Exhibitor Rules – SDC2023

To make the 2023 NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (SDC2023) a successful event for all participants, exhibitors must review and abide by all event rules. These rules also apply to all exhibitor-appointed contractors (EACs).

In addition to the SDC2023 rules, exhibitors must adhere to the Exhibitor Contract Terms & Conditions, the binding contract that applies to all exhibitors.

Questions?

Contact the NBAA exhibits team at exhibits@nbaa.org.

• Booth Rules
• Badges/Registration
• Booth Events – Exhibitor Hospitality Events
• Catering
• Children
• Cleaning
• Co-Exhibitors/Companies Sharing Exhibit Space
• Defacing Property
• Demonstrations
• Direct Selling
• Dress
• Electrical Equipment & Service
• Exhibit Hours
• Exhibitor-Appointed Contractors (EACs)
• Fire Safety
• First Aid
• Fuel/Specialty Rows
• Insurance
• Internet
• Membership
• Move-in
• Music
• Official Service Partners
• Pets
• Photo Use Permission
• Security
• Segways, Skateboards, In-line/Roller Skates, Bicycles, Electric Footboards and Scooters
• Shipping & Storage
• Smoking
• Staffing
• Stand Drawings
• Waste Removal

Booth Rules

General Booth Rules

The following rules apply to both inline exhibits and 20 x 20 island spaces.

• All booths must be set by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023.
• Exhibitors may not tear down exhibits prior to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023.
• All display material must remain within the exhibitor’s purchased exhibit space at all times.
• All drapery must remain in place at all times.
• Flammable materials (e.g., bunting, tissue paper, crepe paper) are not permitted within the exhibit hall.
• Ceilings are not permitted on booths.
• Booths may have only one exhibit level.
• No hanging signs or truss lighting are permitted.
• No helium balloons, remote-controlled vehicles or piñatas of any type are allowed in booths.
• Alcohol is not permitted to be served in booths.
• Live animals are not permitted on the show floor (with the exception of service animals).
• No giveaways or props may be flown or tossed around in the exhibit hall (e.g. paper airplanes, balls, etc.).
• Only carpet tape is permitted to affix flooring to the convention center floor.
• Exhibitor prize drawings may only be held during the designated exhibit hours, not during education session times.
• Exhibitor booth photos may not be taken from ladders or stop the flow of aisle traffic. All exhibitor photographers must check in with the NBAA exhibits team if they are not registered to attend the conference.
• Exhibitors may not distribute materials booth-to-booth or outside of their assigned exhibit space.
• Exhibitors must ensure their booth personnel are not blocking aisles when talking with attendees.
• Exhibit space must be staffed during all exhibit hours.
• Exhibitors using EACs for move-in/move-out must complete the Intent to Use EAC form, which will be included in the Exhibitor Service Kit.
• All EACs must complete the EAC Contract and provide their certificate of insurance through the online portal.
• All EACs must sign in on-site daily and obtain security wristbands to access the show floor.

Inline Booth Rules

In addition to the general booth rules above, the following rules apply to 10-foot by 10-foot, 10-foot by 20-foot, 10-foot by 30-foot and 10-foot by 40-foot inline booths.

• Maximum height for exhibit materials, components and identification signs: 8 feet
• All display material higher than 5 feet must not extend farther out than 5 feet from the back wall of the booth to permit a clear view from booth to booth.
• Exhibitors in corner inline booths must ensure that unfinished elements from their booth are not visible from the aisle. Exhibitors may order end panels or “masking” from Freeman or may provide a professional appearing alternative on their own.
• No storage of materials of any kind is allowed behind booths or near electrical service. Materials necessary to supply the exhibit must be stored neatly within the purchased space.

20 x 20 Island Space Rules

In addition to the general booth rules above, the following rules apply 20 x 20 island spaces.

• Maximum height for exhibit materials, components and identification signs: 12 feet
• Full use of island exhibit space is permitted.
• Hard walls are permitted on no more than 50% of perimeter walls.
• All exposed walls must be finished.
• Stand drawings must be submitted to NBAA in advance for approval. Details on stand drawings will be included in the Exhibitor Service Kit.

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Badges/Registration

Official SDC2023 badges are required for access to the exhibit halls. Exhibitors may use their badge allotment for exhibit staff, exhibitor guests and EACs as they choose. Additional exhibitor badges for booth staff or guests may be purchased for $795 each through the exhibitor registration portal, which will be available later this year.

Conference registration includes entrance to all scheduled educational sessions, continental breakfasts, lunches, morning and afternoon energy breaks and the Tuesday evening welcome reception.

Badge Allotment

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Booth Events – Exhibitor Hospitality Events

NBAA requests that exhibitors not schedule booth events or hospitality events during any NBAA-hosted event. NBAA events and sessions will conclude at the following times each day.

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Catering

• Music City Center maintains an exclusive relationship with one of the most well-known and respected catering firms in the industry.
• More information on Music City Center food and beverage rules and regulations will be available in the SDC2023 Exhibitor Service Kit.
• Exhibitors may not dispense food or beverages of any kind, including bottled water, without written permission from the Music City Center.
• Food or beverages purchased outside of the Music City Center may not be brought indoors and consumed within the building.
• Exhibitors planning events that will include catering must plan their events to ensure that all elements of their events, including catering and guests, are contained within their purchased exhibit space.
• Alcohol is not permitted at SDC2023.

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Children

• Children less than 12 years old are not permitted on the SDC2023 exhibit floor under any circumstances.
• Children 12 years old and older are permitted in exhibit areas during exhibit hours with an SDC2022 badge and must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
• Children will not be permitted in exhibit areas during installation and teardown.

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Cleaning

• NBAA will arrange to clean aisles after show hours and prior to opening each show day. This service does not include dusting, arranging, vacuuming or otherwise maintaining individual exhibits and trash removal.
• Exhibitors must keep their displays neatly organized.
• Exhibitors who wish to have their booths cleaned on a daily basis must order cleaning through the forms provided in the Exhibitor Service Kit.

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Co-Exhibitors/Companies Sharing Exhibit Space

Some companies will share the exhibit space of a primary exhibitor as a co-exhibitor. A co-exhibitor is defined as:

• Any company whose name is included on the exhibit space
• Any company that has staff working at the exhibit space during official show hours
• Any company whose marketing materials are distributed from the exhibit space
• Any company whose products/services are marketed from the exhibit space
• Any company other than the primary exhibitor with a different company name and a different business function that is sharing the exhibit space

All co-exhibiting companies at SDC2023 are required to register and pay the $1,395 co-exhibitor registration fee.

SDC2023 Co-Exhibitor Registration

Co-exhibitor registration will be available in the Exhibitor Service Kit.

Failure to advise NBAA of co-exhibitors in advance – including displaying the advertising of another company’s products or services – may result in a minimum additional charge of $3,495 per company, per booth and a minimum of $3,495 per company.

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Conference Colors

In the exhibit halls the aisle carpet color is midnight blue and the booth back and side wall pipe and draping is black.

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Defacing Property

• No part of an exhibit, or signs relating thereto, may be taped, nailed, tacked, stapled, pasted or otherwise fastened to ceilings, walls, doors, windows, painted surfaces, columns, marble or fabric in any way.
• No holes may be drilled, cored or punched in the Music City Center walls or floors.
• No application of paint on signs, displays or other objects is permitted in Music City Center and the use of adhesive-backed decals or similar items is prohibited.
• Damages to the Music City Center arising from failure to observe these rules will be billed to the exhibitor.
• Exposed parts of displays, including backs, must be completely finished so that they are not objectionable to other exhibitors, attendees and NBAA management.

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Demonstrations

• All display material and demonstrations must be confined within the limits of the exhibitor’s purchased space.
• Product demonstrations should not be placed on the aisle sides of exhibits.
• Normal aisle traffic cannot be interfered with at any time.
• NBAA reserves the right to restrict exhibits that because of noise, method of operation or any other reason become objectionable.
• Please be mindful of other exhibitors and events that are located near your exhibit.

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Direct Selling

• Direct selling on the exhibit floor is prohibited.
• Canvassing or distribution of publications/marketing materials/show dailies outside of assigned exhibit space, including all booth-to-booth distribution.
• Canvassing and soliciting, except by exhibiting companies, are prohibited within 50 miles of SDC2023. Exhibitors and persons violating this rule will be removed.

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Dress

Dress for SDC2023 is business casual.

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Electrical Equipment & Service

• The Music City Center is the exclusive provider of electrical services at the Music City Center.
• Electrical wiring must be the proper size to handle demand, and all extension cords must be UL listed, labeled and appropriately sized.
• Excessive use of extension cords is discouraged and must be approved by the Fire Marshal before use.

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Exhibit Hours

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Exhibitor-Appointed Contractors (EACs)

Exhibitors have the option of using Freeman (the official service contractor for SDC2023), a qualified independent EAC or full-time personnel from their own company to install and dismantle displays.

An EAC is any individual or company that is not an employee of your company and is hired to install/dismantle/provide service to your booth (i.e.; booth designers/builders/installation/dismantling contractors, non-official florists, furniture suppliers, laborers, etc.).

Exhibitors may use an EAC if:

• The service to be performed is not listed as an exclusive service
• The exhibitor has designated the EAC as their service provider on the Exhibitor-Appointed Contractor Intent to Use Form
• The EAC submits the EAC Application/Contract and Certificate of Insurance to NBAA and agrees to abide by all EAC rules
• All EAC workers have Exhibition Services & Contractors Association (ESCA) Worker Identification & Security (WIS) badges

It is the exhibitor’s responsibility to ensure that all representatives of the EAC abide by the SDC2023 exhibitor rules and to provide badges for those staff working on show days. The exhibiting company is responsible for the actions of their independent contractors and subcontractors.

Further details on EACs will be available in the Exhibitor Service Kit.

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Fire Safety

• All exits and exit aisles must be kept clear and unobstructed.
• No furniture, signs, easels, chairs or displays may protrude into aisles.
• Fire hose cabinets, fire extinguishers, sprinklers or any other fire-safety device must not be hidden, obstructed or otherwise disturbed.
• All materials used in exhibit construction, decoration or as temporary cover must be certified as flame-retardant.
• All materials and installations must comply with the requirements of inspection by the Music City Center Fire Marshal.
• The use of propane or bottled gas, flammable gasses and compressed gas cylinders, including LPG, flammable thinners, solvents, paints and aerosol cans are strictly prohibited within the Music City Center.

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First Aid

First Aid at the Music City Center will be available during move-in and on show days.

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Fuel/Specialty Rows

Several fuel company/specialty providers will exhibit at SDC2023 with sponsored fuel/specialty rows that include more than 10 exhibit booths. Due to the size of their participation, the NBAA exhibits team will place the fuel rows on the floor plan before beginning placing other exhibitors.

Fuel row organizers typically decorate the booths within their row in a consistent manner and may standardize the individual booth’s graphics.

All exhibitors requesting to be placed in a fuel/specialty row may select their preferred fuel row on their exhibit application, and are subject to approval by the company overseeing the row. Then, at their appointment time, they will select their preferred booth location based on availability within their selected fuel row.

Some fuel row organizers prefer to place their fuel row participants themselves. As such, exhibitors in these rows are not part of the priority placement process, but will work with their fuel row organizer to be assigned their booth locations.

Exhibitors purchasing a premium placement booth and requesting a booth in one of the fuel/specialty rows will receive premium placement within that row.

Exhibitors in 20-foot by 20-foot booths are not eligible for fuel row participation.

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Insurance

All exhibitors at the Music City Center are required to maintain the following for the entire duration of the event, including move-in and move-out periods:

• Comprehensive general liability insurance, including broad form contractual liability coverage, with limits of at least $1,000,000 combined single limit, per occurrence, for personal and advertising injury, bodily injury and property damage.
• Workers’ compensation and employers’ liability insurance in accordance with statutory limits.

All insurance must be primary and noncontributory to any other insurance coverage and each exhibitor shall obtain a waiver of subrogation on each policy in favor of the additional insured parties. National Business Aviation Association, Inc.; Music City Center; and Freeman must each be named as additional insured on the comprehensive general liability and automobile liability insurance.

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Internet

Internet service in the exhibit halls will not be provided by NBAA.

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Membership

All primary exhibitors and co-exhibitors must be current members of NBAA.

Non-member companies must join NBAA before purchasing exhibit space or becoming a co-exhibitor.

All exhibitors and co-exhibitors must be current on all accounts with NBAA, and paid in full for their exhibit space, in order to occupy exhibit space.

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Move-in

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Move-out

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Music

NBAA has entered into licensing agreements with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) to allow the use of live and recorded music from the ASCAP and BMI repertoires throughout the public areas of the Music CityCenter. Exhibitors are responsible for obtaining the appropriate licenses before the use of any work at any private function or that is not in the ASCAP or BMI repertoires.

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Noise Levels

Sound levels within the exhibitor’s booth should not exceed 85 decibels as determined by NBAA exhibits team and must not disrupt the conduct of business of neighboring exhibits or show management events during posted exhibit hours.

Sound level violations should be reported directly to the NBAA exhibits team.

NBAA noise policy enforcement procedure is as follows:

• An exhibitor in violation of this policy will receive a verbal warning from the NBAA exhibits team.
• If a second infraction occurs, the exhibitor will receive a written warning delivered by the NBAA exhibits team.
• If the exhibitor continues to violate the policy, the electrical power for the sound producing elements will be shut down.
• Exhibitors receiving sound violation warnings may jeopardize their priority standing at future NBAA events.

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Official Service Partners

To ensure orderly and efficient installation, operation and removal of displays and to eliminate confusion, NBAA has designated Freeman and other firms listed in the Exhibitor Service Kit as official service contractors. NBAA management holds these firms responsible for quality service and fair prices and will intercede on behalf of an exhibitor in the event of faulty work or unfair charges. NBAA management encourages all exhibitors to place orders with these firms, unless a permanent arrangement has been established with a display house or outside contractor to set up and dismantle exhibits.

Official Service Partner Logo

Exhibitors should look for the official service partner logo on official service partner order forms before ordering service, as well as on their emails and websites to ensure they are working with an NBAA-approved service provider.

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Pets

No pets, with the exception of service animals, will be permitted in the exhibit hall at any time.

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Photo Use Permission

Any person who attends an NBAA event grants permission to NBAA, its employees and agents to record his or her images, including, but not limited to, photographs, digital images, voices, sound or video recordings, audio clips, or accompanying written descriptions, and, without notifying such person, to use his or her name and such images for any purpose of NBAA, including advertisements for NBAA and its programs.

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Security

While SDC2023 exhibits are open, a limited amount of perimeter security staff will be provided. Notwithstanding the foregoing, NBAA and the Music city Center will not be liable for loss or damage to exhibitor’s property, as further provided in the SDC2023 Exhibitor Contract Terms & Conditions. Exhibitors are advised to obtain additional insurance coverage in advance to cover losses such as theft and damage to property. Exhibitors should ensure valuables are secured with lock and key.

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Segways, Skateboards, In-line/Roller Skates, Bicycles, Electric Footboards and Scooters

The use of Segways, skateboards, hoverboards, inline skates, roller skates or any other motorized vehicle is not permitted on Music City Center property without the prior approval of show management and the Music City Center Convention Services Manager. This includes all non-ADA approved mobility devices.

Bicycles and scooters will be permitted during move-in and move-out only provided they are operated in a safe manner.

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Shipping & Storage

The Music City Center cannot accept or store shipments in advance of SDC2023. Any shipment that arrives at the Music City Center prior to the targeted move-in dates will be refused.

The unloading and delivery of all materials and equipment from the Music City Center docks or other areas to exhibitors’ booths or assigned spaces and loading out from same to vehicles must be performed by Freeman as the official contractor.

Limited hand-carry areas will be provided for the unloading of small items not requiring dollies, carts, etc. Small two-wheeled “luggage-type carts” will be allowed for moving small cartons through a designated hand-carry area. Exhibitors requiring larger wheeled devices to move their equipment or materials must contact Freeman for handling.

No storage of materials of any kind is allowed behind booths or near electrical service.

Materials necessary to the exhibit must be stored neatly within the purchased space.

Empty cartons, boxes and crates are to be labeled and removed for storage prior to show opening. Storage of these items by or in exhibits is prohibited. This rule will be enforced by the Music City Center and NBAA. Freeman will receive and store exhibits and deliver them directly to the Music City Center exhibit halls on setup days. Freeman will also remove empty crates, provide storage during SDC2023 and return crates on dismantling day.

Additional details on shipping and shipping labels will be available in the Exhibitor Service Kit.

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Smoking

SDC2023 is a smoke-free event. All smoking, including electronic or vapor cigarettes, is prohibited at SDC2023.

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Staffing

• Exhibit areas must be fully staffed during official exhibit hours.
• Exhibitors will be admitted one hour prior to official exhibit hours each show day for early preparations of displays only.
• Exhibits must remain staffed and in place through 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 26.
• Exhibitors are reminded not to schedule meetings with attendees at their exhibits prior to show opening on show days.
• No activities, except exhibit preparations, are to be scheduled in the exhibit areas at any time other than official exhibit hours. NBAA management reserves the right to make changes to the exhibit hours schedule with advance notice.

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Stand Drawings

All exhibitors in 20 x 20 booths and exhibitors with wooden or other material structure booths must submit end stand drawings to NBAA by Nov. 25, 2022, for approval.

Drawings must be scaled, signed and dated and include the following:

• Show name and date: SDC2023, Jan. 24-26, 2023
• Exhibitor company name
• Booth number
• Booth orientation (label surrounding booth numbers)
• Maximum number of occupants allowed
• Maximum exhibit height within the booth

Stand drawings should be submitted to exhibits@nbaa.org for approval by Nov. 25, 2022.

Exhibitors who do not submit drawings in advance for approval may be delayed upon move-in.

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Waste Removal

Exhibitors and EACs are responsible for maintaining a safe and clean environment during move-in and move-out. A clean floor policy will be enforced. Cleaning and waste removal can be ordered through Freeman in the Exhibitor Service Kit.

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