Growth doesn't just show up in bigger projects, bolder ideas, or a packed production schedule. It shows up in people. This round of new hires at Storylink Creative spans design, finance, warehouse operations, and production — a mix that reflects both where we're investing and where the work is taking us. From a Senior Experiential Designer to a CNC Operator, these additions bring depth, fresh perspective, and real capability to teams across the agency. Let's meet the people b

The numbers on the Orlando-to-Las Vegas move have gotten plenty of attention — hanging signs, electrical overtime, material handling, internet. Budget people love a spreadsheet, and the 2025 Annual Survey of Exhibition Rates gave them plenty to work with. But anyone who has spent real time exhibiting at Design & Construction Week knows that the financial analysis, useful as it is, tells maybe half the story. The other half is operational, strategic, and in a few cases psychol

Walk the floor at IBS and KBIS, and you're not just looking at building products — you're looking at a live laboratory for trade show exhibit design. With more than 2,250 exhibiting brands spread across 1.2 million net square feet, the combined shows are big enough and competitive enough to surface the strategies that actually move the needle and expose the ones that don't. Here are nine trends worth paying attention to, both at IBS and across the broader Design & Constructio

Design & Construction Week moves permanently to the Las Vegas Convention Center in February 2027. Here's a category-by-category cost comparison between Orlando and Las Vegas — based on audited data from 224 trade shows across 23 U.S. cities — so IBS and KBIS exhibitors can plan accordingly. By Travis Stanton Las Vegas has a reputation. Among trade show exhibitors, it's become shorthand for expensive — where per diems feel punitive, labor rates feel personal, and the exhibitor

Storylink Creative, a leading experiential design and brand storytelling agency specializing in trade show exhibits, events, and branded environments, has been recognized with three Portable/Modular Awards from Exhibitor Magazine. The annual Portable/Modular Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in the design and execution of portable and modular exhibits, recognizing companies that demonstrate creativity, strategic thinking, innovation, and excellence in experiential mark

By Shayla Hilliard Every June, the food and beverage industry's most influential players descend on one convention center to do something deceptively simple: taste the future. The International Dairy Deli Bakery Association's annual show, IDDBA, has become the place where the next 12 months of delicious trends get previewed, one sample cup, one cheese board, and one slightly chaotic flavor experiment at a time. This year was no exception. From sweet-and-spicy mashups to a glu

Here's How to Make Sure It's Still Worth It - by Travis Stanton Let's get something out of the way up front. Trade shows work. Live events create the kind of connections, conversations, and pipeline moments that no algorithm, email sequence, or LinkedIn outreach campaign has ever reliably replicated. Events in general (and trade shows in particular) build trust, and trust is invaluable. If you've been in this industry long enough, you've felt it. The deal that started with a

EXHIBITOR's 14th Annual Economic Outlook Survey finds an industry navigating serious headwinds with something between confidence and gritted teeth. By Travis Stanton Here's a sentence you don't hear often enough in this industry: things are fine. Not great, not terrible. Fine. And right now, given the economic uncertainty, the visa-restriction drama, and the perpetual chorus of "do more with less" echoing off convention hall walls from Vegas to Orlando, fine is a result worth

153kW system underscores commitment to sustainability, operational efficiency, and long-term value Storylink Creative's rooftop solar array was installed this March. The 289 individual panels are expected to generate an average of 214 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity annually ... enough to offset the typical energy consumption of more than 20 homes each year. This Earth Day, Storylink Creative is proud to announce the installation and activation of a new rooftop solar arra

Storylink's downloadable guide provides an ideal timeline for exhibitors' next new builds. Click the image above to download Storylink Creative's downloadable guide, "The Ideal Timeline." A great exhibit doesn't start with a sketch. It starts with a schedule. But often projects begin too late, forcing design compromises, inflated production costs, and missed opportunities. So to help exhibitors establish realistic timelines that will result in the best possible solutions for

Introducing Storylink Creative's Q1 2026 New Hires! Growth doesn’t just show up in bigger projects, bolder ideas, or a packed production schedule. It shows up in people. As Storylink Creative continues to expand, Q1 2026 brought an influx of new talent across departments, with each hire adding depth, perspective, and capability to our team. From engineering and HR to warehouse operations and exhibit construction, this group reflects a deliberate investment in both experience

Be inspired by the hottest trends and best exhibits from America's largest annual trade show. The International Consumer Electronics Show exists at the intersection of technology and experiential design. And as the first major U.S. trade show of each calendar year, the event is a barometer of what’s happening in the industry, what trends are taking off in experiential design, and how technology is being integrated in new and exciting ways … making it the most important show t

Storylink Creative, an award-winning experiential design and fabrication agency, is proud to announce it has been officially certified as a Great Place to Work® following a comprehensive, employee-driven evaluation process. The prestigious certification is based entirely on feedback from current employees, measuring key aspects of workplace culture including trust in leadership, respect, camaraderie, and pride in the work being done. The results reflect Storylink’s ongoing co

Storylink Creative has been recognized at the 2026 MUSE Creative Awards, one of the world’s leading international design awards and creative competitions, honoring outstanding achievements in design innovation, creative excellence, and artistic vision across industries. Organized by the International Awards Associate (IAA), the MUSE Awards celebrate projects that represent the highest standards of global design excellence and creative innovation. Each season attracts thousa

How Storylink Creative helped Ecolab showcase its long-term growth strategy by turning abstract innovations into immersive experiences. Challenge Ecolab needed to showcase its long-term growth strategy among investors — but its most important innovation platforms were highly technical, abstract, and difficult to visualize in a traditional presentation format. Insight Investors don’t just want to hear about innovation — they want to see how it works, why it matters, and how it

Storylink Creative has partnered with US Compliance, implementing the firm’s Health & Safety Compliance as a Service (CaaS) program to strengthen workplace safety while improving efficiency across its fabrication and production operations. In the experiential design world, creativity may draw crowds. But behind every impressive exhibit, glowing LED wall, and precisely engineered structure is something less flashy yet far more important: safety. With that in mind, Storylink Cr

Storylink Creative teamed up with Hartmann Studios and Super Sharp Entertainment on a philanthropic customer-engagement event for Ecolab at the National Association of Retailers Show. Challenge Ecolab wanted to create a signature experience during the National Restaurant Association Show that would differentiate the brand while authentically expressing its long-term commitment to education and community — not just corporate hospitality. ProStart® is a 501(c)3 charitable organ

Storylink Creative is honored to make Exhibitor Magazine’s FindIt Top 40 list of the world’s best trade show exhibit providers for the second consecutive year. According to Exhibitor editor, Emily Olson, the designation “serves as a sort of Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval” for those in the trade show industry. Small, medium, and large exhibit houses with offices anywhere in the world were eligible to apply. Entries were evaluated to reflect how Exhibitor magazine readers v

Storylink Creative and von Hagen Design were honored with the International Collaboration Award at the Experiential Designers and Producers Association’s annual Access conference. The award recognizes cross-border teamwork that exemplifies exceptional communication, trust, and project execution across international markets. It celebrates partnerships that demonstrate how exhibit and event professionals can work together across borders to elevate global brand experiences and a

Storylink Creative is proud to announce that eight of its past projects have been named as finalists in Exhibitor magazine’s 13th annual Portable/Modular Awards, recognizing the company’s innovation and excellence in modular and portable exhibit design. The Portable/Modular Awards honor modular, system, and portable exhibits launched between November 1, 2023, and November 1, 2025, as well as conceptual designs that have not been fabricated. The awards are judged by a panel of

Guest Blog: Han Leenhouts Han Leenhouts, founder of Sales & Pepper, is an international keynote speaker and trainer with 30+ years in exhibitions and trade shows. Author of Peppertalk and Peppertalk 2.0 , he empowers global teams with storytelling, visitor engagement, and value-based sales strategies. Han blends humor, real-world insight, and hands-on experience to drive measurable results. Trade shows have always promised opportunity. New business. New relationships. New mo

Reflections from the Yellow Stage at EuroShop 2026 By Travis Stanton Photo: Messe Düsseldorf / Tillmann To people who haven’t experienced it, EuroShop can be difficult to explain. Calling it a trade show feels almost reductive, like describing the Louvre as “a room with some paintings.” Technically accurate, perhaps, but wildly insufficient. Every three years, the global community of retail, brand, and experiential designers makes a kind of pilgrimage to Düsseldorf, Germany,

In an era when everything costs more — labor, materials, freight, technology, even the coffee in the convention center Starbucks — exhibit and event budgets are under more pressure than ever. What used to be considered “nice-to-have” line items are now scrutinized, delayed, or cut altogether, while expectations for experiences continue to rise. Brands are being asked to do more, with less, in environments that are more complex, competitive, and costly than at any point in re

Most exhibitors obsess over the details they can control: booth design, multimedia, content, staffing, and pre-show marketing. Budgets are built on last year’s numbers, vendor contracts are locked in, and logistics are carefully mapped. But one factor exhibit managers cannot control — the show’s host city — is one of the most dangerous variables in trade show planning. It can quietly double your costs before you even step onto the show floor. When events rotate cities, year-o