NASS Annual Meeting 2027Exhibitor guide: booth costs, dates and deadlines

Start with a 10×20 inline: our rentals run $7,500 to $15,000, and NASS charged $8,300 for that space in 2026, at $41.50 a square foot. A custom 20×20 island runs $50,000 to $120,000 to build, on space that cost $18,600 in 2026 including the $2,000 island fee. Rigging, Boston drayage and demo models move the total.

Early. Space goes out in Priority Points order, and for the 2026 meeting the priority application deadline was March 27, 2026, more than six months before opening day. NASS has announced a new priority points structure for 2027. Purple's own cutoff is design approval in early July 2027, which leaves time to file island renderings and contractor forms.

Yes. Our rental covers the frame, printed fabric graphics, lighting, an implant plinth, a sawbones counter with locking storage, freight, install and dismantle on one fixed proposal. With a 2026 inline, NASS supplied just pipe and drape (an 8-foot backdrop, 3-foot rails) plus a 7-by-44-inch name sign, and the rental replaces that backdrop with a branded wall.

Only light work. Boston exhibit labor is union, and most substantial booth assembly at the Menino center goes to Carpenters Local 327 through the official contractor. Under the 2026 rules a company bringing its own builder filed an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor form with NASS, and badged staff entered the floor one hour before opening. We file that form and run the install crew.

Not inside the booth. NASS rules bar any procedure on human or animal tissue on the exhibit floor outside the Surgical Innovation Lab, so booth demos run on artificial models. For real tissue, book a lab session: in 2026 two hours cost $15,000 with four stations and a standard C-arm, with specimens available through STI.

The exhibitor pays it, billed by the official contractor at its kit rate, and NASS has not published a 2027 rate. Our planning figure for this building comes from another show's 2026 rate sheet: $323.95 a hundredweight when crates go via the advance warehouse, 200 pounds minimum. Implant trays and demo models add weight, so we consolidate crates and quote drayage as its own line.

We build the plinths, demo counters and walls to reconfigure, so a NASS inline can follow you to the AAOS Annual Meeting, the CNS Annual Meeting or OMTEC with new graphics. Between shows it sits in our storage, gets a graphics refresh for the next audience and ships to whichever advance warehouse the next organizer names.

No. NASS does not sell end-cap or peninsula booths, so the choice is an inline row or an island open on all four aisles. Under the 2026 display rules inline back walls stop at 8 feet, or 12 feet on the hall perimeter, and islands may rise to 25 feet. For height without island pricing, ask for a perimeter inline at booth selection.

Yes. NASS routes drayage, rigging, cleaning, catering, electrical and plumbing through its official contractors; in 2026 that meant T3 Expo for general services and Encore for any sign, truss or lighting over 250 pounds. We place every order from the Exhibitor Service Manual, book the hanging sign with the right vendor and file your return bills of lading.

The 42nd NASS Annual Meeting runs September 22–25, 2027 in Boston, Massachusetts, three weeks earlier in the calendar than the 2026 meeting, held October 14–17 in San Antonio. The 2027 Technical Exhibition dates are not confirmed yet; in 2026 it opened October 14 to 16.

NASS 2027 meets at the BCEC, officially the Thomas M. Menino Convention & Exhibition Center, at 415 Summer Street in the Seaport District; the venue's own event calendar lists the meeting. Logan International Airport is an eight-minute taxi ride away, and the free Silver Line from Logan stops at World Trade Center, across from the building.

NASS reports its reach in members, countries and research. The society has more than 8,000 members, 65 countries were represented at NASS 2024, and the 2026 meeting drew 1,469 abstract submissions after a record 1,689 in 2025. Its 2026 prospectus adds that 86% of attendees spent over two hours in the Technical Exhibition.

The North American Spine Society, a nonprofit scientific and educational association based in Burr Ridge, Illinois, with more than 8,000 members across the spine care disciplines. NASS runs the Technical Exhibition itself, books space through its own exhibits staff and treats the exhibits as an integral part of the society's educational activity.

Apply online through the NASS exhibits page. For 2026 that meant a 50% deposit and three preferred zones, with Priority Points (one per 10×10 bought plus consecutive years across the last five meetings) setting each booth-selection appointment; NASS says points get a new structure for 2027. Companies new to NASS can start with its Potential New Exhibitors form.