What is an exhibitor manual?
An exhibitor manual is the central source of information an exhibitor needs to prepare for an exhibition or trade show—from build-up times and venue rules to forms, suppliers, deadlines and marketing opportunities.
Traditionally, that information was delivered as a printed binder, PDF or collection of web pages. Online and digital exhibitor manuals now range from information libraries to personalised portals and fully connected workspaces. You may also see terms such as Online Exhibitor Manual (OEM), Exhibitor Service Manual (ESM), Exhibitor Resource Centre or Exhibitor Resource Center. The important question is not simply what the system is called, but how intelligently it handles each participant's responsibilities.
FutureScape 2027
Everything needed to prepare for the exhibition, organised around the exhibitor journey.
One place for everything exhibitors need before the event.
An exhibition creates hundreds of practical questions. Without one connected process, the answers arrive through a manual, emails, calls, supplier portals, spreadsheets and separate requests from different teams. The manual should bring that journey together, help exhibitors prepare correctly and reduce routine questions reaching the organiser team.
It should be the operational bridge between the organiser, exhibitors and the wider network of teams and suppliers involved in preparing the event.
The exact contents depend on the event. The pain comes from everything being disconnected.
The information may vary, but the operational problem is familiar: forms, deadlines and instructions are scattered across PDFs, emails, phone calls, supplier portals and separate systems. Exhibitors struggle to understand what applies and where to act, while organiser teams spend their time answering questions and chasing progress.
Essential event information
Dates, venue, opening hours, access, build-up, breakdown and organiser contacts.
Arrival scheduleStand and venue requirements
Construction rules, dimensions, rigging, power, fire regulations and venue restrictions.
Stand-height ruleHealth, safety and compliance
Risk assessments, method statements, insurance, licences, permits and approvals.
Insurance uploadServices and supplier orders
Furniture, electrics, internet, AV, freight, cleaning, waste, storage and catering.
Power orderMarketing and profile information
Company descriptions, logos, products and promotional assets—whether collected directly or through a website or show-app provider.
Profile submissionBadges, tickets and staffing
Passes, contractor access, staff registration, invitations and on-site contacts.
Badge allocationForms, deadlines and approvals
What must be submitted, when it is due, who owns it and whether it is complete.
Deadline statusEvent technology and external platforms
Meeting and appointment scheduling, show apps, lead capture, profile portals and other specialist systems exhibitors must use.
External actionSpecialist platforms can remain where they add value. The exhibitor should receive one clear route to each meeting system, show app, lead-capture tool, profile portal or supplier action, with the correct deadline, login, owner and support contact.
The PDF is only one part of the problem.
An exhibitor may receive the manual and still be contacted separately by the stand builder, show-app provider, meeting-matching company, organiser operations team, marketing team, sponsorship team, venue and specialist suppliers. Each message can contain another deadline, login, form, attachment or person to call.
The exhibitor is left to piece everything together
- The exhibitor has to work out which request belongs to which part of the event.
- The same company, contact and profile information may be requested repeatedly.
- Deadlines are scattered across messages, documents and external systems.
- Different teams can chase the same company without seeing the complete picture.
- Organiser teams reconcile progress through inboxes, calls and spreadsheets.
One clear route through every relevant responsibility
- Relevant information, forms, files and external actions appear in one understandable journey.
- The participant can see what applies, what is due and what has already been completed.
- Approved information can be reused instead of requested again by every team.
- Specialist supplier systems can remain in place while XpoBay provides the route to the right action.
- The organiser team sees current status and can focus reminders on genuinely outstanding work.
A modern digital manual should turn disconnected emails, calls, documents, portals and supplier actions into one coherent preparation journey.
The manual becomes a personalised workspace.
A genuinely digital exhibitor manual does more than replace the PDF. It connects identity, relevance, action, status and communication across the wider preparation journey. The participant sees one clear route through the work; the organiser team sees progress from the Event Dashboard.
Identity
The system recognises the participant, event and configured context.
Relevance
Pages, files, forms and requirements appear only where they apply.
Action
The correct form, file, contact or supplier route appears at the right point.
Status
Everyone can understand what is complete, outstanding or awaiting review.
Follow-up
Communications can focus on current outstanding work instead of chasing everyone.
A digital manual can help the event make it happen—and show the organiser team where intervention is still needed.
The real problem is not the PDF. It is everything around it.
Exhibitors are left to piece together emails, phone calls, attachments, supplier portals and requests from different teams—while organiser teams chase progress across disconnected systems. These are the three operating models organisers and exhibitors are most likely to encounter.
PDF plus manual coordination
The exhibitor receives a PDF or web manual, then manages the rest through emails, calls, attachments, spreadsheets and separate supplier systems.
- Requests arrive from different organiser teams and suppliers
- Deadlines, forms and logins are spread across channels
- Organisers chase and reconcile progress manually
Separate portals for each audience
Exhibitors, sponsors and speakers may each receive a digital portal, but those journeys often remain separate and may not reflect every responsibility held by the same person.
- Different portals or accounts for different audiences
- Information and tasks may be repeated or only partly relevant
- One person can still face duplicate logins and progress views
One connected XpoBay Workspace
XpoBay combines the relevant exhibiting, sponsorship and speaking responsibilities held by the same Parent User into one login, one personalised Workspace and one overall progress view.
- One participant identity across several User Types
- Relevant information, tasks, deadlines and reminders together
- Specialist systems can remain without fragmenting the journey
Meeting scheduling, lead capture, show apps and supplier ordering can remain where they are useful. XpoBay gives the participant one clear route through every relevant action and gives the organiser team one connected view of progress.
Several responsibilities—and several contributors—can surround one participant record.
Multi-role personalisation and collaborative access are different requirements. XpoBay can combine several User Types for one Parent User, while Additional Users receive their own controlled access when colleagues, stand builders or logistics contacts need to contribute.
One Parent User can hold several responsibilities.
When the same person is exhibiting, sponsoring and speaking, XpoBay can combine those User Types and the relevant work in one participant Workspace.
Supporting people need separately controlled access.
An Additional User receives a separate login connected to a Parent User. A Vendor is a different organiser-authorised model for access to entries from selected forms.
Start with responsibilities—not pages.
Before choosing software or rewriting content, map the work. A clear manual begins with the people, requirements, owners and deadlines that make the event operationally ready.
List every requirement
Include reading, downloads, forms, approvals, supplier orders and offline actions.
Define who it applies to
Identify the User Types, User Categories and other event context that determine relevance.
Confirm ownership
Name the organiser team, venue, supplier or participant responsible for each step.
Connect deadlines and status
Decide what counts as complete, who needs visibility and when follow-up should occur.
Can every participant understand what applies, what is due and what happens next—and can the organiser team see progress without asking?
Exhibitor manual FAQs
Clear answers about what a manual is, what it should contain and how the digital model differs.
What is an exhibitor manual?+
What should an exhibitor manual include?+
What else is an exhibitor manual called?+
Is an exhibitor manual the same as an exhibitor portal?+
Do all digital exhibitor manuals combine exhibitor, sponsor and speaker responsibilities?+
Why do exhibitors still receive so many emails when a manual exists?+
Should the manual replace meeting-matching, lead-capture or show-app software?+
Does a digital exhibitor manual replace every PDF?+
Can one manual support exhibitors, sponsors and speakers?+
Can colleagues and contractors help without sharing the main login?+
Who should manage the exhibitor manual?+
When should the exhibitor manual open?+
Keep the expertise. Remove the fragmentation.
See how XpoBay turns event information, requirements and deadlines into personalised Workspaces, connected actions, automatic follow-up and visible progress.