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ToxExpo Exhibitor Update: Know Before You Go

Print out this email, save it to your e-device, and forward it to your on-site exhibit staff, as a handy list of things to know before you all go and arrive in the Music City for the SOT 62nd Annual Meeting and ToxExpo. 

ARRIVE in Nashville on Saturday, March 18 and/or Sunday March 19 to set up your booth. ToxExpo is taking place at the Music City Center, Level 3, Hall C, 700 Korean Veterans Boulevard Nashville, Tennessee. Booth set up hours are as follows: 
Saturday: 10:00 AM–5:00 PM (island booths only) 
                   1:00 PM–5:00 PM (all booths) 
Sunday:     8:00 AM–5:00 PM (all booths) 

BADGE Pick Up: The SOT Registration area will be on Level 2 of the Music City Center. Click here for the area’s open hours. If you arrive on Saturday, March 18 between 10:00 AM–2:00 PM and need access to the exhibit hall to setup your booth, you’ll need to receive a wrist band to show to the security guard at the exhibit hall entrance. Keep in mind, wrist bands will not allow anyone to enter the exhibit hall during the ToxExpo open hours. The official SOT registration badge is required to enter the ToxExpo exhibit hall on Monday, March 20, Tuesday, March 21, and Wednesday, March 22. 

CONSULT the Exhibitor Service Manual for exhibit services and details as well as order forms and deadlines. Remember, exhibits are not provided carpeting/flooring by SOT. All exhibits must include one solid piece of approved carpet or interlocking flooring. Area indoor or outdoor rugs, sheets, or bare concrete are not acceptable. Carpeting or flooring can be provided by either the exhibitor or ordered through Shepard. All carpeting or flooring (either self-provided or ordered) must be in place by 5:00 PM, Sunday, March 19. If an exhibitor does not provide acceptable flooring for the booth, the ToxExpo Show Manager will order Shepard to lay carpet at the exhibitor’s expense.

DISPLAY REQUIREMENTS and Booth Design: Important details regarding display requirements and booth design are indicated below. If you have questions or concerns regarding this information or if you would like your exhibit space inspected prior to the ToxExpo Show Management  walk through at 5:00 PM, Sunday, March 19, please contact the ToxExpo Show Manager Sandy Fridy. 

EVENT App is the SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo all-in-one tool for all attendees to manage their time and maximize their experience at the event. Build a custom schedule, access session and abstract descriptions, watch on-demand recordings, find speaker information, view venue maps, and more. Download the app from Apple App Store or Google Play – search for SOT 2023. 

FREIGHT: Exhibitors are urged to verify the delivery of their freight before arrival in Nashville, as shipments may not be traced or delivered on the weekend. The Music City Center will not accept advance shipments of freight or materials prior to Saturday, March 18. Packages sent via USPS, UPS, Federal Express, or any other carrier going directly to the Music City Center must be sent to the attention of Shepard Exposition Services using the Direct Shipping Label provided in the Exhibitor Service Manual. All shipments delivered to the Music City Center after Saturday, March 18, must be addressed to the attention of Shepard Exposition Services. Under no circumstances will C.O.D. deliveries be accepted by the Music City Center. Shepard has jurisdiction over the operation of all material handling equipment, all unloading and reloading, and handling of empty containers. All packages sent to the Shepard Advanced Warehouse or directly to the Music City Center will be subject to material handling. Packages sent to the Music City Center without proper labeling may result in loss and/or return delivery. Pick-up by freight carriers during move-out must be arranged by the exhibitor and each piece of freight must be labeled. All outbound carriers must be checked in by Thursday, March 23 at 10:00 AM. If you are shipping your outbound booth materials via UPS, the UPS Store in the Music City Center will be open until 6:00 PM on Wednesday, March 22 to provide this service.

GO to the Exhibitor Service Center located in the back left area of exhibit hall if you need to order any items for your booth on-site. The ToxExpo service providers will be in the Exhibitor Service Center during ToxExpo move-in and open hours. 

HEALTH and Safety Reminder: There will not be any vaccination requirements and masks will be optional during the SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo. For more information, click here. 

INCLUDED with your exhibit space are the following:

• Back wall (8 feet high) and side rails (3 feet high) made of fabric drape. 
• Single-line text identification sign showing the exhibiting company name and booth number. 
• Company and product listing information in the SOT Event App and on the ToxExpo website. 
• Complimentary registrations based on exhibit space size and type. If you have yet to register or need to make on-site personnel changes, login to your online Exhibitor account and select the Exhibitor Registration tile. If you have questions, contact Karen Cook immediately. 

Furnishings such as carpet/flooring, tables, chairs, wastebasket, etc., and services such as audiovisual, electricity, labor, lead retrieval, and other exhibitor services are NOT INCLUDED with your exhibit space. 

JOIN us at the Welcome Reception Sunday, March 19 from 6:30 PM–7:30 PM in Hall A at the Music City Center. SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo registered attendees are invited to this casual event, which will include complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. 
 
KEY Deadlines: Although many deadlines have passed. Click here to review deadlines. 
 
LEAD Retrieval Services are available through ExpoTools. Refer to the Exhibitor Service Manual for the order form. 
 
MATERIALS distributed beyond your booth is prohibited. SOT collects all promotional material found outside the confines of a booth. Repeat offenders may be disciplined with a loss of a priority point, negatively impacting their company’s sequence selection. 

NO photography or electronic capture is allowed of other exhibit booths or scientific posters without the consent from all parties involved.

OPEN Hours: ToxExpo will be open Monday–Wednesday 9:00 AM–4:30 PM. 
Exhibitors may enter the exhibit hall at Hall B as early as 7:30 AM on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday by showing their proper registration badge and exhibitor ribbon. 
 
PRIZE Drawings: One prize drawing per exhibitor is allowed. Exhibitors are encouraged to advertise prize drawings on the bulletin board placed on the exhibit floor. Each participating exhibitor may hang one 8½" x 11" flyer. The value of the prize may not exceed $1,000. Participating exhibitors will be responsible for informing registrants of the process for which their prize will be given away. All prizes must be collected by the winners in the participating exhibitor booths. 
 
QUESTIONS? The ToxExpo Team and representatives from Shepard Exposition Services as well as other service providers will be on-site in the back of the exhibit hall to answer all your questions. 
 
RULES regarding compliance with the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE) Guidelines for Display Rules and Regulations are required at ToxExpo. Be a good neighbor! Blocking the view of your neighbor booths with your equipment, signs, or backwalls is strictly prohibited. Inline and corner booths display materials must not obstruct sight lines of neighboring exhibitors.  

SOLICITATION from a person or organization that does not have an exhibit booth is prohibited. Please notify the ToxExpo Exhibits Manager Sandy Fridy if you observe or experience this behavior. 

TOXEXPO Move-Out Hours: Wednesday, March 22 from 4:30PM–10:00 PM and Thursday, March 23 from 8:00 AM–10:00 AM. Exhibitors who dismantle or begin to pack up their booth before 4:30 PM Wednesday are subject to a loss of priority points and a one-year suspension of exhibit privilege. 

UNDER no circumstances may exhibitors attempt to move in or out large cartons, crates, or multiple boxes containing exhibit materials through the main entrance areas of the Music City Center. The use of dollies, hand-trucks, and flat carts in the Music City Center’s passenger elevators, escalators, or pedestrian entrances for moving in or out is strictly prohibited. Damage to the facility caused by exhibitors violating this policy is charged to the exhibitor. Shepard will control access to the exhibit hall load in/out area to provide a safe and orderly move in/out. Unloading or reloading in this area will be handled exclusively by Shepard. Therefore, the exhibit hall load in/out area may not be used by exhibitors, and private vehicles will be prohibited in the load in/out area. Exhibitors are encouraged to send their exhibit materials to the Shepard Advanced Warehouse before the event. The proper shipping labels and order forms are in the Exhibitor Service Manual. Shepard will not be responsible for any materials that it does not handle. 

VISITOR Passes: ToxExpo exhibitors are welcome to request visitor passes to the ToxExpo exhibit hall only for local, potential clients for either Tuesday, March 21, 2023, or Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Requests for one-day visitor passes must be sent to sandy@toxicology.org on or before March 14, 2023. More information is provided in the ToxExpo Rules and Regulations. 

WI-FI will be available in the Music City Center during the SOT Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, March 19–23. While in the Music City Center, public Wi-Fi can be accessed by searching for the 2023SOT network and using password SOTguest.

XYZ… And finally. Be sure to book your exhibit space for the 2024 ToxExpo. 
All 2023 exhibiting organizations are eligible to reserve exhibit space for the 2024 ToxExpo in priority point order. An appointment time will be emailed to you soon. Appointment times will also be posted on a board in the ToxExpo Management & 2024 Exhibit Space Sales area located in the back of the exhibit hall. There will be no Tuesday evening sales meeting this year! 

On Sunday, March 19 after exhibit move-in ends at 5:00 PM, SOT Show Management will walk through the exhibit hall to inspect all exhibit booths. If your exhibit booth is in violation of the following, a notification will be left at your booth with the violation noted: 

• Proper booth construction using permissible drapes, furnishings, signs, and banners is required. 
• All displays must be in good taste, maintain the general tone of the ToxExpo, and comply with the International Association of Exhibitors and Events (IAEE) Guidelines and Display Rules and Regulations, which is included in the Exhibitor Service Manual.  
• Corporate identification will not be permitted on the exposed area adjacent to a neighboring exhibit.  
• Exhibits must conform to the size of the space and be arranged so as not to obstruct the view or interfere with other exhibits. Exhibit material (backwall, banner, equipment, etc.) must not exceed the boundaries of defined and rented exhibit space.
• Storing packing materials and surplus literature must be confined to areas away from the display area. No packing containers, wrapping materials or display materials may be stored under tables or behind booths. However, a one-day supply of display materials is permitted. All empty cartons or crates must be labeled and removed for storage, or they will be removed as trash. Visit the Shepard service desk to arrange for storage if needed.  
• Exhibitors are required to finish all walls and structural elements if such structural elements are exposed and visible from an adjacent exhibit or from any angle of visitors' views. 
• Exposed and unfinished sides of exhibit backgrounds must be draped to present an attractive appearance and to hide any booth material, boxes, crates, electrical cords, etc. behind and/or on the side of any booth. If such draping is not ordered, the ToxExpo Show Manager will order Shepard to install draping at the exhibitor’s expense. 
• If exhibit space is not carpet or contains unacceptable flooring, carpet will be installed at the exhibitor’s expense. 

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ToxExpo Exhibitor Update: Final Preparations

January 2023