Most exhibitors experience a snafu here and a mishap there. But at the Electronic Transactions Association show, Transact: Powered by ETA, we suffered one calamity after another. In fact, it got to the point where our on-site team members were practically looking over their shoulders to see what new catastrophe was sneaking up to ensnare them next.

It all started when my company, The Trade Group, an exhibit house in Carrollton, TX, arrived for a three-day setup for one of our longtime clients. As soon as the crew reached the space, it began inspecting the work that the show's electricians had completed the previous day. Sure enough, the electrical wasn't laid to plan and required a complete redo. To make matters worse, the internet cable had been practically slashed in half, likely by a wayward forklift.

Nevertheless, our installation and dismantle supervisor, Jose, somehow convinced the show's electricians and internet guys to drop what they were doing and rewire the mess they had created. While the wiring reboot ate up a couple hours of setup time, it wasn't long before our crew was ready for the first step of the install.

The exhibitry, however, had other ideas. Distracted by the electrical snafu, the crew hadn't realized that the freight was AWOL. A call to our transportation provider revealed our shipment was delayed and would arrive within a couple of hours.

Still trying to make some type of forward progress, workers decided to lay the carpet and pad so that they could install the exhibitry the minute it arrived. But as they rolled out the pad, they discovered yet another hurdle. The 1-inch-thick pad we'd ordered from the show wasn't large enough to cover the entire footprint.

With the minutes ticking away, Jose and the team decided that rather than order a new, properly sized pad, which could take hours (or days) to arrive, they'd somehow make this piece work. So while some team members laid out the existing pad, a handful of others went on a scavenger hunt. In effect, they begged, borrowed, and scoured scrap pieces of padding from anywhere and everywhere on the show floor. Luckily, they returned with enough material to piece together a sort of foam quilt large enough to fill the exhibit's footprint.

Lo and behold, just as the carpet was tacked down over the foam, the crew spotted a small caravan of forklifts carefully maneuvering our crates down the now-crowded aisle. But when they glanced down the aisle in the other direction, a scissor lift was headed their way as well. In the end, the install was further delayed because the riggers, who were there to hang our overhead sign, demanded that the crew stay out of the booth entirely while they completed their work.

Frustrated but not deterred, the crew began uncrating the exhibit and assembling smaller pieces in the aisles. When the riggers finished, our team simply shifted the components into place. By the time they left the building in the wee hours of the night, they were proud of their progress, but also a little leery of what "fun" Old Man Murphy had in store the next day.

The team remained shifty-eyed and ready for further calamities on the second day of setup, but all the components went up as planned. Then our client strolled into the booth, and unfortunately additional misadventures ensued.

While she certainly liked what she saw, she pointed out that the fabric covering a central tower was incorrect. It was supposed to be sheer, but there was an opaque material in its place. We immediately called the supplier, and the firm was able to overnight a replacement to the venue. The crew would merely need to slip the new sock-like fabric over the tower when it arrived the following morning.

But sure enough, come the next day, the crew discovered that the new fabric wasn't anything like the previous version. It was an open tube, rather than a sock, which meant there was no "ceiling" for the tower. Plus, it didn't have precut holes for the TV monitors and the door leading to the interior of the structure.

Now fully accustomed to their new normal, the team rolled their eyes and took the sewing kit and some hook-and-loop fastener out of the tool chest. Using a spare bit of fabric, they cut out a "ceiling" and then attached it to the rest of the tube via the hook-and-loop fastener. They then snipped out the necessary holes and sewed makeshift seams around the edges.

Their stitch work complete, the crew members turned their attention to one last detail: testing a centrally located 46-inch monitor. They all crossed their fingers and closed their eyes as Jose hit the power switch. Yup, you guessed it. The monitor was toast.

With less than 24 hours before the show opened, we needed a new monitor stat. Jose got on the phone with a partner company located in Las Vegas to see if the owner, Matt, had a 46-inch beauty lying around. I don't know if the setup gods simply got tired of making our crew dance like puppets or if our install team had somehow paid its penance, but Matt just so happened to have the exact size monitor we needed in his office, and he was willing to drop everything and drive it over that very second.

Now when Matt spoke to Jose, he failed to mention that he didn't actually have a truck available to transport the monitor. Blissfully blind to this issue, Jose and the crew headed to the show's loading dock to await Matt's arrival. In the perfect end to what was a cataclysmic series of events, Matt finally drove up to the loading dock like a knight in shining armor. But his trusted steed was a gorgeous black Porsche, and instead of bearing a rider, the beast had a 46-inch monitor strapped to its top.