Frequently Asked Questions

We recommend arriving Monday, September 28, 2026 and departing on Friday, October 2, 2026. 

Exhibitors should reference the Exhibit Hall Move-In and Move-Out schedules and plan their dates of arrival and departure accordingly. You may find you want to arrive up to two days earlier or leave later to ensure you can send back all materials. 

Click here to view maps of the Music City Center. 

Click here to view a map of the Exhibit Hall

For convenient navigation, an interactive map of the event spaces will become available on our mobile app in the days leading up to the event dates. 

WiFi will be available to all attendees at the event. However, this WiFi is only meant to be used for browsing the internet and/or checking email. If exhibiting, we strongly recommend ordering a dedicated hardline for your booth. The attendee WiFi is not meant to be used by Exhibitors in their booth, and you may find it too weak for activities such as demonstrations of your product.  

To order internet for your booth, please contact Music City Center.

Please be aware of any solicitations from third parties for both hotel room booking and attendee list sales. We have been informed of unauthorized communications to our sponsors, attendees, and speakers by third parties for hotel room booking and attendee list sales. We have no connection to these companies or individuals, and we do NOT sell or share your contact information with sponsors or other attendees. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or to report unauthorized activities. 

We recommend that you do not reply to or speak with any organization claiming to sell the attendee list and do not share your credit card information. 

Sponsor Tickets include access to: 

• Our Meetup networking platform 

• All days of the event 

• The Exhibit Hall

• Meals (breakfast and lunch as stated on the agenda) 

• Sessions and networking events (excluding sessions and networking events that are private/invitation only, or specific to certain groups of attendees). 

• Shoptalk Fall Party! 

No, we do not offer any one day or Exhibit Hall-only tickets. Tickets provide access to all aspects of the show, including sessions, Meetup, networking events, breakfasts, lunches, receptions, exhibits, etc. that are not private, specific to a particular group of attendees, or arranged by sponsors independently. We do not offer any partial attendance rates. 

If you are an Exhibitor and require a crew badge for your vendor to access the Exhibit Halls, please review the Crew Badge Guidelines and fill out the form. 

Tickets can be transferred at any time until you print your badge onsite. To transfer your ticket, please contact Shoptalk Fall registration team: [email protected]

Please contact our Sales Team or fill out an application form by emailing [email protected].

If you purchase a space-only booth, the price will not include booth structures, furnishings, flooring, installation and dismantle, electrical, material handling, etc. Freeman is the official show general contractor and Music City Center is the in-house service provider for Music City Center. 

Freeman is the official show general contractor and Music City Center Exhibitor Services is the in-house service provider for Music City Center. Below is a breakdown of the services that each vendor provides. 

1. Freeman provides​: booth furnishings, carpet, shipping, installation and dismantling labor services, booth cleaning, all material handling*, and audio/visual services. Orders can be placed through FreemanOnline. 

2. Music City Center Exhibitor Services provides​: electrical* (may not be included with your booth), internet*, furnishing, plumbing (compressed air, water, drainage) *, rigging*, telecommunications*, catering*, and floral & plant services. Order forms can be found on the Music City Center order site. 

*Exclusive provider, no other vendor can be used for this service* 
 
Should you choose to source a third-party vendor to provide services and materials for your booth, you must notify us via Abraxys and ensure they do not perform any services exclusive to the above vendors. 

All meetings can only be scheduled during the Exhibit Hall open hours: Tuesday (9:30am - 6:15pm) Wednesday (8:30am - 6:30pm) and Thursday (8:30am - 4:15pm).  All meeting participants must be a registered attendee with a badge to access the Exhibit Halls. 

Attendees registered under a non-exhibiting company will NOT be allowed entry during move-in and move-out hours and will be advised to relocate or reschedule any meetings. 

No, Music City Center is the exclusive provider of all food and beverage in the Exhibit Hall. This includes pre-packaged snacks, plastic water bottles, candy, etc. All catering must be ordered through Music City Center. The only exception to this is if you approved to buy out with a corkage fee. 

You may be charged if you bring your own food and beverage without approval from Music City Center. 

To avoid delays, we strongly recommend shipping in advance to the Freeman Warehouse. Items must be delivered to the advanced warehouse beginning August 28, 2026. Freeman also offers outbound shipping for your convenience during move-out. Please refer to the Freeman Online shipping page for material handling rates, order forms, and shipping labels. 

Detailed information and options can also be found on our shipping page! 

As an Exhibitor you may “hand carry” certain items. Hand carry is defined as small items such as packages or cartons an Exhibitor can carry. Any mechanical assistance is limited to a small dolly or assistance from the hotel bellman. The assistance of any motorized device or pallet jack is NOT permitted. When Exhibitors hand carry, they may not access designated material handling areas. Exhibitors must use the main entrance of the facility. 

If your freight is being delivered by a carrier, you must use Freeman to unload the freight and transport it to your booth or meeting room. You will also be charged a material handling fee. For more information on Material Handling, please visit Freeman Online. 

EACs must read and comply with all show rules and regulations as outlined in the Display Rules & Regulations, Exhibitor Terms & Conditions, and the Freeman Exhibitor Kit. 

EACs will be granted access to the Exhibit Halls during move-in and move-out only. Additional information will be sent to the EAC contacts submitted to Abraxys. 

All space-only booths must submit documentation by August 14, 2026, to receive Permission to Exhibit.  

Show management keeps a level playing field across all Exhibitors and reserves the right to request changes be made AFTER Permission to Exhibit is granted should it be found at any point in time that any part of the booth will be of detriment to the experience or safety of attendees and other Exhibitors. Permission To Exhibit is granted to allow Exhibitors and their contractors to commence building on site. 

• 10'x10', 10'x20', and10’x30’ booths have a back wall height requirement of 8 ft high. Shared side walls cannot exceed more than 4 feet in height. 10'x10', 10'x20', and 10’x30’ Exhibitors are not permitted to have a hanging sign above their booth. No exceptions. 

• 20’x20’ or larger ISLAND booths have a maximum height restriction of 16 ft high, measuring from the floor to the top of the booth structure or hanging sign. No exceptions. 

• ALL booths MUST submit booth renderings by August 14, 2026 for Permission to Exhibit. 

Booth displays should be arranged in such a manner as not to obstruct sight lines of neighboring Exhibitors. 

To facilitate Exhibitor move-in, hanging signs MUST be shipped in advance to the Freeman Warehouse using the custom hanging sign labels found in the Freeman Exhibitor Kit or on our shipping page. No exceptions! 

Click here to view additional Display Rules & Regulations. 

Hanging signs are only allowed above booths that are 400 sq. ft. or larger. Hanging signs may not exceed the length of any side of your booth space or hang over the common aisle space. The top of any hanging sign may not exceed the maximum height restriction of 18 ft. No exceptions. 

All hanging signs in the Exhibit Hall must be rigged by Music City Center Rigging. 

To facilitate Exhibitor move-in, hanging signs MUST be shipped in advance to the Freeman Warehouse using the custom hanging sign labels found in the Freeman Exhibitor Kit or on our shipping page. No exceptions! 

Click here to view additional Display Rules & Regulations. 

Visit FreemanOnline’s Exhibitor Packages page to explore turnkey options or request a custom consultation. For custom booths, you can also contact [email protected]. 

If you decide to use a third-party contractor to build your booth, please fill out the required forms and information here once you have confirmed the vendor. EACs will need to submit your booth rendering for Permission To Exhibit.   

There is a UPS business center located within Music City Center. Please be sure to check their hours and plan your pickup accordingly. 

Disclaimer: we do not guarantee the quality or reliability of any of the vendors listed. We recommend that you do your own research into any potential vendors that you are interested in doing business with. You are also responsible for ensuring that any outside vendor you hire does not perform any services which are exclusive to the show contractor, Freeman, or Music City Center. 

Meetup is the largest and most advanced meetings program to ever exist in this space. At the show, we will facilitate 20,000 curated 15-minute, 1-to-1 meetings for our 3,700 attendees. Meetup is open to every registered attendee (at no additional cost). It is the best way to meet everyone you want to meet at our event. 

To participate, just get your ticket and complete the pre-event process leading up to the event on our registration platform. Get ready to meet new people, discover new organizations and create incredible new opportunities in the retail industry. You don’t want to miss it! 

Any registered attendee can schedule general meetings with others via Meetup at no additional cost, though these meetings can occur for a variety of reasons. Hosted Meetings are typically used by sponsoring organizations for lead generation, and a specific amount must be purchased by the organization in advance. 

Our Hosted Program uses the same proprietary tech as Meetup to generate meaningful, mutually opted-into meetings, but specifically pairs tech buyers from retailers and brands with tech providers from our sponsor contingent, helping the former find solutions to their most pressing needs and the latter generate new business. 

Should you choose to buy Hosted Meetings, you will gain the ability to send requests to our Hosted Retailers & Consumer Brands. We will prioritize scheduling Hosted matches for your organization before all general matches. Interested in joining the Hosted Program? Reach out to your Sales Representative now - the scheduling process will start more than a month prior to the start of the event! 

No Meetings are all based on a double opt-in process that takes several variables into account, such as priority, availability, and scheduling. The more selections you make and opt-ins you have, the more likely you are to have a higher number of mutual matches and meetings. Our team provides instructions and recommendations along the way to increase your chances of having a full meeting schedule. 

We will only schedule meetings if both parties have said “YES!” along every step of the way. 

Hosted Meetings that do not occur will be assessed for refund eligibility during our reconciliation process, which follows the completion of attendee meeting surveys and continues through the month following the event. Any Hosted Meetings you reject or cancel once schedules are finalized are not eligible for a refund. 

Each meeting scheduled via Meetup will be assigned to a specific 1:1 table in our Meetup area inside the Exhibit Hall. Tables are specific to meetings, not to organizations - be prepared to move around the area to get to your various meetings. Event staff will be in the area to assist you and will confirm the attendance of all meeting participants. 

All meetings will be scheduled within 16 total fifteen-minute time slots, which do not conflict with any other official content. Our algorithm will determine the best timing based on both participants’ timeslot availability. When completing your profile, please be sure to uncheck any timeslots that you are unavailable to ensure the best schedule. 

Please check the Meetup page or agenda for the most up to date timing. 

If a event team member has not already scanned your badge to log the no-show, please either find a team member at a Meetup Help Desk OR report the no-show in our app. 

Want to confirm your no-show was logged, or provide us with more context on a meeting issue? Make sure to log back in after the event to complete your feedback survey. You will be able to give individual feedback regarding each of your meetings. 

If you would like to follow up immediately, we recommend collecting contact information during your meeting. 

Following the event, you will be asked to complete a feedback survey on your meetings. This will include confirming which meetings did not occur. Once you submit your survey, a Meetings Summary report will be available for download from your platform homepage, which will include the contact information for attendees you met with while onsite.