During the recent Dreamforce conference field trip, we got to see the grand and imposing exhibits and booths. The craftsmanship put into these temporary exhibitions can only be described as perfection. The majority of exhibits on display represented multi-million dollar companies in the hopes that they would hire private companies to create these temporary exhibits. Surprisingly, all of this work was done by union workers. Their implementation requires contracts, compliance with union rules and regulations, exhibitor protocols and much more. Simply put, there is nothing simple about the construction put into exhibits and booths at any convention in the United States. The relationship between unions and the event management industry when it comes to exhibiting at these conventions is one of out-of-territory war intimidation. Each city has a different union. jurisdictions. Union jurisdictions are contracts negotiated with convention centers that limit, prohibit and specify what area exhibitors can establish, otherwise they must rely on the union to do the majority of the work based on the stipulations of the union contract. In any agreement, the common areas over which unions have jurisdiction are: freight handling, electricians, carpet layers, decorators (fabrics and furniture), carpenters (installation and dismantling of exhibits), stagehands (audio-visual ) and fitters (installation and suspension of heavy machinery). panels), plumbing, food and beverage and more. This list covers virtually all areas of exhibit setup and teardown. As an exhibitor, you do not pay these services directly to the union but to multiple intermediaries. For my article, I interviewed Candy Adams, CTSM, CME, CEM, CMP, CMM, "The Booth Mom", an independent exhibit management consultant,... ... middle of article.. ....ed. Exponent. June. 2008. Exhibitoronline.com. Internet. November 1, 2013. .Adams, Candy. Personal interview. November 22, 2013 Brazil, Donna. “What have the unions done for us? » CNN. September 2012. CNN.com. Internet. October 1, 2013. .Bruno, Michelle. “Working with unions at exhibitions in the United States. » Remarks on the overall view. June 7. 2012. Rerogers.com. Internet. October 29, 2013. < http://rerogers.com/uploads/GVNotes_6_7_2012.pdf >. “How to work with unions at trade shows. » Tradegroup.com. National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, Inc., November 13, 2013. Web. October 29, 2013 “Guide to Trade Show Union Jurisdictions by U.S. Cities.” » Thetradeshownetwork.com. The Tradeshow Marketing Network Group, September 22, 2010 Web. October 10. 2013.