IMEX America 2026参展商如何重新思考互动策略：从展位到沉浸式体验

LAS VEGAS — At IMEX America 2026, trade show booths became stages for live art, immersive storytelling and multisensory experiences designed to turn passing attendees into engaged prospects. 

The 15th annual show, held Oct. 13-15 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center, attracted more than 17,800 event professionals. Across the show floor, attendees encountered silent discos, live art, wellness lounges, personalized fragrances and hands-on AI demonstrations. 

The activations reflected Design Matters, IMEX’s 2026 Talking Point, which encouraged more intentional approaches to creating experiences. Four exhibitors stood out for how they combined creativity with business objectives. 

Sustainability Meets Experiential Design: Visit Seattle

Visit Seattle demonstrated that memorable activations don’t necessarily require building something new. 

Its wall of real, preserved plants, designed to reflect the destination’s connection to nature, made its fourth trade show appearance, following stops at PCMA Convening Leaders in Philadelphia and the ASAE Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. 

Working with exhibit partner Hargrove, Visit Seattle designed the installation for repeated use, demonstrating how exhibitors can extend the life of their booth elements while reducing waste. 

“In an industry that struggles with sustainability, we wanted to show it’s possible to reduce and reuse, and that’s how we do business in Seattle,” Kelly Saling, Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing and Chief Business Officer at Visit Seattle, said. 

The wall also served as a conversation starter about Seattle’s natural surroundings and sustainability initiatives. Another activation invited attendees to pose for photos from the deck of a Washington State Ferries boat, bringing another recognizable element of the destination to the show floor. 

Related. IMEX America 2026: Intentional Design and Hands-On Experiences  

“We’re not looking to create an experience just to catch an attendee’s eye,” Saling said. “We want something that’s authentic to us and gives them a real sense of who we are as a destination.” 

Destination Storytelling Through Live Art: Visit Sarasota County

Visit Sarasota County’s booth at IMEX America featured Lipstick Lex. Lex is a local artist who creates paintings using makeup, including repurposed cosmetics. 

Working live at the booth, Lex painted a Sarasota sunset, incorporating recognizable landmarks and destination features. The evolving artwork attracted curious attendees, many of whom returned throughout the show to see its progress and enter a drawing to win the finished painting. 

“Sarasota County is known as ‘Florida’s Cultural Coast,’ and arts and culture are a defining part of our destination’s identity,” Kelly Harb, CMP, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Visit Sarasota County, said. “We wanted to bring that creative energy directly to the trade show floor rather than simply tell attendees about it.” 

As attendees watched Lex work, Visit Sarasota County representatives used elements of the artwork, including the Ringling Bridge, Sarasota Bay and the destination’s airport, to discuss accessibility, hotels, restaurants and meeting venues. 

“Attendees would stop, look with amazement, smile and want to know more about the activation and the destination,” Kim Ritten, National Sales Representative at Visit Sarasota County, said. 

The activation reflects a broader shift in trade show strategy.  

“The goal isn’t simply to attract traffic to a booth, but to create an authentic connection that can lead to deeper conversations and lasting relationships,” Ritten said. “We see experiential exhibiting as an extension of destination storytelling, allowing attendees to connect with what makes a place unique before ever visiting.” 

Designing the Attendee Journey: Disney

Disney brought its approach to experience design to the IMEX America show floor. 

Elements of Disney’s five Experience Design Principles were featured: Discover the Client’s Wish, Connect to the Heart of the Story, Inspire Each Other, Design with Intention & Imagination, and Walk the Path. 

Rather than focusing solely on visual appeal, Disney considered how attendees would move through the space, what would capture their attention and how the environment could encourage exploration and conversation. 

Storytelling and immersion were central to the design, demonstrating how creative environments can support learning, networking and connection. 

A photo booth activation brought elements of Disney’s theme parks to Las Vegas, allowing attendees to experience a touch of the parks without leaving the show floor. 

From PowerPoint to Silent Disco: Caesars Entertainment

Caesars Entertainment made one of the more dramatic departures from traditional exhibiting, replacing its usual buyer presentations with a silent disco. 

Its Be You Disco experience featured a fuchsia-colored booth, moss walls, fresh roses, a signature scent and team members dressed in matching blazers and branded shoes, inspired by the new Vanderpump Hotel. 

“Everyone is competing for attendees’ time and attention, and we wanted to create something that would stand out long after the show ended and would create an emotional connection to our brand,” Reina Herschdorfer, Director of Marketing, National Meetings and Events at Caesars Entertainment, said. 

Caesars also experimented with measuring attendees’ emotional responses. Working with technology company 1e6, it collected preliminary data that included more than 633,000 facial readings and 11.4 million signal readings across 18 reaction categories. 

Those figures represent readings, not individual attendees, and the company has not yet determined whether the activation generated more qualified leads than its previous exhibit format. 

“When people are enjoying themselves and feel genuinely welcomed, it creates a different starting point for a business conversation,” Herschdorfer said. 

From reusable installations and live art to immersive storytelling and silent discos, exhibitors at IMEX America demonstrated that attracting attention is only the first step. 

The larger challenge is turning that attention into meaningful conversations and, ultimately, business results. While the return on investment from these experiences remains difficult to quantify, these exhibitors focused on what attendees experienced inside their booths, not simply how many walked through them. 

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