Steelhead

What Steelhead does

Steelhead Productions, operating under the brand "Exhibit Happy by Steelhead," is a Las Vegas-headquartered, full-service trade show exhibit house founded in 1996. The company designs, fabricates, and rents custom trade show exhibits under an access-based rental model that lets brands deploy premium exhibit designs across their event calendars without the sunk cost of ownership. Service modules include Strategy and Design, Program Management, Fabrication and Pre-staging (performed in the company's Las Vegas showroom with full dry-run assembly before shipping), and Show-site Support for installation and dismantle. Named enterprise clients include Cox Automotive, CARFAX, Affinitiv, Beyond Meat, Alarm.com, Waystar, ExtraHop, Siemens Healthineers, Brinks, and Gracenote, spanning automotive, technology, healthcare, food/plant-based, media, and security verticals. The company is privately held with 101–250 employees, led by CEO Sean Combs and co-owned by CMO Rhiannon Andersen.

The business model combines subscription-style recurring revenue from trade show exhibit rentals (the "Access Model") with project-based professional services revenue from strategy/design and managed-services revenue from program management and show-site support. Pricing is quote-based, guaranteed, and structured around multi-year contracts with no publicly disclosed price points. Go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales, initiated via discovery calls and consultative engagement, with content marketing (blog, resources, case studies) and industry events (notably EXHIBITORLIVE) serving as awareness and lead-generation channels. The company emphasizes a registered "Exhibit Happy" brand promise framework (Awesome Support, No Surprises, Fun Along the Way) and B2B PR visibility through channels such as EIN Presswire and EXHIBITOR Magazine.

The company's principal differentiator is its regulatory and sustainability positioning: it is the only B Corp certified trade show exhibit house in North America, an attribute aligned with growing enterprise ESG procurement requirements. It has earned consecutive placement on Exhibitor Magazine's FindIt Top 40 list (2023, 2025, 2026) and has been named a finalist in multiple Best of Show categories at EXHIBITORLIVE 2025. Additional recognition includes Inc. Power Partner status. The operating footprint is concentrated in North America with no global expansion claims, and there is no disclosed institutional investment, M&A activity, or AI/ML capability development.

Name

Steelhead

Legal name

Exhibit Happy

Website

https://steelheadproductions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Steelhead (d/b/a Exhibit Happy by Steelhead) is a Las Vegas-based, B Corp certified full-service trade show exhibit house that designs, fabricates, and rents custom exhibits for enterprise and mid-market event marketers across automotive, technology, healthcare, food, media, and security verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trade Show Exhibit Design and Rental Services

NAICS

Other Building Material Dealers (444180)

SIC

Prefabricated Metal Buildings & Components (3448)

akta.pro primary industry

Trade Shows & Exhibitions (Booths, Show Management) (BPAFAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Booth Maintenance, Refurbishment & Reuse Programs (THAHAHAM)

Keywords

• Custom trade show exhibits
• Exhibit rental services
• Event marketing strategy
• Exhibit design fabrication
• Show site support

Headquarters

HQ city

Las Vegas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Trade Show Exhibit Rentals: Custom trade show booth rental services using an access-based model. Clients pay for rental access to custom-designed exhibits without sunk costs of ownership. Pricing is guaranteed and transparent.
2. Design and Strategy Services: Strategy and design consulting to help event marketers define and achieve measurable trade show goals.
3. Program Management: Comprehensive support at every step of event planning including show site services, installation, and dismantle supervision.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Steelhead Productions (d/b/a Exhibit Happy) is a Las Vegas-based, full-service trade show exhibit house that designs, fabricates, rents, transports, installs, and dismantles custom trade show exhibits for enterprise event marketers. Its signature "Access Model" lets clients rent custom-designed exhibits rather than purchase them, with an in-house pre-staging facility used to dry-run every booth before shipping to the show site.

Product overview

Exhibit Happy by Steelhead™ is a full-service trade show exhibit company based in Las Vegas that operates as a unified platform offering custom rental displays and comprehensive event services. The offering combines Strategy and Design, Program Management, Fabrication and Prestaging, and Show-site Support as integrated service modules, all delivered through an Access Model that prioritizes rental over ownership. This architecture enables event marketers to scale premium exhibit designs across their full event calendar while maintaining flexibility, sustainability, and predictable pricing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Custom Trade Show Exhibit Rentals (Exhibit Happy Access Model) Rental access to custom-designed trade show exhibits with guaranteed, transparent pricing and flexible terms for enterprise and mid-market event marketers. Includes fabrication, pre-staging dry-run at the Las Vegas facility, shipping, installation, and dismantle.
• Strategy and Design Services Custom strategy and design consulting that aligns booth design with brand and event-marketing goals, anticipating needs marketers may not have considered. Targeted at trade show event marketers seeking measurable ROI from their programs.
• Program Management Services End-to-end program management across the event planning process, including coordination, logistics, show-site installation and dismantle supervision, and guaranteed clear/predictable pricing for enterprise trade show programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 55% of event marketers significantly increase exhibit ROI by opting for rental solutions
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Freeman: Freeman is the largest full-service brand experience and event marketing company in the world, offering custom exhibit design, fabrication, and event services to enterprise clients — directly comparable to Steelhead's core offering, but at substantially greater national and global scale.
• GES (Global Experience Specialists): GES is a major full-service exhibit and event services provider serving enterprise clients across trade shows, corporate events, and experiential marketing; competes directly with Steelhead for the same enterprise trade show RFPs and offers comparable custom exhibit design and fabrication capabilities.
• Sparks: Sparks is a global experiential marketing agency offering custom exhibit design, fabrication, and event services to enterprise brands; directly comparable to Steelhead in target customer (enterprise marketers), service mix, and brand-experience positioning.
• MC² (MC Squared): MC² is an exhibit and event marketing company providing custom trade show exhibits, corporate events, and face-to-face marketing services to enterprise clients; competes directly with Steelhead for enterprise exhibit design and fabrication engagements.
• Derse: Derse is a full-service exhibit and event marketing company building custom face-to-face experiences for enterprise brands; directly comparable in service offering, target customer profile, and trade show exhibit design and fabrication capabilities.
• Czarnowski Display Services: Czarnowski is a long-standing custom exhibit design and fabrication house serving enterprise clients across trade shows and corporate events; directly comparable to Steelhead in custom exhibit production and enterprise client focus, with similar mid-to-large scale.
• Hamilton Exhibits: Hamilton Exhibits is a custom exhibit design and fabrication company producing trade show exhibits, museum displays, and corporate environments; closely comparable to Steelhead's custom exhibit design and fabrication core capability.
• 3D Exhibits: 3D Exhibits is a custom exhibit house offering design, fabrication, and event services for trade shows and corporate events; directly comparable to Steelhead in custom exhibit rental and design services for enterprise trade show programs.
• CenterPoint (formerly Jackson Marketing Group / CenterPoint Global Solutions): CenterPoint provides event marketing, exhibit design, and brand activation services to enterprise clients; competes with Steelhead for trade show and experiential marketing engagements with a comparable mid-size footprint and full-service offering.
• Access TCA: Access TCA is a trade show exhibit house specializing in custom exhibit rental programs and exhibit program management for enterprise clients; directly comparable to Steelhead's rental-driven Access Model and trade show program management offering.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ExhibitHappy
• Facebookfacebook.com/Steelhead.Productions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/steelhead-productions

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Steelhead