SfN Neuroscience 2027Chicago booth costs, dates and deadlines: exhibitor guide

SfN has not posted 2027 rates. For 2026 a commercial 10×10 inline cost $6,950 at the advance rate and islands $7,510 per 100 square feet, so a 20×20 island ran about $30,040 in space alone. Our custom 20×20 runs $50,000 to $120,000; flooring and McCormick Place freight come on top.

SfN's 2027 sale dates are not confirmed yet. For Washington in 2026, returning commercial exhibitors applied with 50% deposits by February 20, everyone else by May 1 for advance rates, and island drawings were due September 11. We plan backward from the 2027 equivalents as soon as SfN posts them.

Renting is a common choice for Neuroscience: our rental brings fabric walls sized to the 8-foot back drape, the full-booth flooring SfN requires, a counter, lighting and storage, with shipping and both ends of the on-site work priced once, in writing. A 10×20 rental runs $7,500 to $15,000; SfN bills space separately.

Since the 2010 reforms, McCormick Place has allowed company employees to build their exhibit, large or small, using their own tools and ladders. Dock-to-booth freight stays union material handling, so we coordinate your team's build time with the contractor's deliveries.

Under the 2026 rules, island displays stop at 16 feet and only islands may hang a sign, to a 20-foot limit; peninsulas need at least four units, cannot hang signs and keep double-sided graphics 10 feet from neighbors. Island and peninsula drawings go to SfN for approval.

The official contractor sets the material-handling tariff in SfN's exhibitor service manual, which appeared in August for the 2026 meeting. Our McCormick Place budget line uses roughly $210 for each 100 pounds; surcharges hit late or loose freight, so everything we send is crated and timed to the warehouse window.

An inline or island designed around SfN's limits carries over to Cell Bio in December, the Biophysical Society meeting and ASBMB. Between meetings we store it, swap graphics for each audience and ship to the next advance warehouse.

In 2026 giveaways had to relate to attendees' professional interests and cost $25 or less per item, and items not on SfN's pre-approved list needed written approval by October 16. Raffles were allowed with prizes up to $1,000, with winners announced after the meeting.

Neuroscience 2027 runs October 23–27, 2027 in Chicago, and McCormick Place's calendar lists the meeting in its South and North Buildings. The 2027 exhibit hall schedule is not confirmed yet; the most recent meeting is Neuroscience 2026 in Washington, D.C., November 14–18, 2026.

Neuroscience 2027 is in Chicago at McCormick Place, whose event calendar books the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting into the South and North Buildings for October 23–27, 2027. SfN itself names Chicago; the 2028 meeting moves to San Diego, November 11–15, 2028.

SfN counted 21,093 total registrants at Neuroscience 2025 in San Diego, including 16,550 scientific attendees and 2,997 exhibitor registrants, with 435 exhibiting companies. Chicago in 2024 drew 22,359 registrants, and Washington in 2023 drew 25,808.

SfN admits only educational exhibits, meaning tools and services used in neuroscience research or teaching, plus relevant books and journals. Companies that have never exhibited at an SfN annual meeting file the First-Time Exhibitors Form, and SfN answers on eligibility within two business days.

By priority points. Exhibitors earn one point per 10×10 purchased, up to five, and more for Sustaining Associate Membership, advertising, Product Theater sessions, Expo Suites and sponsorship. Space is selected by appointment in point order, first for past commercial exhibitors, then for everyone who applied by the second deadline.

Imaging and optical instruments top the list: 8,166 attendees in SfN's 2025 survey named them as a product category of interest, ahead of laboratory equipment and supplies (6,926) and physiological instruments (6,275). Microscopy, animal behavior monitoring and electrophysiology equipment led the products used in research.