You tried to buy exhibit space for your organization, but something went wrong. The booth you wanted was not offered, checkout stopped before payment finished, or the exhibitor pages would not open. Here is what each issue means and what to do next.
Scope
This article covers buying booths for your organization in the Portal, including exhibitor registration, checkout, and the pages that lead to checkout. It does not cover staff assigning a booth to an exhibitor directly from the Console, which uses a different process.
Why a Booth You Want Is Not Available
Most likely cause. Another organization is already holding or has reserved that booth. When you submit a booth order, Rhythm checks every booth you selected before it holds anything for you. If another organization has reserved a booth, you cannot select it. If another organization is partway through checkout, you cannot select that booth unless their hold expires or they finish or abandon the purchase. If two organizations try to buy the same exhibitor booth at nearly the same time, the organization that finishes checkout first gets the booth and a new exhibitor record for it. The other organization's order is refused, and the booth is placed on hold for that attempt.
Check. If your order is refused, the error usually lists the booth numbers that are no longer available: OperationInvalid: The following booths are unavailable/on hold: …. Compare those booth numbers with the floor plan or booth list to check their current status. You may see a generic error instead, such as "Error during order preparation," with no booth numbers listed. If a purchaser reports that kind of vague failure, have staff open the booth and check whether it was changed to On Hold. If it was, correcting the booth's status usually clears the error, because a booth on hold does not always show the explicit unavailable message above.
Fix. Choose different booths, or wait until the hold on the booths you want expires and check again. You cannot reserve a booth that another organization already holds or has reserved.
Why Your Booth Order Stopped After You Took Too Long to Pay
Likely cause. When you choose specific booths instead of a general booth type, Rhythm holds those booths only for the process's configured hold period. Your order gets an expiration time that matches that hold. If you take longer than the hold period to complete payment, you cannot complete the order because those booths are no longer guaranteed to be yours.
Check. If checkout says your order has expired, compare the time you spent on the payment step with the countdown or hold time shown during booth selection.
Fix. Start checkout again from the beginning. Choose and pay for booths in one uninterrupted session so you do not lose your hold. This does not apply when the event sells exhibit space by booth type instead of specific booths, because that mode has no hold expiration.
Why an Exhibitor Order Fails During Order Preparation
Likely cause. Checkout can fail with a generic error, such as "Error during order preparation," when a file used during exhibitor registration or checkout no longer exists in storage. An uploaded logo is one example. In practice, this has happened inconsistently: some logo image files upload and process without trouble, while others trigger the failure, and the difference is not always obvious from the file itself.
Check. If an exhibitor's order fails and the error does not mention a booth or availability problem, check the files attached to that exhibitor's registration, starting with any uploaded logo.
Fix. Try uploading a different version of the same image, or export and re-upload the original file. Replacing the file has allowed registration to continue in cases like this. If the problem continues and you need to unblock registration right away, remove the logo-upload step from the exhibitor form so people can finish registering, then restore it once the file issue is resolved.
Why Installment Plans Won't Load During Exhibitor Registration
Likely cause. An installment-plan option in exhibitor registration can get stuck in a loading loop for a Portal user who is signed in directly. The same option can still load normally when staff test the registration through impersonation or from the Console.
Check. If installment plans do not load for a specific Portal user, have staff reproduce the same step through impersonation or directly in the Console. This shows whether the option loads there instead.
Fix. If the option only fails for a direct Portal login, keep the installment option enabled and contact Rhythm Support with the event, the exhibitor process, and whether impersonation or Console access loads the installment plan correctly.
Why the Exhibitor Page Refuses You Even Though You Can Sign In
Likely cause. Exhibitors are organizations, not individuals, so every exhibitor action must connect to an organization. If your Portal contact is not linked to an organization, the Exhibitor Service Center overview tells you directly. The booth-purchase page does not finish loading because it is waiting for an organization link that never arrives, and it does not show another message.
Check. On the Exhibitor Service Center overview, look for the message "You are not linked to an organization. You must be linked to an organization to perform exhibitor-related operations." If you see "You are not authorized to perform exhibitor-related operations" instead, the event limits exhibitor pages to certain contact roles, and your role is not included.
Fix. Ask your association's staff to link your Portal contact to your organization in Rhythm. If the page said your role is not authorized, ask staff which contact role the event requires for exhibitor access.
When to Contact Support
Contact Rhythm Support if a booth still shows as unavailable well after you would expect any hold to expire, or if your organization link is already correct but the exhibitor pages still refuse you. Include:
- the event and the exact booth numbers involved;
- the error message or page behavior you saw, word for word if possible;
- your organization's name and, if you know it, whether another organization was recently holding or checking out with the same booths;
- whether the event sells specific booths or booth types.