Philanthropic Food
Global recruiting and staffing agency Aerotek, an Allegis Group company, turned its lunch sponsorship at the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Annual Conference into a philanthropic promotion that had scores of attendees stopping by the booth. Each complimentary meal was packaged inside a branded box with the company's logo, booth number, and "Our People Are Everything" tagline. The box also instructed attendees to tear off a perforated tab, bring it to Aerotek's exhibit, and tell staffers why their people are everything to their companies. For every booth visitor who came bearing the tab, Aerotek donated $3 to Able Forces, a nonprofit organization that provides employment opportunities for wounded warriors and disabled veterans. The promotion just goes to show that contrary to popular belief, there is such a thing as a free lunch – and it not only tastes good, but also does good.

---

A Desk That Delivers
When your company's wares are multifunctional, your reception desk should probably serve a few purposes as well. So for its exhibit at the National Stationery Show in New York, Zootility Tools – which makes animal-shaped multitools, bottle openers, and utility knives – erected a multipurpose desk that paid homage to the company's products. But to add an extra dose of functionality, Zootility etched its logo, two graphics of the American flag paired with the "American Made" slogan, and the silhouette of three of its bestselling products into the desk's top. Text surrounding each silhouette deconstructed the tools and denoted their various uses. With the addition of a few functional details, Zootility Tools transformed the relatively simple structure into a conversation starter.

---

Making History
To reinforce its name and take EXHIBITORLIVE 2017 attendees on a journey to another time and place, 2020 Exhibits Inc. created a Roaring 20s-themed integrated program. Pre-show missives introduced an art-deco aesthetic and a 1920s tone via tongue-in-cheek text inviting "guys and dames" to swing by the booth and enter to win "a whole lotta clams" in the form of American Express gift cards. The exhibit itself became a speakeasy from the bygone era, complete with a notice that it had been closed for violating the National Prohibition Act. Inside, black-and-white "talkies" played on flatscreen monitors, and a virtual-reality experience allowed guests to explore an immersive 1920s environ. After the last booth visitors Lindy Hopped their way out of the exhibit, the themed integrated program had exceeded lead-related objectives by more than 100 percent.

---

World Domination
Everybody wants to feel like they're sitting on top of the world. So the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions invited Imex America attendees to do just that with a display comprising a back wall featuring the board's logo and a sky-blue graphic. A waist-high wall in front of the backdrop offered images of the Dutch countryside and a 3-D globe with faux legs resting atop it. Steps allowed attendees to stand directly behind the elevated orb, creating the illusion that they were indeed sitting on top of the world. The clever display drew hoards of attendees to the space to snap their own pics, after which staffers swooped in to see if Holland could help them create additional top-o'-the-world memories for their event programs.

---

The Proof is in the Projection
To showcase the ultra-high brightness and short throw distance of its EB-L25000U projectors, Epson Europe B.V. created a mesmerizing projection-mapped installation along one end of its booth at Integrated Systems Europe 2017 in Amsterdam. Thirteen different screens and a stark-white racecar were painted with 14 projectors running an array of imagery ranging from race-themed vignettes to artistic Mondrian-like patterns. The arresting installation stopped ISE attendees dead in their tracks, helped prove Epson's product claims, and pulled clients and prospects into the booth as effectively as a tractor beam.

---

Cloud Mine
Hoping to demonstrate its robotics capabilities, provide guests with a unique takeaway, and reinforce that its products make connected solutions possible – thanks to cloud computing and the so-called Internet of Things – Robert Bosch GmbH created a traffic-building promotion merging tech, messaging, and a lot of sugar. A simple station positioned along one aisle of the company's booth space at the 2017 International Consumer Electronics Show was equipped with a robotic arm, a lone staffer, a modest reception desk, and a cotton-candy machine. As the machine spun colored sugar into fine strands, the robotic arm took a paper cone, dipped it into the swirling mixture, collected a serving of cotton candy, and presented it to the staffer seated behind the desk. The staffer then distributed the sweet treat to waiting attendees, while crisp graphics printed on the desk branded the airy edible as a "cloud to go." Attracting attendees, demonstrating its robotic technology, and reinforcing a key message, the cotton candy clouds made a sweet impression on attendees that undoubtedly proved stickier than any run-of-the-mill giveaway item

---

String Theory
You don't need a large booth to capture attention and convey your corporate ethos on the trade show floor. Invention GmbH Die Inarchitekten checked both boxes at EuroShop 2017 using little more than a single seat and a bit of string. Placed atop a circular black rug and in front of matte charcoal walls, a macramé-inspired yellow chair caught the attention of passersby. Meanwhile, a neon-green string construction formed an overhead canopy and directed eyes down toward dimensional letters on the back wall that read "We like nice things." More art installation than trade show exhibit, the small, simple, and sublimely curated space showcased the retail design firm's sophisticated sensibilities and demonstrated its ability to attract attention to itself, as well as its clients.