Author: William Griggs
Founder @ Trade Show Labs
Last Updated: September 14, 2026
Pittsburgh is a city we ship into. Our work here so far has been equipment-only rentals, and this page explains those along with how a staffed convention center booth would run.
Trade Show Labs brings branded games and booth activations to Pittsburgh from Houston. We ship, set up, staff and strike; you collect the leads.
What we bring to Pittsburgh
At the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and the downtown hotels we run the same units as everywhere else. On the simulator side that is the F1 race simulator, the VR flight simulator and the golf simulator. The games are Batak Pro, Tablet Jeopardy, the Are You Smarter Than An AI Bot? trivia game, the giant Plinko board, mini-drone racing and the branded claw machine. We also bring the AI photo booth and the social media vending machine, plus branded swag made on the spot with SwagBot Beam laser engraving and SwagBot Print 3D printing. Each unit is wrapped in your artwork before it ships.
Our guide to the best trade show booth games explains which games fit which booth size and goal; our list of interactive trade show ideas goes beyond games. The full list of trade show games and activations has current photos.
Our sister company VirtualRealityRental.co takes on full VR booths, with more headsets and staff, and handles VR booth rental in Pittsburgh.
Trade Show Labs in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is a city we ship into rather than one where we keep a crew, and our work there so far has been equipment-only rentals, including a VR package for a school event in Carlynton in 2024. For a convention center show the process is the same as everywhere else we travel: the unit ships from Houston ahead of move-in, a certificate of insurance goes to the venue and the show contractor, and our event manager sets up, runs the activation and strikes it. Our Philadelphia and Columbus pages list the closest clients we have worked with in person.
How a job in Pittsburgh runs
So far Pittsburgh has meant rentals. A kit ships in its case, your team runs it, and it comes back with the return labels packed inside. The VR package that went to a school event in Carlynton in 2024 worked like that.
A staffed booth at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center would be our first there. The steps are the ones we follow in every city we travel to, and the Philadelphia and Columbus jobs are the nearest examples.
Chamber of Commerce:
Additional Resources:
Where to start
Decide between a rental kit and a staffed booth, then send Trade Show Labs the dates. We will say honestly what each option means this far from Houston.
Tell us about your Pittsburgh show
Dates, venue and whether you want our manager on site. For a rental, the headcount is enough to size the kit.
