Starting in 2027, the 14^th DCW—which features the co-location of the NAHB International Builders’ Show (IBS) and the NKBA Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS)—will permanently be held in Las Vegas. However, organizers and exhibitors made sure the shows went out with a bang. The combined shows drew 117,000 registrants, with KBIS breaking its attendance record, and 2,250 exhibitors occupied 1.15 million square feet of indoor and outdoor exhibits.

Showrooms and model homes garnered the most attention, and some were so well done that they took us out of the trade show environment for a bit (more on that below). Of course, many booths had a strong focus on AI and cutting-edge tools, but analog demos also pulled in crowds, like a nail hammering competition. Practical swag, including measuring tape keychains, carpenter pencils, travel mugs and even paint samples, were distributed freely.

From the eight miles we explored, we rounded up the top booths and exhibit design features from IBS and KBIS that had us imagining our future dream home.

Anatolia

Canadian tile and stone company Anatolia exhibited two booths in the North/South Hall—one on the IBS side and one in KBIS. We noticed this double placement because of the recognizable exterior across both locations: white walls with low-key branding around the exterior. The enclosed look contrasted the open floor plans of most booths, so passersby leaned into the two wall openings to catch a glimpse of the tile displays before committing to stepping inside.

Brio Water Technology

Coffee bars were everywhere, but a water bar was a fresh concept. Brio Water Technology set up the circular Brio Hydration Station in the center of its booth to show off its filters. Attendees flocked around the bar as servers prepared four complimentary beverages: Sunny State with Brio Mineralized Water, Brio Bloom with Brio Sparkling Water, Brio Water and Caffè Americano made with the Brio Instant Hot Water System.

Dell Technologies

Dell offered several interactive touchpoints in its booth that wreaked havoc on its laptop products, including a dunk tank that sent a laptop into a tub of water and “Whack-A-Lati,” where attendees used a mallet to strike five laptops as they lit up. Game participants received a Dell cap for trying to make it onto the digital leaderboard. We claimed fifth place.

The booth’s centerpiece was a personalization station that used a laser engraving machine to add headshots and text to wooden keychains, luggage tags, levels and pocket knives, as well as leather tape measures.

The Home Depot

In-booth theaters permeated the show floors, but The Home Depot took it up a notch by hosting panel sessions on the flatbed of a branded tractor-trailer. Couches, monitors and home décor transformed the trailer into a stage.

Homes.com

Brand ambassador Heidi Gardner was virtually beamed into the Homes.com booth through a full-body Proto holoportation device. The former “Saturday Night Live” cast member invited attendees to take a selfie with her, and the results looked pretty seamless. Additional booth touchpoints included a coffee bar and kiosk demos.

Kohler

Winner of KBIS’s 2026 Best in Show Booth Award, Kohler had the most varied and expansive booth we came across. No matter which entrance attendees encountered, Kohler delivered an immersive experience. On one end were cascading fountains and bubbling bathtubs, while the other side invited passersby to “Step into Possibility” through a tunnel where a digital floor projected moving water.

Inside, several vignettes took attendees through different lifestyle rooms, ranging from sauna-inspired showers to a mahogany kitchen to a bathroom with a teal toilet, bathtub and sinks against salmon-colored tile—one of the floor’s most popular photo spots.

Lowe’s

Fresh off its activation at Super Bowl Experience, Lowe’s brought a football-themed booth to IBS, but with a completely different experience from its San Francisco showing. Attendees had a chance to score notebooks, pens, pencils, phone stands and the highly coveted Lowe’s bucket chain by throwing mini foam helmets at a large screen to hit floating buckets. Participants who racked up more than seven points also received a gift card. After missing out on the Lowe’s chain at SBX, we came away with some extra bling.

Moen

With water-effect lighting from above, Moen transported attendees into a modern oasis, complete with projections, moving graphics and several hues of blue. For pops of color, faucets and fixtures were placed alongside bouquets and in front of backdrops of models styled in monochromatic clothes and accessories that simulated shower bubbles.

Realtor.com

One of Realtor.com’s exhibiting competitors recommended we visit its booth because of the immersive experience, and we were not disappointed. The Builders Club was a fully enclosed footprint that offered attendees a respite from the show floor with dimmed lighting and Latin music playing. The Havana-inspired lounge featured tropical scenery on the walls, greenery and a leafy carpet. Attendees could pick up leather luggage tags, keychains and “cigars.” Each day of IBS, Realtor.com hosted entertainment and happy hours, featuring live Cuban jazz music, cocktails and empanadas.

Regal Luxe Marble

Regal Luxe Marble’s booth blew us away with its creative use of ultra-thin stone panels and lighting to create a meandering art gallery. Its marble desks were art installations themselves as they snaked around the booth with flexible, curved edges.

Samsung

Samsung introduced its new line of Bespoke appliances at KBIS, and to highlight their AI-powered features, the brand set up a live AI sketch activation. Attendees got their picture taken at a tablet, and then a robotic arm with a marker began drawing the portrait on a Samsung-branded paper.

It also printed a sticker of the sketch with assigned column and row numbers. On a mural wall, participants located their corresponding square and attached their personalized sticker. The mural was about 50-percent complete when we added ours, and a brand ambassador helped us make out the final message: Bespoke AI Enabling Better Living.

Another highlight in the booth that elevated the experience was the showcase of Dacor’s Undercounter Wine Cellar and Wine Column. There, a bartender served up mocktails, such as Velvet Flame with pomegranate and lime juices.

Sherwin-Williams

Sherwin-Williams’ booth was dedicated to its biennial Colormix Anthology trend report, presenting four color palettes “poised to shape the future of design in 2026 and beyond”: Frosted Tints, Sunbaked Hues, Restorative Darks and Foundational Neutrals. Complimentary forecast and paint samples were available for pickup, and the brand curated several photo spots to encourage social sharing and tagging, like a small bathroom depicting the Sunbaked Hues and a wall of paint rollers displaying the trendiest shades.

TYPAR

“Are you built for this?” TYPAR challenged attendees to a game of “Connect Four,” and “Built Four This” fit perfectly in the wooden bar environment, surrounded by high-top tables and stools, string lights and a faux bar with branded beer tap handles.

Viewrail

The modern Viewrail booth stopped a lot of attendees in their tracks as they stared up at the stair configurations displayed in a multilevel, multiroom grid configuration. It felt like peeking into a giant dollhouse.

Wayfair

Promoting its professional membership program for businesses, Wayfair popped up three connected showrooms that felt trendy and lived-in, each with their own wallpaper and décor styles that showed off the site’s furniture offerings. Instead of having a dedicated welcome desk, brand ambassadors worked off of a dining table for a seamless look.

Photo credit: Juanita Chavarro Arias

From the KBIS Archives:

• Field Report: Top Exhibits at Design & Construction Week 2025
• Best Bites: How Demos Cooked at KBIS 2025
• GE Appliances Lets its Brand Personalities Shine at KBIS 2024

The post Field Report: 15 Best Exhibits from Design & Construction Week’s Last Hurrah in Orlando appeared first on Event Marketer.

How did the brand stand out on the uber-crowded show floor, and how will it adjust its presence moving forward? EM sat down with Todd Fairbairn, head of marketing and brand, to learn more.

Todd Fairbairn, Emotiv Mobility

Event Marketer: What decisions performed well for your exhibit at CES 2026?

Todd Fairbairn: When you’re at CES, you see AI, robots, all sorts of technology, but people don’t think about the infrastructure needed to support it. So early in our exhibit design phase, we knew we wanted to highlight our innovation, for example, around pad- and pole-mounted transformers. People don’t know what these things look like. They also don’t think about the fact that the average one is 34 years old, and it powers 12 houses when it should power four. Also, the AIR electric vertical take-off and landing vehicle has been fantastic. It’s orange, it’s sexy, and it just commands attention. 

Creating a welcoming space to host fireside conversations here was also critical. The action on stage invited people to stop by and take a listen, and also allowed us to create various types of content.

How did you leverage that content?

We brought our own production crew, and one thing we noticed was that people on tour and attendees in the aisle would stop and take a listen when they saw a camera and a boom mic. Our conversations featured industry experts and partners, so that content became the foundation of thought leadership pieces for our library. Also, TikTok is where a lot of conversation is at CES, so our social media team went right to work and pushed content multiple times a day. 

Let’s talk about your measurement strategy.

Beyond badge scanning, social media engagement, and the amount of coffee consumed, we took note of how interested attendees were in the topics of our discussions. Also, a key indicator was the questions and conversations we were getting afterwards about potential partnerships. We went in as a brand that no one knew. Our goal was to get people to stop and ask, and everything throughout the week indicated that we checked that box.

Did any exhibit design ideas on the show floor catch your eye?

Hyundai created a booth with very few access points, with everything hidden, which piques interest and creates a fear of missing out. Oshkosh’s stage setup and Donut’s product presentation were intriguing. Maybe we’ll find a way to incorporate some of these concepts next year. 

Speaking of next year, how do you think your exhibit will evolve?

For 2027, look for us to be in a larger exhibit with a lot more interactive features to show how our hardware and technologies impact everyday life. We don’t want to just illustrate the product. We want to turn these energy-related concepts into something physical that people can see and touch. 

Nobody is going to stop pushing and innovating to grab attention. My hope for next year is that when I’m standing in front of the entrance at 9:59 a.m., the one person who sprinted by me is running to our booth.

SCENES FROM EMOTIV MOBILITY AT CES 2026

*This interview was edited and condensed

Photo credits: Emotiv Mobility; Anna Huddleston

Related:

• 10 Minutes With… Jon Wolff, Senior Global Events Manager at Lenovo
• 10 Minutes With… Jasmin Ozeri, Head of Strategic Events, Wiz

The post 10 Minutes With… Todd Fairbairn, Head of Marketing and Brand at Emotiv Mobility appeared first on Event Marketer.

Some things, however, were still relatively the same as they are today. Cost efficiency, accountability to the bottom line, and high quality of exhibits were among the top exhibitor requests. Quality, not quantity of leads, became a priority, and exhibitors stopped being shy about asking attendees qualifying questions on pre-show microsites before shows and conventions. They also started to bring to the show floor subject-matter experts to engage attendees, increase dwell time, and build relationships that convert. 

We took a dive into the Event Marketer archives to see what was driving trade show exhibits and experiences and how that inform strategies now, 10 years later. 

Intel

At CES 2016, Intel showcased a reimagined keynote-centric experience with dramatically lit human figures, bringing to life the four zones the brand influenced with its tech offerings at the time. Drones were just taking off: cue a 22-foot cage containing them in action. A Spotlight Theater stage mimicked the live demos and performances featured in the keynote. Professional ballerina Paige Fraser, for instance, highlighted the RealSense cameras, her movements affecting visuals that were displayed behind her on a screen.

Square Enix

At Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), this video game developer set up a live-streaming broadcast booth that let attendees in on the video streaming action that fed content directly to consumers for six hours, increasing viewership 33 percent over the previous year. An open video theater, areas for both open game play and structured game play experiences, and a live presentation theater with rotating demos and surprise guests also engaged attendees. The result was a packed booth for the brand over the course of the three-day trade show. 

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

At the 2016 North American International Auto Show, the newly merged Fiat Chrysler Automotives showcased the unique personalities of its seven brands in a cohesive 60,000-square-foot space that connected them through a spectacular array of LED screens, light rings and multi-channel audio, forming a “Kinetic Canopy” that intelligently moved light and sound above and between the brands like an energy field. The experience resembled a finely honed machine with each of the brands’ “gears” interacting with one another and ultimately drawing energy to fuel a show that featured their key stories and products.

LeTV

LeTV’s 50-foot by 60-foot exhibit at CES 2016 leaned into projection mapping to create an encompassing experience at a fraction of the price of LEDs, defining walls and a large overhead presence. Attendees were immersed in any one of the new products, from wearing virtual reality headgear to congregating around one of the exhibit’s main attractions—the Aston Martin demonstrating LeTV’s auto connectivity display.

Gatorade

Gatorade took a big swig of consumer data at the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s AT Expo with an RFID-powered personalized journey. The branded used the technology to identify and track attendees throughout their journey, offering insights on product and content preferences and traffic flow between stations. At the Gatorade Fuel Bar, attendees could use an interactive monitor to compare product features, while at the Future of Sports Fuel touch screen, attendees learned about areas of innovation in Gatorade’s products. Some 4,500 coaches participated, and 90 percent completed the experience.

EMC

Before data centers were the fastest-growing real estate, EMC’s Experience Future-Ready exhibit at EMC World brought together tech brands like Dell and Intel to show attendees exactly how the world around them runs on data. Twenty-four towering LED structures displaying animated infographics heralding the age of digital transformation defined the space, which included a six-foot model city that displayed projection-mapped content on each visible surface.

Attendees explored the city with a tablet-based augmented reality app. Touch screen displays surrounding the installation showcased solutions for key industry verticals. EMC and Dell experts helped attendees assess their own future-readiness and created customized roadmaps for the future that leveraged EMC, Dell and Intel technology. In addition, a collection of digital experiences called “The Villages,” which sprouted from a broken-down, post-apocalyptic container, offered a 20-foot-tall digital avatar selfie experience that allowed people to dance along with their digital selves. AI was next… 

Image Credits 2016: Intel (The Taylor Group); Square Enix (Kenwood Experiences);
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (George P. Johnson); LeTV (Derse); Gatorade (Mirror Show Management);
EMC (Opus Agency, Experience Design Awards)

Related:

• CES 2026: Editors’ Picks for the Best of the Booth Experiences
• Field Report: Six Trade Show Booth Ideas from World of Concrete 2026

The post Throwback: Six Trade Show Exhibit Trends from 2016 appeared first on Event Marketer.

This week’s hot takes on hot topics in experiential marketing cover Home DeCoors, spicy brunches and Good Will Dunkin’.

BOOYAH! DUNKIN’ PARTIES LIKE ITS 1995 WITH A NOSTALGIC POP-UP AT MIT

A wicked-cool way to capture college kids’ attention? Transport them back to the good ole 1990s. That was Dunkin’s play from Feb. 4-6 at MIT’s campus in Cambridge, MA, where the brand planted a merch truck wrapped in classic ’90s graphics. The experience, unbeknownst to visitors at the time, was a teaser for its “Good Will Hunting”-inspired spot that aired during Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8. (For the unacquainted, the film took place at MIT.)

The pop-up (and the ad) harkened back to 1995, when Dunkin’ first shined a spotlight on its iced coffee, and the old-school items in the brand’s capsule collection perfectly captured the era. The authentic vintage, and ’90s-inspired, apparel that was up for purchase included branded bucket hats, overalls, flannel shirts, fanny packs and “Cosby” sweaters (IYKYK). Plus, everyone who bought an item scored a $5 Dunkin’ gift card.

Continuing its hella strong momentum, Dunkin’ is giving away 1.995 million free iced coffees of any size today (Feb. 9) to help sleepy Super Bowl revelers make it through the day. How do you like them apples?

Photos: Courtesy of Dunkin’

ABSOLUT AND TABASCO STIR UP A SPICY BRUNCH EVENT IN NEW YORK

Absolut and Tabasco are bringing the heat with a fiery new flavored vodka, and to celebrate the collab earlier this month, the brands hosted “Hottest Brunch” at Jean’s in NYC. And this was not your grandmother’s Sunday meal.

Attendees were welcomed into the event with signature cocktails and a bloody mary bar stocked with so many garnishes it looked like a small meal. As the drinks flowed and the afternoon progressed, they were treated to a curated pairing menu, costumed servers and surprise dj sets from Blake Horstmann and Tinx, all of which effectively turned the restaurant into a night club (we’re talking: people dancing on chairs and tables). That’s one way to spice up your weekend. (Agency: 160over90)

Photo credit: Deitch + Pham

INTRODUCING HOME DECOORS—THE FURNITURE YOU CAN GUZZLE

According to a poll commissioned by Coors Light, nearly one-third of Canadians who host Super Bowl watch parties wish they had more seating or surfaces for snacks. So the brand responded with “the only logical solution”—a 24-piece Home DeCoors furniture collection made entirely out of beer cases. Designed to maximize space, the line ranged from six-packs to 60-packs, all reimagined as “practical” pieces, like tables, stools and TV stands. How classy.

Don’t worry; it gets better. Just in case consumers had a hard time picturing a room filled with beer-case furniture, Coors showed up at The Interior Design Show in Toronto. There, the brand set up a real-deal exhibit that showcased how its furniture collection could be arranged on game day to look like a fully styled living room. We say: three cheers for originality. (Partner: The Sorry Girls)

Photo: Courtesy of Coors Light

PLAYING CHICKEN: WINGSTOP BRINGS ITS HOUSE OF FLAVOR TO THE OLYMPICS

No one, and we mean no one, eats as many chicken wings as Americans, but Italy is dipping into the quintessential U.S. dish from Feb. 7-14 at Wingstop’s House of Flavor pop-up in Milan, which, of course, coincides with the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

Fans who visit the activation can score free wings (while supplies last) that come in five of the brand’s top flavors and are served with fries and handmade ranch dressing. Beyond the eats, the space is designed to serve as a cultural hub where consumers can ice skate on a small rink, enjoy live dj sets and music performances, and personalize their looks with tooth gems, custom charms, nail art and the option to get a real tatt. Che buona.

FOODIES AND FASHION CONVERGE AT THIS ANNUAL FESTIVAL

Since 2019, the Family Style Food Festival, acquired by Complex in 2024, has been blending food and fashion with the help of its sponsor partners, and this year’s event, hosted Feb. 7 in Oakland, CA, was no exception. Brands like Cash App, Square, Häagen-Dazs, Lexus, Discover Puerto Rico and King’s Hawaiian were all on-site leaning into foodie culture and community vibes at Oakland Arena just ahead of Super Bowl LX in San Francisco.

According to organizers, the event’s sponsorship pièce de resistance was Larry’s Table, a reservation-only culinary experience sponsored by Cash App and Square hosted by rapper Larry June. The experience featured dishes by chefs Ray Lee and Tommy Cleary, whose menu blended yakitori dishes, elevated seafood fare and Japanese-inspired plates.

To boot, as a thank you to June’s fans, Cash App and Square provided every guest with a limited-edition “Larry’s Table” commemorative letterman-style jacket and tote. The co-branded sponsorship also yielded free general admission for all festivalgoers, and equipped the event’s vendors with Square POS systems.

For Häagen-Dazs, it was all about furthering its “Take Your Sweet Time” campaign messaging, which came to life through complimentary tastings, including the new Cherry Dark Chocolate Bar, photo ops and exclusive Häagen-Dazs x Champion merchandise.

Meanwhile, King’s Hawaiian’s tailgate-themed experience offered up sample sliders on a moving conveyor belt that was housed within a large, football-helmet-shaped installation. The footprint also included a mobile vehicle that functioned as a merch shop, plus a football toss and photo ops.

Photos: Courtesy of Complex

More from The Brief:

• Watch: January 2026 Experiential News Commentary
• The Brief: Keg Cities and Social Experiments

The post The Brief: Spicy Brunches and Home DeCoors appeared first on Event Marketer.

How much beer was consumed during the recent World of Concrete? That we don’t know, but hopefully it was a measurable KPI. 

The world’s largest concrete construction and masonry trade show brought together about 48,000 professionals to the Las Vegas Convention Cente, Jan. 20-22, as well as about 1,300 exhibiting companies, including 280 first-time brands, showcasing the latest materials, heavy machinery and tools, across about 750,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. 

From full-throttle outdoor demos to surprisingly analog storytelling tactics, WOC once again proved that even the most industrial shows with a 50-year history are evolving into experience-driven environments. Here are six trade show booth ideas and trends that stood out to us:

Big Screen Action 

It’s not surprising that a trade show like WOC would be all about getting behind the wheel or hands-on with the newest equipment. From Makita to Milwaukee, brands leaned heavily into those engagement opportunities, particularly in outdoor spaces where noise and dust were less of a factor.

At its container-wrapped experience, Bosch featured multiple expert-staffed workstations to test out new tools, but the highest engagement arguably happened around MCEE-led competitions and challenges streamed onto the Jumbotron, turning tool demos into a spectator sport. Dwelltime and engagement soared.

Colorful Art 

Concrete might be gray, but the art that brought it to life was anything but. We notice time and time again that art activations add dimension, drive traffic, and engagement on the show floor. At WOC, they also offered a chance to highlight featured products and celebrate the skills and creativity of the industry professionals in a unique way. One mural, crafted live over the course of the show, became a show-long destination piece, and the fact that it portrayed the Fire Wave near Las Vegas was a nice touch. 

Transparent LED Overhead Signs

We’ve been tracking the use of transparent LED screens, but it’s only recently that we’re starting to see their use for overhead signs, capturing attention across busy show floors and providing an additional impactful canvas for brand storytelling. 

More Trade Show Booth Ideas:

• Goat Yoga, Cat Cafés, Zen Gardens: 11 Veterinary Exhibits that Shined at VMX 2026
• Field Report: 11 Memorable Activations from the AWS re:Invent 2025 Show Floor

Printed Photos

It’s not fancy LEDs that get all the action. Cue in old-school blown-up photos. Multiple booths featured product photo galleries and drew serious attention with attendees stopping to examine and discuss. Some pieces of equipment featured photos of their various uses attached to flat surfaces at eye level.

Make Your Mark 

Activations that invite attendees to sign, color or “make their mark” continue to gain ground. One example is DeWalt’s hard hat that had barely any empty space left. While these activations are relatively easy to set up, they level up personal engagement and help attendees feel part of something greater.

Authentic Giveaways

It was hard to beat beer as a giveaway. The line to Yeti’s advertised free beer was around the block. One might argue that beer is authentic to this particular brand and instrumental in its success. But the prize for creativity goes to Sakrete that offered totes made from the same tear-resistant material as its concrete mix bags. Now that’s high-strength.

Photo credit: Anna Huddleston

The post Field Report: Six Trade Show Booth Ideas from World of Concrete 2026 appeared first on Event Marketer.