How to lay out a card show floor plan

The floor plan decides how many tables you can sell and whether every vendor gets traffic. A crowded plan sells more tables on paper and fewer cards on the day. Shoppers avoid tight aisles, and vendors in dead corners don't come back.

Measure the room first

Get the real usable floor, not the venue's headline number. Subtract:

• The entrance area, where you check people in and where the line forms.
• Fire exits and the clear path to them. These can't be blocked.
• Pillars, stages and bars that can't be moved.
• Space for food, restrooms and a cashier if you have them.

If the venue has a scale drawing, use it. If not, measure the walls yourself and note where the doors are.

How much space each table needs

The most common vendor tables are 8 feet long, sometimes 6 feet, and 30 inches deep. A table needs more floor than its own size:

• Behind the table: about 4 to 5 feet for the vendor, their chair and their boxes.
• In front of the table: half of the aisle, which shoppers share with the row opposite.

Add it up for an 8-foot table: about 100 to 120 square feet of floor per table, once you count the vendor space, the aisle and the walkways. So a 5,000 square foot room fits roughly 40 to 50 tables, and fewer if it has pillars or an awkward shape.

Choose a layout

Long rows, back to back. Tables run in parallel rows with vendors facing out into the aisles. It fits the most tables and is easy to number. Break long rows every 8 to 10 tables with a cross-aisle so shoppers don't have to walk the full length to change aisles.

Perimeter plus islands. Tables line the walls, and a few rows or U-shaped islands fill the middle. It's good for rooms with columns, and wall tables suit big vendors with displays.

Booths of several tables. Larger vendors may want three tables in a U or an L. Mark these as one booth on the plan and price them together.

Whatever you pick, avoid dead ends. Shoppers who hit a wall turn back and miss the tables beside them. Every aisle should lead somewhere.

Place the important things

• Entrance. Keep the first 15 to 20 feet open so the line doesn't block vendors.
• Check-in desk right at the entrance, with room for a short line.
• Premium tables at corners and near the entrance. These are the ones you can charge more for.
• Food and seating at the back or in a corner, so shoppers walk past vendors to reach them.
• Restrooms. Keep the path to them clear. It will carry a lot of traffic.

Number the tables

Number in the order a shopper walks: start near the entrance and snake through the rows. Letters for rows and numbers for tables, such as A1 to A12, make tables easy to find. Use the same numbers on the plan, in vendor emails and on the tape on the floor.

Draw it to scale before you sell

Draw the plan to scale before you open table sales. A plan drawn to scale shows problems a sketch hides: the row that's two feet too long, the aisle that's really five feet. It also lets vendors pick their own table, which they like and which saves you a week of emails.

Share the finished map with shoppers too. A map of who's where, posted before the show, gives collectors a reason to plan their visit.

Leave room to adjust

Hold back one or two tables until the last week. A late vendor, an extra-large booth or a table blocked on the day is much easier to handle with a spare.