Exhibitor excellence was on display at NIRSA 2025 Campus Rec Expo

A few weeks ago, the 2025 NIRSA Campus Rec Expo in Orlando buzzed with energy, innovation, and meaningful conversations. Among 142 incredible exhibitors, a few stood out for their exceptional engagement, creative displays, and standout service.

Spotlighting these efforts, a team of volunteer “secret shoppers” quietly evaluated booths across the exhibit hall. These volunteers—attendees who represent a wide range of campuses and career levels in the NIRSA community—explored the hall to identify exhibitors that truly elevated the expo experience. The following companies were celebrated by these volunteers for their outstanding presence at NIRSA 2025.

Overall booth design: Small booths

Campus Stop

A 10×10 booth with eye-catching merchandise, unique promotional products, and fun giveaways, Campus Stop packed in a huge variety of products. Functional decor helped thoughtfully organize the booth display, and the curated merch items brought by Campus Stop are a great option for budgets large and small. What could easily have been a chaotic amount of swag was meticulously displayed to be both aesthetically pleasing and inviting to passers-by.

Honorable mention: Shake Smart

Pouring delicious samples of its shakes is a huge draw for Shake Smart’s small booth, but the company’s exciting graphics and clean booth design win it an honorable mention among our volunteers. “Simple and effective,” the booth showcased graphics built into the booth’s back wall, eliminating clutter and making room for the sales representatives to blend up treats for visiting attendees.

Overall booth design: Large booths

Precor

While Precor exhibited in a smaller space than it had in previous years, the company did not sacrifice design or product variety. “The Precor booth was fantastic. They had the red-light machines and the exhibitors were very personable—they didn’t come across as ‘salesy,’ but instead more as informative.” The staff were “happy to take pictures of people using the equipment for their social media.” Featured equipment included a treadmill on a lighted stage and, new this year, a red-light pod and sauna showcasing Precor’s entry into the wellbeing space.

Swag/giveaways

While volunteers reported multiple companies distributed the best swag, a particular giveaway item continues to reign supreme: T-shirts.

T-shirts

Shirts designed specifically for the Orlando location (College Promo, CC Creations, Matrix, and TGI Promo) and super soft shirts (College Promo, PLAE, and Eleiko) were celebrated by volunteers.

Honorable mentions: Vermont Systems and Peloton

Giveaways that specifically reminded attendees of the company, like Vermont System’s maple syrup giveaway and Peloton’s branded yoga mats, were commonly noted.

In-booth engagement activity

All volunteers mentioned the incredible energy around the sponsored activity spaces like Disc It’s yard game, GameLab’s live Mario Kart, and Kilter Board’s climbing wall, but  beyond these larger activations, other exceptional in-booth engagement activities left an impression on volunteers.

Chalkless

Could you lift the hammer? Chalkless invited attendees to attempt to lift a 150-pound hammer, letting individuals try first unaided, then using its grip-enhancing product. The unique product demonstration coupled with the booth rep’s knowledge and personality made this first-time exhibitor a hit among our volunteers: “Bill Martin was so friendly and personable. He was very interactive and understood lifting and fitness.”

Honorable mentions: Fusion & EGYM

Unique technology in these booths allowed attendees to explore products on their own or engage with the booth staff: “EGYM and Fusion really engaged the users with interactive standing monitors that people could learn from and also interact with themselves.”

Customer service interaction

First-time exhibitors shined in this category, with a few stand-out interactions observed by multiple volunteers:

Waterman

This new exhibitor had a corner booth and the “best interactions.” The two women in the booth “were very happy, smiling, and engaging. They said, ‘Hi!’ to everyone who came by.” The sales reps were “energetic and fun,” distributed high-quality giveaways, and were excited to discuss lifeguarding gear with attendees.

Honorable mention: ZeroWheel

Another new exhibitor, ZeroWheel displayed a simple booth, but the representatives were very friendly and encouraged attendees to test their product. “Then, the next day, they remembered me, and we talked more about the products,” says one volunteer. The exhibitors with ZeroWheel were hailed for their “good follow-up skills.”

What makes an exhibitor stand out? The people!

Unique swag, contests for prizes, and product demos are fun draws, but our team of volunteers unanimously agrees that what truly makes exhibitors excellent are the booth representatives themselves. The traits most valued by the volunteers include:

1. Inquisitive booth staff that are curious about you, your role, and the challenges you face on campus.
2. People who “engage with you, ask questions, and explain what they do.”
3. Representatives who talk to student and professional staff, regardless of their roles in rec: Volunteers loved to see exhibitors who “don’t shut down a connection when they find out an attendee is a student instead of director or doesn’t work in facilities.”
4. Outgoing personalities that remember you when you come by the next day or see them outside of the exhibit hall.
5. Having “good eye contact with the folks passing by” is also critical: Some booth exhibitors were sitting down, busy looking at their phones.” Staff should be ready to engage with everyone walking by the booth.

These outstanding exhibitors exemplify what’s possible when creativity, connection, and service come together on the NIRSA Campus Rec Expo show floor. Congratulations to the exhibitors who were highlighted by our volunteers, and thank you to all who contributed to a dynamic NIRSA 2025 Campus Rec Expo!