Trade Show & Conference Management

Part of the worlds-biggest-software-project initiative.

A unified, AI-native platform that replaces the fragmented toolchain of trade show and conference management with a single system connecting organisers, exhibitors, speakers, and attendees.

Trade shows and large conferences require coordinating exhibitors, sponsors, speakers, attendees, and venue staff through dozens of interdependent tasks: booth allocation, exhibitor onboarding, badge production, session scheduling, lead capture, and on-site check-in. Today these workstreams are spread across disconnected tools -- spreadsheets, email, a registration system, a separate badge printer, and a mobile app -- with manual handoffs that create errors, delays, and poor exhibitor experiences. This project delivers a single connected platform covering the full event lifecycle from floor plan design through post-event lead export.

Why Trade Show & Conference Management?

Fragmented toolchains inflate cost and risk. Organisers typically stitch together five or more products (registration, floor plan, lead capture, badge printing, mobile app), each with its own data model, login, and pricing. Manual data handoffs between these systems are a persistent source of errors and delays.
Per-user lead capture fees suppress exhibitor adoption. Platforms like Accelevents and Cvent charge per-user fees for lead scanning, which is a consistently reported pain point that discourages booth staff from using the tools -- reducing the very data the organiser needs to demonstrate event ROI.
Enterprise pricing locks out mid-market organisers. Cvent sits at the high end of the market with steep learning curves; Swoogo charges $7,800-$24,000/year per seat. There is no credible open-source or flat-rate alternative for organisers running 1-10 events per year.
Exhibitor ROI attribution remains unsolved. Most platforms report lead volume but cannot close the loop from badge scan to meeting to pipeline to revenue. Exhibitors lack the data they need to justify their investment.
Floor plan and event management remain separate products. Specialist floor plan tools (ExpoFP, A2Z Events) and broader event platforms (Cvent, Accelevents) are largely separate products; no single platform natively handles adjacency constraints, competitor exclusion zones, and utility mapping within the same organiser workflow.

Key Features

Registration & On-Site Operations

Attendee registration with customisable forms, conditional logic, and QR code badge generation
On-site check-in with QR scanning via mobile app and self-service kiosk mode
Badge printing with per-registration-type templates (exhibitor, sponsor, VIP, general attendee)
Session access tracking via QR code scanning with real-time occupancy data

Exhibitor & Sponsor Management

Self-service exhibitor portal: guided onboarding, task checklists, document submissions, booth setup
Sponsor entitlement management with automated deliverable tracking
Exhibitor analytics: lead volumes, meeting outcomes, satisfaction ratings, ROI reporting
Hosted buyer programme management linking lead capture to scheduled meetings

Floor Plan & Booth Assignment

Interactive floor plan editor with drag-and-drop booth creation, merging, resizing, and real-time publishing
Booth availability and booking management with conflict detection to prevent double-booking
Concurrent multi-user editing with real-time sync
Attendee-facing interactive map with search and wayfinding

Lead Capture & Intelligence

Badge scanning with interest rating, conversation notes, and offline support
AI-powered lead qualification scoring based on interaction signals and profile data
Duplicate lead detection and CRM matching via entity resolution before export
Post-event lead export with Salesforce/HubSpot integration and field mapping
GDPR/CCPA consent management built into the lead capture flow

Session & Speaker Management

Session and agenda management supporting multiple tracks, workshops, and keynotes
Speaker portal for bio, headshot, and slide submissions
AI-assisted schedule optimisation balancing room capacity, speaker availability, and track coherence

Networking & Matchmaking

AI-powered attendee-to-exhibitor matchmaking using embedding-based similarity across profiles
Meeting scheduler for attendee-to-exhibitor appointment booking
In-app messaging and networking tools
Attendee mobile app with digital agenda and personalised recommendations

Analytics & Reporting

Real-time analytics: registration counts, check-in rates, lead volumes, session occupancy
Attendance heatmaps and traffic flow analysis
Exhibitor ROI dashboards shared directly with booth teams

AI-Native Advantage

This platform embeds AI where incumbents bolt it on as a premium add-on or ignore it entirely. Matchmaking uses embedding-based similarity across attendee and exhibitor profiles rather than manual interest-tag filtering, driving higher meeting quality at scale. Lead qualification moves from manual 1-5 star ratings to AI-generated scores that incorporate conversation notes, profile enrichment, and interaction history. Schedule generation becomes constraint-aware, automatically balancing room capacity, speaker availability, track coherence, and attendee overlap. Floor plan management supports natural language queries -- "show me all booths larger than 20 square metres adjacent to food and beverage" -- eliminating manual filter configuration for complex layouts.

Tech Stack & Deployment

The platform targets self-hosted and cloud deployment modes. Offline-first mobile architecture is essential for on-site reliability: badge printing, check-in, and lead capture must function when venue Wi-Fi is congested or unavailable, with local sync resuming when connectivity returns. Integration with existing ecosystems is handled through a REST API, CRM connectors (Salesforce, HubSpot), and webhook-based event triggers for post-event data flows. The floor plan component supports embedding into third-party apps via JavaScript API for organisations that need to integrate floor plans into existing event tools.

Market Context

The trade show technology market has moved beyond basic badge scanners; AI-powered lead capture and real-time analytics are now expected features. Enterprise incumbents (Cvent, ExpoPlatform) serve large-scale organisers but carry high price points and steep learning curves. Specialist tools (Blinq for lead capture, ExpoFP for floor plans, Pretalx for CfP) each solve one piece well but force organisers to assemble and maintain multi-vendor stacks. The primary buyers are event organisers running B2B trade shows, association exhibitions, and multi-track conferences who need exhibitor management, lead capture, and attendee engagement in a single system without enterprise-tier pricing.

Project Status

This project is in the research and specification phase.
Contributions, feedback, and domain expertise are welcome.

Contributing

We welcome contributions from developers, domain experts, and potential users. See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Important: All contributions must be your own original work or clearly attributed open-source material with a compatible licence. Copyright infringement and licence violations will not be tolerated and will result in immediate removal of the offending contribution. If you are unsure whether a piece of code, text, or other material is safe to contribute, open an issue and ask before submitting.

Licence

Licence to be determined. See discussion for context.