Dreams often turn into nightmares, but sometimes the exact opposite is true. What starts as a nightmare can give way to a happy ending, too. That's what happened to me as I managed my company's largest annual client conference in 2016.

Several months before the event, which would include a small exhibit floor, a large general-session area, and space for breakout sessions, we'd found what seemed like the perfect venue for all of our activities. In fact, we'd signed the contract, all of our planning and promoting was in full swing, and everything was humming along smoothly.

Attendance figures would likely top 500, and we'd secured 18 paid sponsors (plus two of our partner companies), all of which would be displaying in 10-by-10 exhibits or larger within the event's 6,000-square-foot exhibit-hall space. But as I sat at my desk four months before the event opened, crossing the final "T's" and dotting the "I's," I took a last look at our venue contract – and just about had a coronary.

I have no idea how we didn't spot this earlier, nor how the venue could have somehow misinterpreted our needs from the get-go. But the reality was that the space designated to host our exhibit hall was in fact an open foyer of sorts and not part of the larger ballroom, and as such only tabletop exhibits were permitted within it. So as I flopped back in my office chair, mouth agape and heart beating out of my chest, the realization hit me: Our event's 18 exhibits plus our own 20-by-30-foot booth – not to mention various hanging signage and rigged elements – were homeless.

After a quick pity party, followed by some serious ranting and raving behind closed doors, I rallied my team, and we got to work on finding a solution. We quickly discerned that at this stage in the game, changing venues was completely out of the question. So our only option was to somehow make it work.

As we pored over the venue floor plans, our eyes immediately turned to the ballroom, which was the only space available that could accommodate the exhibit hall. Initially, the ballroom was going to hold various keynotes, general sessions, and large breakout sessions. There was no way we could squeeze in an exhibit floor amid this already cramped space, so one of these functions was going to have to move elsewhere.

Since the breakout sessions would attract fewer people than the massive keynote and general sessions, we decided to move these to a new space. Thankfully, a smaller ballroom that was not originally available opened up, and we were able to move our large breakouts to this space at no additional fee. Still, even with this ballroom freed up for the exhibit hall, our original 6,000-square-foot exhibition area would have to shrink to 4,000 square feet. It would be like squeezing a size 11 foot into a size 9 shoe: It wouldn't be easy, and there would be pain. But since our partners and sponsors were counting on us, we'd have to grin and bear it.

We immediately decided that our company's 20-by-30-foot exhibit should bear the brunt of the discomfort, as opposed to passing that on to paid customers. So we scaled down our booth space to a 16-by-20-foot footprint. Then, in an effort to free up even more space for sponsoring exhibitors, we convinced our two partner companies to become our roommates, so to speak. That is, they gave up their 10-by-10-foot spaces in exchange for a presence within our newly downsized booth.

Since housing three companies within a single – and smaller – space came with its own issues, we had to quickly redesign our exhibit to make the most of what we had. To that end, we cut the square space in half diagonally, hoping to catch the eye of attendees on all four aisles, and my company took one of what were now two triangular spaces. The second section, then, was divided down the middle so our two partner firms could each exhibit in the other triangle.

To accommodate this new design, we decided to send our existing booth back to storage and to buy two 10-foot illuminated fabric wall systems from Moss Inc. One featured info and graphics for my company, and the other was split in two so each of our partners would have its own presence on the wall. We then placed these structures back to back along a diagonal line across the center of our 320-square-foot space.

We also added a square fabric structure suspended over the area to draw further attention to the exhibits below. It featured my company's branding and colors along with the logos of our partner firms. Finally, we rented a few tables and chairs, along with some literature racks, demonstration monitors, and reception desks to complete the three spaces.

When all was said and done, and we finally started laying out the exhibit-hall floor plan, we realized that we could actually squeeze in two more 10-by-10-foot booths. So in the end, we didn't need to add our partners to our own space. While this might seem like a smack-yourself-in-the-head moment, our partners were thrilled to show in our larger booth space, which commanded a bit more attention than their previously planned 100-square-foot endeavors. What's more, we were able to sell the two unexpected booth spaces to new exhibitors, which boosted our sponsorship dollars over and above what we originally expected.

With our plan in place and all of our exhibiting companies (sans partners) none the wiser, we headed to the event and held our collective breath – hoping that our exhibitors would be happy with the venue layout and their investment in our event. Not long into the show, we let out a huge sigh of relief. Exhibitors were pleased.

Countless exhibit managers explained that they appreciated the fact the exhibit hall was adjacent to the general and keynote address areas. This way, attendees could flow easily from one to the other, significantly increasing booth traffic throughout the event. In addition, many of our sponsors and exhibitors were so happy with the show that they indicated they would return to the event next year.

All in all, then, we started out with 18-plus homeless exhibits and ended up with happy sponsors and giddy exhibitors, not to mention an unexpected boost in revenue. So at least in our case, what began as a nightmare scenario became a happy dream sequence in the end.