And portability is important too.
Purchased pipe & drape really doesn’t take up all THAT much space.
I’d say mine is probably about the same overall as my tent. It goes
up pretty easily, too. Easier than my tent. 
There is of course the purchase pipe and drape option. My concern
is does pipe and drape look cheesy and unprofessional?
In my opinion, no. If you get the right amount of drape, have it
evenly shirred onto the supports, have everything else in your booth
looking nice, the background drapes will be just that, background.
For the portability & ease of use (things you seem appropriately
concerned with), I don’t think it can be beat. Other things I’ve seen
have looked unprofessional, like shower curtains. But drapes, no.
If I put up 8' pipe and drape on the sides will I cut down on
customers seeing my booth unless they are directly in front of my
booth?
Sure, if you have walls going all the way out to the front edge of
your booth, it’s not as visible from farther down the way as if you
didn’t have walls that far out. However, if your walls sit in a bit,
but your neighbor’s go all the way out, then you’re just as blocked
anyway. If your walls sit in a bit, and so do your neighbor’s, then
your booths will blend, and even when someone IS standing right
there, your booth won’t stand out as well on its own. Don’t hide your
setup in the back of your booth, have it at or near the front edge
(at least partially) and passersby will see it from pretty far down,
don’t worry. If you’re really concerned about it, you can get a
corner booth.
Of course there is always the options of 3' pipe and drape along
the sides.
Actually, I don’t think that IS an option, if you’re doing a show
that wants you to have booth walls. If you need walls, you need full
height walls.
By the way, I purchased my pipe & drape earlier this year from
www.onlineeei.com. They seemed to have the best price, so I went
with them. In the end, I have a product that I am very happy with,
but they don’t have very good quality control. I would say they are
OK to order from, but be sure to give time to get things resent if
needed, and be sure to check your order ASAP. Just so you know what
I’m talking about, I ordered a simple setup from them, 4 2-part 8’
high verticals, 3 telescoping 6-10’ drape supports, and 9 8’ high
drapes, along with 4 bases. I went to set the pieces up for the first
time (practice, in my backyard, thank heavens), and two of the
verticals had halves that were bent & wouldn’t go onto the other
half. This gave me ONE working wall, not three. I called them & they
I opened those right away, and one of them was again bent! You’d
think since they’d sent those to replace faulty ones, they’d make
double sure that they were right. Guess not! Also, the drapes were
wrong, they were a couple inches too long. Seems there’s a mixup on
their site where the two-part verticals are with some sort of travel
set, and they are actually a bit shorter, and there are matching
slightly-shorter drapes. I was sent the regular length ones. All I
know is I selected 8’ high supports and 8’ long drapes. No confusion
there, as far as I was concerned. They were OK for my first show,
just a bit annoying, but then I sent them back & they sent the
correct ones before my next show. All is OK now, I’m pleased with the
end result, it just was a bit of a bumpy road to get there. Of course
they did it all at their expense, I never paid for the returns or
exhcnages, and now I have some slightly bent extra aluminum tubes in
my garage.
Lisa
Designs by Lisa Gallagher