SEATTLE — Nicklaus Byrne founded Boothlyo to help exhibiting teams manage the operational side of events in one centralized platform.
Trade Show Executive’s Young Professionals Corner checked in with Byrne to discover how it works and is solving an operational problem in the trade show space.
A Foundation of Firsthand Experience
Byrne’s experience as an organizer actually inspired this technology: He has seen exhibitors arrive and realize they’ve forgotten something important or thought their colleague handled it, such as their product, booth materials, marketing collateral or even pens, and observed how quickly things become difficult when multiple people are responsible for different pieces of an event and there isn’t one clear place to keep track of everything.
“Those experiences made me realize that the challenge wasn’t simply running a booth,” Byrne said. “There was a much larger operational problem surrounding the entire trade show lifecycle, preparing for the event, making sure nothing gets forgotten, coordinating the team, capturing what happens on the show floor and then actually learning from and following up on the investment afterward.
“That was the inspiration for Boothlyo. I wanted to build a system specifically for exhibitors that helps them stay organized before the show, execute more effectively during the event and make better use of the information and results after they leave.”
How it Works
Exhibitors can create an event in Boothlyo and build an operational plan.
Then, they can manage tasks and ownership, staffing, packing and inventory, shipping and logistics, lead capture and follow-up, and other event-specific information from a centralized dashboard.
When the event is complete, this data can be used for post-show analysis. Instead of starting over with a spreadsheet after every event, teams can build a historical record of their trade show program and compare performance from one show to another.
The Boothlyo team is also incorporating AI-generated insights that turn data into plain-language recommendations, such as where follow-up lagged, which shows are performing well and what teams may want to change before their next event.
“What excites me most is that Boothlyo is focused specifically on the exhibitor side of the trade show industry,” Byrne said. “There are many excellent platforms designed for event organizers, registration, attendee experiences and other parts of the event ecosystem. We wanted to focus on the company that is actually exhibiting and all of the operational work that happens behind its booth. We’re also connecting the operational side of an event with the performance side.
“Historically, the planning process and the post-show analysis can feel like two completely separate activities. We want Boothlyo to connect those dots — so teams can look at what happened operationally and understand how that relates to the results they achieved.”
Boothlyo is live and available for exhibitors today.
“We’re still in the early stages, which is actually an exciting part of building the company,” Byrne added. “We’re actively talking with exhibitors, collecting feedback, improving the platform and learning which parts of the trade show workflow create the most friction for teams.
We’ve recently expanded the platform’s post-show analytics capabilities, including benchmarking, year-over-year trends, staff performance, booth traffic, lead and follow-up analysis, and AI-generated insights. Our focus right now is not simply growing as quickly as possible. It’s making sure we’re solving a real problem for the people who manage trade show programs and building a product they will continue to use show after show.”
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