Things are moving fast in trade shows and events, and we love being in the middle of it all. Over the past six months, EM’s team has logged in tens of thousands of steps around top shows across the nation. We sampled, shot hoops, and made perfumes, and, of course, mostly scouted the floor for what’s grabbing the audience’s attention and moving business objectives forward. Here’s what we’re watching for 2026 trade show trends.
AI-Powered Experiences Level Up
You can still get your photo turned into a sketch, but things have gone way past that. Cue in experiences where AI is deeply built in. Sometimes the activation is designed to show the technology that powers it, sometimes it offers a deeper dive with custom GPTs, and sometimes it’s just the magic behind it.
At NAB Show 2026, Amazon Web Services (AWS) invited attendees to test their basketball skills at the Cloud Court Challenge, where their shots were analyzed, compared to those of Toronto Raptors players, and turned into a personal trading card and a social video, powered by AWS Elemental Inference.
At Conexpo-Con/Agg 2026, Caterpillar’s Performance Center offered a deeper dive into tech innovations with live demo sessions powered by the company’s proprietary AI and a VisionLink HQ featuring a full construction job site in an animated world that attendees could experience based on their role.
Optimizely brought its personalization software capabilities to life at Shoptalk 2026 with unique scents, created right there in the booth by EveryHuman algorithmic perfumery. After being qualified by a booth staffer, attendees could scan a QR code, chat with an AI bot about their favorite scents and perfume brands, and watch their personalized perfume mixed in front of their eyes. Incidentally, pop-up perfumeries are tracking across experiential space.
Conveyor Belts Deliver Action
We notice it time and time again—whenever booth elements move, traffic follows. Intuit Mailchimp brought a bright-yellow mailbox that was easy to spot across the floor not just because of its color but also thanks to the dynamic elements of the company’s ecosystem set in motion overhead and on the conveyor belt on the ground.
The same principle drew a crowd around Oatly’s smoothie conveyor at Natural Products Expo West 2026, where attendees elbowed each other for strawberry matcha latte and other unique flavors
One of our favorites was Payments Pressery by J.P. Morgan at Money20/20, where innovative commerce and treasury solutions translated to a curated selection of pressed juices in an experience all about thoughtful and delicious personalization. Attendees could order their selection, and it appeared on a beautifully staged conveyor belt with their hand-written name tag.
More 2026 Trade Show Trends:
Analog Play Gets Love
Pushing back against screen overload, attendees can’t resist getting tactile. Buttons and dials invited participation within AARP’s AgeTech Collaborative booth at CES 2026. While at Licensing Expo 2026, LEGO’s flower carts with specific instructions delivered crazy dwell time and honored our inner child. Boehringer Ingelheim’s mosaic at ASCO 2026 offered a moment of focused quiet and a connection to something greater.
At EMS 2026, analog experiences ran the gamut, too, from a Skyline’s kinetic sand beach to wonderMakr’s “lab,” where attendees could take a specimen slide, a vial, or a Petri dish and place them into an “analyzer” to learn about the company’s event services.
Hero Products Take Flight
Maximizing “air real estate” is nothing new, but instead of traditional hanging signs and overhead structures, we’re seeing more brands leveraging giant versions of their most recognizable products as the exhibit anchors and navigational landmarks. Cue Fage at Natural Products Expo West, which captured the moment of anticipation with an overhead prop featuring strawberries rolling into the yogurt cup. Same goes for Hint’s cans tilted over the exhibit. LaCroix’s cans in all its flavors dominated the overhead space.
Nostalgia Crosses Generations
Cassettes play into decor. Phone booths are cool (soon with AI bots on the other end?). Among our favorites are the viewfinders that inspired Ford Bronco fans at the New York International Auto Show. Attendees could hop up on a mixed reality vista installation and explore a map through viewfinder binoculars. When pointing the viewfinder at any spot on the map, a mini video would appear, displaying vehicle specs and clips of the vehicle in that environment. Old is new again, only better.
