Last Updated: September 14, 2026
Author: William Griggs
Founder @ Trade Show Labs
Bring in the most attendees for a memorable moment with fun activations and VR equipment. Use Trade Show Labs for fun and interactive Chicago trade show ideas.
Trade Show Labs brings branded games and interactive booth activations to Chicago from Houston. We ship, set up, staff and strike; your team stays on the leads.
What we bring to Chicago
At McCormick Place, the Hilton Chicago and the venues along the lake we run VR meditation rooms for wellness booths, Tablet Jeopardy, games with a live leaderboard, VR soccer and walk-the-plank rigs, the branded claw machine, the giant Plinko board, the F1 race simulator, the VR flight simulator, the golf simulator, Batak Pro, the Are You Smarter Than An AI Bot? trivia game, the AI photo booth, the social media vending machine, mini-drone racing, and swag made in the booth with SwagBot Beam laser engraving and SwagBot Print 3D printing.
If the McCormick Place booth is a 10x10, start with the best trade show booth games guide; for a bigger island, the interactive trade show ideas list has the installs. The full list of trade show games and activations shows each unit in a booth.
For a VR-heavy booth, our sister company VirtualRealityRental.co handles VR booth rental in Chicago with more headsets and crew.
Trade Show Labs in Chicago
AFSCME ran our VR meditation activation with six headsets, and Tablet Jeopardy, at their wellness booth during an August 2026 convention: "Our members absolutely loved the virtual reality activation! It was very popular and people kept saying how much they enjoyed using the headsets." IMCD booked a VR soccer rig for three days in July 2026 and said our manager "made the experience so engaging, comfortable and fun." Strada ran a leaderboard game at GFOA in June 2026, Cvent ran a claw machine in August, Curion took a giant Plinko board to Cary, and Home Partners of America, after a December event, wrote: "We had an absolute BLAST playing with the VR headsets! It was one of our most popular attractions, and the Plank game surprised more people than we thought it would." We have also worked the Hilton Chicago for Sedgwick and Theater on the Lake for OnTheScene.
How a job in Chicago runs
Most of our Chicago work lands at McCormick Place. The gear ships from Houston and one of our event managers meets it there, sets up, runs the booth and packs out. Printpack ran our flight simulator that way over a multi-day show in October 2026. AFSCME ran six meditation headsets and Tablet Jeopardy at their wellness booth in August. IMCD kept a VR soccer rig busy for three days in July, about 30 players a day.
Equipment-only is the other way to do it: we ship the unit and your team runs it. Relay did that at the same hall the weekend of the Printpack show. Either way, tell us the hall, the booth size and the dates and we will come back with a plan that fits.
Chicago Trade Show Venues:
Chamber of Commerce:
Additional Resources:
Trade Show Ideas that Work: https://www.bizbash.com/meetings-trade-shows/trade-shows/media-gallery/22262561/advice-and-inspiration-for-trade-show-booths
Inspo for Your Expo Display:
https://american-image.com/finding-inspiration-for-your-expo-displays/
Some of the Best Booths: https://meetings.skift.com/trade-show-booths-100-best-ideas-2018/
Attract Visitors with these Ideas: https://www.bizzabo.com/blog/tradeshow-ideas/
Bottom line
Create the Best Booth
The professional team at Trade Show Labs is ready to create a memorable scene that will spark interest in attendees and leave a lasting impression to increase your leads. Contact Trade Show Labs to ask about walking the plank, driving race cars, playing beat saber, and other entertaining Chicago trade show ideas.
We Can’t Wait
To Hear From You
Tell us the show, the hall and the booth size. We will come back with the games that fit, what shipping from Houston to McCormick Place looks like, and an honest read on whether we are the right fit. If we are not, we will still send you the questions worth asking whoever you book.
