Portable, durable and ready for any weather, outdoor trade show tents can bring your brand to a new level of visibility. These outdoor exhibitions and canopied booths mean your business can “set up shop” virtually anywhere it has business interests. Imagine the outreach and sales opportunities when you have a portable event booth tent at your disposal, to be unpacked and pitched in a matter of minutes.
SpeedPro’s nationwide network of printing studios designs and creates large-format outdoor canopy tents for a range of business needs. Explore the impact and versatility of custom printed trade show tents for yourself — then reach out to get started.
What Are Portable Exhibit Tents?
Exhibit or trade show tents are branded shelters made from custom-printed vinyl fabric and structural frames. Also known as outdoor display tents, these commercial canopies come designed and branded with company graphics, including a business’ name, logo, color scheme and other on-brand visuals.
Organizations use portable tents to bring their stores, services, products and personnel to the streets. From traditional 5×5 frames to custom setups as long as 25×25, exhibit tents let you stand out from competitors at industry events for all the right reasons — and stay protected from the weather while doing so.
SpeedPro can produce two main types of portable outdoor display tents:
- Popup tents: These tents feature a standard, four-legged tent frame fashioned from steel or aluminum. As their name implies, popup tents fold or unfold into place — no tools or assembly of separate pieces required. Once stationed, the four legs support a metal canopy frame for the tent’s canvas covering, stretching to cover the top of the outdoor display.
- Tubular tents: Tubular tents, or frame event tents, are made from separate steel or aluminum poles that fit together to create a tent’s supporting frame. Branded vinyl sheets are made to slip through and cover the tubular framing, creating a tighter canvas fit. Tubular tents do require tools and assembly but can support larger canopies and wall canvases. They’re ideal for larger outdoor display exhibitions or even as small event tents.
Why Are Portable Canopy Tents Important at Trade Shows?
Outdoor trade show exhibits provide organizations with a range of branding and PR advantages.
1. Increase Brand Awareness
Trade shows and industry events today are littered with booths, all vying for the attention of those strolling by. When these industry events are held outdoors, you must also fight weather, temperature and environmental distractions, among other elements.
Branded outdoor exhibition tents cut through the noise — literal and figurative — to make your display pop. You can stand out from your surroundings using big, bold colors and images. Tent covers and vinyl canvas walls become branded templates to promote your name, logo, products, general company culture and overall identity. Plus, since they’re reusable, outdoor canopy tents mean you can present a consistent B2B and B2C image.
2. Enhance Professionalism and Personality
Portable event tents are functional as well as aesthetic. The custom-designed tent walls, canopies and backdrops build a thoughtful, well-curated presentation of your company. When you’re networking with others in your industry, trade show self-presentation is essential to making a knockout first impression and establishing new connections with new suppliers, vendors and business contacts.
Exhibition tents are also appropriate places to have a little fun. Create experiential moments, demonstrate products, showcase new technology and invite interactive participation to show some company personality and stand out even more.
3. Strengthen Industry Presence and Market Share
Brand exposure and growth is one of the top reasons business leaders cite for sending representatives to industry conferences and trade shows.
With outdoor exhibition tents, you can establish a home base to milk these valuable business opportunities. Think vendor or supplier relationship building, influencer networking, live streaming and blogging content creation, qualified sales lead nurturing and — of course — scouting out the competition.
The more your business installs tents at trade shows and conferences, the more you maximize opportunities for competitive industry advantage. This process means a brighter market share tomorrow — all because of a tent setup today.
4. Maintain One-of-a-Kind Branded Graphics
How many plain white tents have you seen at community events or industry conferences? They don’t exactly elicit an emotional reaction or inspire a connection, do they?
Break from the mundane by deploying head-to-toe (or should we say canopy to pole mount) custom-designed tent graphics.Your tent walls and graphics can relay messages about your business in a fraction of a second, working as real-time branded collateral complementing your company’s image.
5. Stay Protected From the Elements
Weather is the last thing you want to worry about when you’re networking at a professional trade show. Fortunately, rain or shine, wind or heat, your durable vinyl canopy will keep you and your booth visitors covered.
SpeedPro’s popup and tubular tents are both designed for easy setup and breakdown. Tubular exhibitions require minimal tools or specialized equipment to install, and popup tents require none at all.
Where to Use Outdoor Trade Show Tents and Exhibitions
SpeedPro can help design and fabricate outdoor booths and exhibits for the following events.
1. Trade Shows and Conferences
B2B conferences are the place to meet and greet industry leaders, entrepreneurs and influencers. They’re ideal environments to nurture new and old networks and qualified B2B leads alike, with every conference-goer’s presence indicating their interest and alignment in your field.
Few places offer instant access to relevant, like-minded professionals. Custom printed trade show tents will let you maximize these conference moments to organically grow your business.
2. Expos and Conventions
Themed conventions or expos can give the general public an inside look into your industry. They’re similar to industry trade shows yet expand your brand’s authority, relevancy and meaning to an earnest B2C crowd. Outdoor display tents at B2C expos let you reap these benefits of brand awareness and consumer relationship building right at the source.
3. Fairs and Festivals
From food festivals to country fairs, carnivals to season street fests, there are plenty of outdoor public gatherings where your business can make a mark. Outdoor exhibition tents can double as popup stores, concession stands, entertainment centers or similar venue-friendly tents at these festive events.
4. Farmers Markets
Farmers markets have exploded in popularity. The most recent data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recognizes well over 8,000 farmers markets coast to coast, with the biggest growth occurring between 2006 and 2014 (180% alone in those eight years). More and more businesses recognize the value of portable tent exhibits at farmers markets — especially companies entering new markets or looking to deepen their community presence.
5. Community Events
Craft fairs, parades, municipal holiday celebrations, historical days — you name it, there’s an opportunity for your business to set up shop via your custom printed trade show canopy tent.
6. Private Concerts and Performances
Outdoor concerts at industry events rely on tents for ticket booths and to sell merchandise, offer concessions and run event operations, among others event needs. Businesses and local organizations are often the vendors providing these services from their own branded tents.
Even mini-concerts or performances at industry trade shows or conferences are a great place to set up a branded booth offshoot, complete with custom signage, event graphics and booth offerings fitting the scene.
7. Corporate Sporting Events
Outdoor canopy tents are essential during corporate-sponsored and community sporting events. From 5K races to sports tournaments to inter-departmental softball leagues, branded tents relay your involvement.
8. Product Launches and Premiers
Unveil new or updated merchandise in style within your portable event booths and tents. Trade shows provide the perfect context to develop momentum around product and service launches, introducing new and established clients to your upcoming development. Celebrate accordingly with your branded, portable outdoor display tents.
Outdoor Exhibition Tent Features
SpeedPro studios can make and manufacture your organization’s outdoor exhibition tent kit. We have the design equipment across our locations to create the complete tent components, each customized for your brand.
Explore our catalog of commercial popup and tubular outdoor tents for your most important industry events.
1. Portable Canopy
Ultra-durable and spatially immersive, portable canopies will stretch across aluminum and steel tent frames to cover your booth. Stretch canopies serve as weather protection and a tent’s top partition, creating an insular environment for your exhibition.
Tent canopies are available in a wide variety of stock or custom colors. Add text, logos and graphics, then protect the canvas with water and UV-resistant polyester vinyl finish.
2. Booth Kits
SpeedPro also creates matching booth kits — modular display counters and kiosks that will be placed inside your tent for you to interact with visitors. Our studios produce four types of outdoor-tent-friendly booth models:
- Linear pro module: Linear kits provide a rectangular fabric backdrop and foldable, portable backdrop frame. Use the eye-catching background fabrics as your tent’s rear wall, plus add fabric wing, header or backdrop banner accents to grab further attention for your station.
- Vector frame module:Vector kits use similar foldable aluminum frames and canvases as linear models, yet when installed create graphic pop-outs and 3D visuals rather than simple 2D stretched canvas backdrops. These kits are available in 10-foot and 20-foot varieties, great for larger exhibition tents where visitors can walk freely, mix and mingle.
- Hybrid module: Hybrid kits are a highly customizable exhibition tent option, starring both the linear model’s signature stretch canvas background as well as the vector model’s framed, pop-out images. Other features include matching canopies, half-wall partitions, electronic hook-ins and geometric architectural fabric details for added tent embellishment.
- Island module: Island kits are 360-degree trade show displays with freestanding architectural frames and multiple fabric graphics installations. These displays are visually and functionally versatile and can be placed within a tent to create seating, kiosks, work tables, merchandise shelves, product demonstration booths, areas to play media and much more.
3. Tent Backdrops and Step-and-Repeat Banners
Fabric backwalls come in four SpeedPro categories:
- Essential: Essential backdrops provide the flat, UV- and water-resistant rectangular background fabric to comprise the back wall of your tent.
- Modulate: Modulate backdrops contain a central, vinyl-printed tent background with two accent framed wings. The wings provide an additional place for your business to add high-impact graphics, logos or text.
- Master: Master backdrops are a curved horizontal backwall available in standing, tabletop and extra tall dimensions.
- Designer: SpeedPro additionally offers Designer Backdrop kits, prepared with custom curved and linear backdrops as well as accompanying dimensional accent walls, multimedia outlets and architectural fabric embellishments.
Each backwall is available in 7-foot to 30-foot templates fitting most SpeedPro tent-friendly module kits.
Go the extra creative mile by using your tent backdrop as a step-and-repeat banner, an interactive photo or selfie-taking opportunity for trade show visitors at your booth. You can even add a branded hashtag to your backdrop, then incentivize participants to share their photo with the tag on social media.
4. Walls and Half Walls
Elevate your company’s outdoor tent with full and half-wall partitions. SpeedPro can help in measuring and manufacturing polyester vinyl tent partitions that set your tent apart from the rest both physically and aesthetically. These fabric walls also serve as yet another place to print your business’ custom, attention-grabbing and impactful graphics.
5. Banners and Flags
Custom event banners, banner stands and flags are a staple addition to any outdoor canopy tent. Portable and easy to assemble, the commercial flags and banners from SpeedPro come in various templates:
- Hanging cast, calendar and mesh vinyl
- Boulevard-style banners
- Retractable banners
- Telescopic banners
- Springback banners
- Stretch fabric frames
- Illuminated fabric frames
Personalize your tent’s complementary banners and flags by selecting their size, shape, stand type, colors, graphics and laminate finish.
6. Outdoor Bars and Counters
Add counters and tables to your outdoor trade show tent to give passersby a place to stop and mingle. SpeedPro’s outdoor exhibit counters and bars contain pre-assembled aluminum or plastic frames with matching header inserts, great for displaying your business’ name, advertising its products, highlighting product reviews or elevating the overall look of your canopied tent.
SpeedPro also creates four modular counters, which are ideal for standalone displays or as reception areas for your employees while they’re working within the tent. The four modular counter templates come designed to match the four types of booth kits also fabricated by SpeedPro:
- Linear pro counter systems
- Vector frame counters
- Hybrid pro counters
- Orbital truss/island counters
7. Table Throws and Skirts
Embellish your tent’s counters and tables with SpeedPro’s line of table throws and skirts. These fabric accessories will transform your trade show exhibit, giving it a final touch relaying your attention to detail and commitment to creating an immersive, aesthetic yet professional environment.
8. Exhibition Tent Popup Displays
Complete your fully branded outdoor exhibition with 2D and 3D portable popup displays like collapsible and folding panel displays, literature racks, outdoor kiosks, product or display shelving, multimedia fixtures, interactive tablet stands and other functional booth enhancements. Each comes with customizable features like color, size and quick-assembly components, available in tabletop versions as convenient as 48×24-inch miniature table topper folding panel displays to 5×5-foot freestanding backdrop paneling systems.
Read the full catalog of trade show exhibit tabletop displays to find out about their dimensions and applications.
Build Your Business’ Outdoor, Portable Event Booths and Tents
SpeedPro is a nationwide leader in wide-format graphics design and production. We bring an authentic, full-service partnership to all outdoor trade show tent projects, creating exhibits that are convenient, brand-customized and attention-capturing — all so you can make the most of your industry event attendance.
Find your local studio to get started.