Detroit Auto Show Staffing, Planned From Move-In Forward
Detroit is won in December. Booths start going up weeks before the doors open on January 16, 2027, and the halls go dark over the holidays, so your crew, your training and your build schedule all have to be set before Christmas. We have staffed the Detroit Auto Show, and we plan it backward from install day.
Inc. 5000 honoree (2026) · 100% W-2 employees · Fully insured · Live program management · In-house fabrication, print, rentals and fleet
The Detroit calendar, working backward
Dec 14 to 20, 2026: Early move-in window. Have your build crew and display components on site.
Dec 21: Contracted move-in begins. Fabrication, graphics and rentals should be delivered.
Dec 24, Dec 25 and Jan 1: Halls are dark. No labor, so schedule around it.
30 days before your move-in: Certificate of insurance due, with additional insureds.
Jan 12, 11:45pm: Booth install must be complete and the display signed off.
Jan 14: Industry Day. Briefed specialists for an industry audience.
Jan 15, 6pm to 9pm: Charity Preview. Evening hosts with a formal-event briefing.
Jan 16 to 24: Public show, 10am to 8pm (7pm close on Jan 24). Full floor team and team leads.
Jan 24 after 7:01pm to Jan 29: Move-out. Strike crew and fleet.
Venue: Huntington Place, 1 Washington Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226. Credentials are issued at the Hall C entrance office. Source: 2027 Detroit Auto Show Exhibitor Manual.
Three audiences in one show
Industry Day, Charity Preview and the public days draw different people. Industry guests want specs and strategy talk. Charity Preview is a black-tie evening where hosting matters more than product depth. Public days are long, family-heavy and full of shoppers. We brief for each one separately, so the specialist on your floor on January 14 is not running a public-day script.
Ride tracks and Racing Day
The 2026 show ran two ride-along tracks for gas, hybrid and electric vehicles (AP, January 2026), and Racing Day returns on January 19. If your brand runs rides, we staff the full lane: check-in, waivers, co-pilots, queue and lead capture. Confirm the 2027 track plan with the show before booking headcount.
Who you are hiring
Every product specialist we put in Huntington Place is a B2E employee on W-2 payroll. One program manager runs the show from casting through strike.
Proof from our published auto show case study: 12 auto shows in three months, with 6 to 20+ staff per show.
The build, from our own shops
Your Detroit display can come out of our fabrication shop and print shop, with rental furniture and fixtures from our own inventory, staged in our Chicago warehouse and trucked in by our fleet. One crew builds it in December and strikes it in late January.
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Early move-in runs December 14 to 20, 2026, contracted move-in starts December 21, and booths must be installed by 11:45pm on January 12, 2027.
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Charity Preview is the formal evening event on January 15, 2027 from 6pm to 9pm. We staff it with hosts briefed for a gala crowd rather than a shopping crowd.
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No. Halls are dark December 24, December 25 and January 1, so build schedules have to plan around those days.
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Move-out starts after 7:01pm on January 24, 2027 and must be complete by January 29.
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Yes. B2E has staffed the Detroit Auto Show.
Staffing the Detroit Auto Show?
Tell us your display, days and move-in schedule. We will send a staffing plan.
Email: partnerships@b2epromo.com
Photos: "Huntington Place (2022)" by 42-BRT, CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted; "Cobo - panoramio" by Richard Landskroener, CC BY-SA 3.0, adapted. Via Wikimedia Commons.
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