaler at 847-323-5109.

Suitcasing Procedure:

• Identify the person suitcasing or outboarding
• Try to contact us while the infraction is occurring so we can confront them immediately. 
• Take a photo/video of the infraction and send it to us.
• Immediately contact show management or Rich Bianco at 412-812-1773.
• After we get the report we will immediately assess the situation and take action to rectify the problem. 

The exhibit manager will investigate all complaints of suitcasing / outboarding as quickly as possible. We prefer you try to keep the suspect party in your presence while we make our way over to confront the party.

Upon receipt of a complaint from an exhibitor/attendee, TransWorld will review the complaint with the reporting party and, if possible, observe the suspected suitcaser / outboarder. TransWorld will then address the issue directly with the subject of the complaint. If found to be valid, the complaint will be resolved by show management immediately.

Code of Conduct

We expect all Exhibitors and Attendees that attend a TransWorld trade show or convention (or any of its affiliated events) to engage in respectful, considerate behavior towards each other and refrain from engaging in behavior or speech that is demeaning, discriminatory or harassing in any manner.

TransWorld’s Code of Conduct defines unacceptable behavior as behavior that includes (but is not limited to) the following:

• Creating a disturbance that is dangerous or interferes with the ability to transact business on the show floor, or creates apprehension in another person.
• Engaging in any aggressive or unwanted physical contact with other vendors, attendees and/or general staff.
• Making defamatory, harassing or demeaning remarks.
• Using of profanity, sexually explicit/suggestive or offensive language, racial, religious or ethnic slurs.

Unacceptable behavior will not be tolerated in the facility, on the show floor or at any TransWorld show events. Participants determined to be in violation of these policies in the sole discretion of management will be asked to immediately discontinue their inappropriate behavior. If the behavior continues, management reserves the right to take immediate action to bar the attendee or the exhibitor from further participation in the TransWorld show without the right of refund for unused days of attendance, seminar or event tickets, or any booth fees or any costs associated with the trade show.

No Advance Filming/Photography of Trade Show Policy

Based on feedback from Exhibitors and to protect the integrity and privacy of our Exhibitors, the following policy applies to all participants, exhibitors and attendees of the trade show prior to the official show floor opening on Thursday:

• Prohibited Areas:
  • No one may take any pictures or videos of any part of the trade show floor (booths, products or common areas), prior to the show opening Thursday morning.
  • Exhibitors may take pictures and videos of their own booth, but any pictures / videos must not include parts of any other booth, products or portions of the trade show.
• Responsibilities:
  • Exhibitors are responsible for everyone associated with their booth / company adhering to the No Advance Filming / Photography policy
• Personal Use:
  • The prohibition includes photos and videos for personal use, including social media.
• Consequences of Violation:
  • Violators of the policy may have their access to the trade show floor and events removed with no refunds including booth fees or sponsorships.
  • Repeat offenders may be denied access to future shows.
  • Penalties imposed are at the sole discretion of management
  • Consequences are applicable regardless of when violation of policy is discovered, including post show social media posts.

We appreciate your cooperation in maintaining a fair and secure environment for all our exhibitors.

Exhibitor Set-Up Extended Access Policy

To facilitate smooth and efficient booth setup, Exhibitors at TransWorld Trade Shows are permitted to stay on the show floor past published hours under the following conditions:

• Extended Setup Form:
  • Exhibitors must come to the show office daily to complete the extended setup form.
• Notification of Personnel:
  • Exhibitors must inform the trade show office of the names of each person who will be on the show floor past hours.
  • Each person must wear a badge that clearly displays their name and the company with which they are working at all times.
• No In-and-Out Privileges:
  • Once an individual exits the show floor after 8pm, they will not be allowed back in until the next day.
• Adherence to No Advance Filming/Photography Policy:
  • Exhibitors are responsible for ensuring that all their personnel adhere to the No Advance Filming/Photography Policy which includes the restriction of photos / video for personal or social media use.
  • Exhibitors may film / video their own booth as long as no other booths / show floor is included.
• Security Procedures:
  • Individuals leaving the show floor are subject to having bags, boxes, and other containers searched by Security personnel.
• Admission Control:
  • No one not previously identified to the show office may be admitted to the show floor.
  • Exhibitors may not give access to the trade show floor to anyone not associated with their booth.

If any of these rules are violated your company will have penalties imposed upon it at the sole discretion of management. Depending on the severity of the violation, show management will determine the appropriate penalty.

These penalties will include:

• A verbal warning will be given
• After hours set-up privileges revoked
• $500 fine
• Suspension from the show without refund of expenses for booth fees, Sponsorships, special event / seminar tickets or any costs associated with exhibiting at the show. All fees will be forfeited.

Costume Policy

Attendees are not permitted to wear costumes in the convention center or on the trade show floor.

Exhibitor’s and their employees are permitted to be dressed in costume but are required to stay within the area of their booth space. You are not permitted to walk the show and solicit customers back to your booth. (Please note we do understand you need to leave the booth at certain points throughout the day. You can wear your costume when doing that.)

Child Attendance Policy

This show is not recommended for children under 10 years of age. The following are our policies regarding children of different ages.

An attendee fee is required for all children over the age of one to enter the event. An attendee fee is required for all children over the age of one (1) to enter the event; the fee must be equal in value to that paid by the child’s attending guardian. FOR EXAMPLE: If you have a Premiere Ticket holder and you want to bring your child, your child must also have a Premiere Ticket.

Children under the age of 10 are NOT PERMITTED to attend any seminars, NO EXCEPTIONS!

• Children ages 16 to 18 Guests age 16-18 are required to have either a state issued ID, a passport or school ID with a birth certificate.
• Children ages 10 to 15: Guests aged 10 to 15 who are children of buyers are welcome to attend. Proof of age, such as a school ID, passport, birth certificate, or similar documentation, must be presented.
• Children Under 10 Years of age: While children younger than 10 are strongly discouraged from attending, exceptions can be made. In such cases, a waiver must be signed for each child, including babies. The adult accompanying them will have a sticker placed on their badge for each child to confirm waiver compliance. The adult with this badge must be with the children at all times. Children under 10 are not permitted on the show floor or at any events without the accompanying adult that signed the waiver. Children under 10 are not permitted to purchase/attend any seminars, without exception.
• Infants (Under 1 Year): While children younger than 1 are strongly discouraged from attending, exceptions can be made. In such cases, a waiver must be signed for each child. The adult accompanying them will have a sticker placed on their badge for each child to confirm waiver compliance. The adult with this badge must be with the children at all times. Children under 1 are not permitted on the show floor or at any events without the accompanying adult that signed the waiver. Children under one year old must be carried in a sling or baby carrier at all times. To ensure safety, strollers are strictly prohibited. NO EXCEPTIONS!