Plan A: There's an unwritten rule in the trade show universe. If your booth relies on a single component — be it for engagement, aesthetics, or function — trouble will cling to that part like errant socks to a wool sweater.

The team at Brumark was reminded of this tragic and unspoken regulation at EXHIBITORLIVE 2025 in San Antonio. With less than an hour before the show opened, the key element of our booth, which was meant to attract attention, relay our sustainability story, and offer staff a key talking point, literally went off the rails.

Here's how it went down. Our team decided to showcase our sustainability efforts by highlighting the life cycle of the yarn we use in our carpets. From creation and manufacturing to trade shows and recovery, our process minimizes waste and ultimately maintains a continuous cycle of use and reuse. So we designed a booth attraction that would captivate visitors, draw them to the space, and give booth staff a fun way to relay our sustainability message.

The attraction comprised a showstopping 16-foot display, which would be the key aisle-side attraction for our 20-by-20-foot booth. Picture a Rube Goldberg-meets-sustainability contraption where blue marbles — representing the yarn used in our carpets — traveled up an elevator of sorts and were then spit out onto a series of rails. Gravity propelled each marble downward and through roughly 10 different horizontal rails, complete with small drops, twists, and turns. Colorful illustrated graphics behind the rails identified the various parts of the sustainability process, visually telling our story. At the end of the track, each marble rolled back into the bottom of the elevator, and the process began again.

We tested and retested the display during setup, and it was running flawlessly, hypnotically moving marbles through their paces like a well-choreographed ballet. Staff members had already practiced their spiels, timing their sustainability story perfectly with each marble's journey through the various stages: from initial yarn creation to manufacturing, carpet design, trade show use, recovery center, and back again. Everything was going exactly according to plan — until it wasn't.

Matthew Tavares, who designed and built the contraption, was standing near the display when he heard the distinctive "tink" of metal hitting metal. He turned his head just in time to see a washer fall off the elevator shaft. Not good. But upon closer inspection, Matt discovered that the entire shaft collar — a crucial component keeping the whole marble-moving mechanism functioning — was missing.

Immediately, Matt hunted for the remote to shut down the elevator and stop the carnage, but it, too, was AWOL. After a few calls, we discerned that our booth supervisor — who had headed back to his hotel to freshen up before the show opened — had accidentally taken the remote with him.

Bottom line: Our contraption was slowly coming apart, and it'd take at least 20 minutes of the 40 we had left for the supervisor to get back to the booth so we could shut down the elevator. Plan B: While waiting for the remote's triumphant return, the team began to hunt for the shaft collar. Picture grown men and women crawling around on their hands and knees, searching for a tiny metal component that could have lodged just about anywhere. Eventually, we reached the conclusion that it was gone for good.

Meanwhile, the machine kept running, and the shaft continued working its way out of the sprocket like a slow-motion game of Jenga. The team watched in horror as their beautiful sustainability story threatened to become a cautionary tale about mechanical failure.

As the minutes ticked by, we considered our options. Finding a replacement part at the show seemed about as likely as finding a vegetarian barbecue joint in Texas. But Matt, channeling his inner MacGyver (minus the mullet), had an idea. He just needed that remote control. (Sigh.) And so we waited. And waited. And checked our phones. And waited some more. Show open crept ever closer.

Finally, the remote showed up, allowing us to halt progress on the marble massacre, and Matt sprang into action. His plan was to rob Peter to pay Paul, mechanically speaking. The shaft had two collars — one in front, one in back. The back one, which was the most critical, escaped. But the front one was still loyally hanging on. Matt's solution? Perform a little transplant surgery on the remaining one.

The procedure was delicate. Matt had to coordinate the alignment of three or four different components while working in a space that would make a contortionist itchy. One wrong move, and the marble masterpiece would transform into an elaborate piece of modern art.

With nerves of steel, Matt maneuvered a teeny wrench into the tiny elevator-shaft crevice and realigned multiple components at the same time, moving the front collar to the back and shifting the belt. The fix meant that the belt would be slightly off-kilter, and it'd kinda ca-chunk along on a diagonal. But desperate times called for desperate measures, and we only needed it to hold through the two-day show.

With just 10 minutes to spare before the show opened, our contraption was up and running again. The marbles had resumed their journey, albeit now with a slight swagger in their roll thanks to the diagonal belt. But hey, the best solutions have a little character. And for the next two days, the display ran continuously, delighting visitors who were blissfully unaware of its near-death experience.

In the end, the experience taught us several valuable lessons. First, never underestimate the small components mighty in their ability to cause chaos. Second, always keep your remote control in sight (and maybe stick some AirTags on it while you're at it). And finally, sometimes the best backup plans aren't found in the manual or conjured by AI. They're driven by the creative prowess of your team.

As for that original shaft collar? Legend has it that it's still somewhere in San Antonio. If anyone finds that lonely little metal collar at the Henry B. González Convention Center, Brumark would love to have it back, you know, for old times' sake. After all, sustainability is about keeping things in circulation, right? E