Our organization has worked with PicBooth for multiple events using both their photobooths and DrawBot activation. They were professional, punctual and went above and beyond! We had great feedback from guests and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to add something fun, new, engaging and exciting to their events.
Trade Shows · Exhibitor Booths
Trade show booth attractions that stop the walk-by
The aisle is full of people deciding not to stop.
What stops them is motion they can see from the aisle, a wait worth watching and something to carry away. A Draw Bot does all three: a robot arm draws a visitor on paper printed with your logo while the next three people watch, and the email they type to get the digital copy is a lead your team didn't have to chase.
Request a Proposal
No deposit to check availability · Most inquiries answered same day
What Actually Stops People
How to get people into your booth
Four things work on a show floor. Most booths have one of them, usually the bowl of candy.
Motion
Something moving, visible from the aisle
A pull-up banner is furniture by ten in the morning. A robot arm drawing a stranger is not — people slow down to see what it is making, and a person who has slowed down is a conversation your team can open.
A watchable wait
A line that entertains itself
Each portrait takes one to three minutes. That is your pitch window: the people waiting watch the arm, your team talks to them, and the line tells the rest of the hall something here is worth stopping for.
A fair trade
An email given for something they want
Data capture is the first thing we plan at a trade show. Visitors type a name and email to receive the digital copy of their portrait. Nobody is scanned or chased — the opt-in is CASL-compliant because it was volunteered, and you get the list as a CSV when the show closes.
A keeper
A giveaway with their face on it
Pens and stress balls stay in the hotel room. A drawing of the visitor on your letterhead gets pinned to an office wall — and your logo goes up with it.
Booth Ideas
Eight trade show booth ideas that need an outlet, not a pitch
Four that carry a booth on their own, then four that add to one. Each is staffed by us, so your team stays free to talk to the people it pulls in.
Idea 1 · Aisle-stopper
Draw Bots
A robot arm draws each visitor live on your branded paper. The strongest crowd-builder we own.
From $1,000
Idea 2 · Giveaway
Keychain or Magnet Station
Booth photo to a finished keychain or magnet in the visitor's hand, with your branding in the frame.
$400 for up to 100
Idea 3 · All-day
Magazine Cover Booth
Visitors on a magazine cover with a headline you write. One flat price covers the show day.
From $1,000 · all day
Idea 4 · Multi-day shows
Photo Mosaic Wall
Each visitor's photo becomes a tile, and your logo builds itself on the wall as the show goes on.
Quoted to your show
Keychains and magnets are made from booth photos, so they run alongside a staffed booth. Each is $400 for up to 100, extra blocks of 10 are $50, and both together are $700.
Idea 5
Games on the mirror
The Magic Mirror talks, animates and prints in seconds, and plays tic-tac-toe and Pong on the glass while the print comes out. It moves 100+ visitors an hour, and a game is a reason to come back with a colleague.
Idea 6
A 360 clip they post from the aisle
The 360 video booth films a slow-motion orbit with your show branding on it, sent to the visitor's phone before they step off the platform.
Idea 7
Your booth on a big screen
Each finished Draw Bot portrait can play on a screen as an animation of it being drawn, which reads from down the aisle. With a staffed booth, our projector does the same for $200.
Idea 8
A backdrop you keep for the next show
A custom-printed 8×8 backdrop with your branding, $200, and it's yours afterwards — it travels to the next show in your booth crate.
Booth Space
Fitting a Draw Bot into a 10×10
A station needs about 8×8 feet and one outlet. In a standard inline 10×10 that is most of your floor, so we plan the layout with you before the show: the arm faces the aisle and does the job of your display, your team stands at the edge, and during the rush visitors send a selfie by QR code so the camera is never the bottleneck.
Corner and island booths take a station with room to spare. Convention centres usually ask for a certificate of insurance before load-in — ours can name the venue or your company, on request, at no charge.
A Repeat Client
Booked for one event, then booked again
Show Logistics
What exhibitors ask before they sign
- Hours: staffed for every show hour, every day you book
- Branding: sheets and frames proofed two weeks before load-in
- Leads: opt-in list as a CSV when the show closes
- Numbers: portraits made, participation and shares, reported after
- Connectivity: our own hotspot, so show Wi-Fi is optional
- Load-in: about 40 minutes to set up; we strike inside the show schedule
- Insurance: commercial liability, COI naming the venue on request
- Travel: included across Niagara, Hamilton and the GTA
Questions
Trade show booth attractions, answered plainly
How do you attract people to a trade show booth?
Give the aisle something moving to look at, make the wait worth watching, trade something visitors want for their contact details, and hand them an object they will keep. A Draw Bot does all four at one station: an arm draws a visitor on your branded paper while the next people in line watch.
What is a good trade show giveaway?
One with the visitor in it. A portrait drawn of them, a keychain or a fridge magnet made from their own photo gets kept; a pen with a logo gets left in the hotel. Keychain and magnet stations are $400 for up to 100, with extra blocks of 10 at $50.
How much booth space does a Draw Bot need?
About 8×8 feet and one outlet. In a 10×10 inline booth that is most of the floor, so we plan the layout with you: the arm faces the aisle and works as your display. Corner and island booths take a station with room to spare.
Is a photo booth a good trade show booth idea?
When the visitor walks away holding something, yes. The Magic Mirror prints in seconds, and keychains or magnets are made from the same photos. A booth that only sends a link is easier to walk past.
How many visitors can a Draw Bot draw in a show day?
Each bot draws 20 to 60 sheets an hour, so an eight-hour show day is roughly 160 to 480 portraits per bot, and we can run up to three. QR selfies keep the line moving at peak hours. For scale, 400 fans were drawn at the River Lions home opener in a single night.
What does a trade show giveaway cost per visitor?
Keychains or magnets work out to $4 a visitor at 100 ($400), then $50 for each extra block of 10. Draw Bots start at $1,000 and are quoted by show days, hours and number of bots.
Can you staff a multi-day show?
Yes. The station is staffed for every show hour on every day you book, and the quote is built from the show days and hours rather than a single event block.
How do we get the leads?
Data capture is priority one at a trade show. Visitors enter a name and email to receive their digital copy, a CASL-compliant opt-in given in exchange for something they want, and the full list arrives as a CSV after the show, ready to import into your CRM.
Does it need the convention centre's Wi-Fi?
No. Show-floor Wi-Fi is usually crowded, so we bring our own hotspot. Venue Wi-Fi helps when it is good, but nothing depends on it. More on that in do photo booths need Wi-Fi on site.
What does a trade show booth attraction cost?
Draw Bots start at $1,000 and mosaic walls are quoted per show, from the days, hours, stations and branding. Keychain or magnet stations are $400 for up to 100, both together are $700, and the magazine booth is from $1,000 for the whole day. The deposit is a flat $100.
What if the show moves dates?
The flat $100 deposit transfers to the new date, as long as it falls within 18 months.
Exhibiting this season?
Send the show, your booth size and the show hours. You'll get a layout suggestion and a real number, usually the same day.
Worth Reading
Before you book, the honest reading
Corporate Event Photo Booth Ideas That Do a Job
Seven activations for conferences, launches and galas — what each delivers for branding, lead capture and floor traffic, and which room suits which.
Top Corporate Event Activation Ideas, by Objective
Brand activations planned backwards from the result: lead capture, branded output, sponsor value and what to measure. Ten ideas sorted by the job they do.
Do Photo Booths Need WiFi On Site?
Printing never needs WiFi. Texting and emailing photos does. What breaks without a connection, what does not, and what to ask your venue first.
Get a Show Proposal
Tell us the show, and the booth.
Show dates, venue, booth size and what the booth has to bring home — leads, traffic, or a giveaway people keep. We'll come back with a layout and a real price.
- Real numbers, no games
- 5.0 · 25 Google reviews
- 100+ Events
- ✓ Fully Insured · COIs on request