What Trade Show Temps does

Trade Show Temps (TST), founded in 1997 in Los Angeles, is a privately held temporary staffing agency that serves exclusively the trade show, convention, meeting, and event industry across California and Nevada. The company recruits, screens, interviews, reference-checks, bonds, and insures its own employees — it does not subcontract labor — and maintains a documented pool of over 500 temps in Southern California, over 400 in Northern California, and 'thousands nationwide' per its own marketing materials. Service offerings are organized into three tiers: friendly front-of-house staffing (registration, greeters, information desk, badge printing, room monitors, conference assistants, lead retrieval clerks, speaker/VIP/press room assistants); specialized expert staffing (booth hosts, booth models, sales assistants, show office assistants, floor/registration managers, sales personnel, translators); and senior-level staffing (show management and professional supervisors).

TST operates without a proprietary technology platform — its employee login portal is administrative rather than differentiating. There is no API, no SDK, no AI/ML capability disclosed, and no ecosystem integrations. Operational differentiation rests on a full-staffing guarantee with no outsourcing, on-site management supervision at no extra charge, a minimum 2-extra-staff buffer per event (at TST's cost), no charges for on-site schedule changes, and a 4-hour minimum pay guarantee for employees. The company runs two physical offices (Los Angeles headquarters at 445 S. Figueroa St. and Las Vegas at 500 N Rainbow Blvd) and serves seven California cities (San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim, San Diego) plus Las Vegas.

TST's go-to-market is sales-led and enterprise-focused. Direct sales outreach is conducted to trade show producers and event managers through a Request-for-Proposal (RFP) process. Pricing is fully quote-based and not publicly disclosed; billing is event-by-event and tied to hours/headcount. Revenue mechanics are pure professional-services billable rates. Named enterprise customers span entertainment (Comic Con, WonderCon, VidCon, The Pokemon Company International), healthcare/pharma (Novartis, American Association of Cancer Research, American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, DBC Pri-Med), technology (Oracle, SEGA, Zillow Group), consumer products (L'Oreal USA, Cosmoprof), retail (NACDS), automotive (ConVexx/SEMA), real estate (Merchandise Mart Properties), publishing (Los Angeles Times), hospitality (Wolfgang Puck), and major event producers (Reed Exhibitions, Smith Bucklin, Expo Serv). The company is privately held with no disclosed parent, no subsidiaries, no external funding rounds, and no M&A activity.

Name

Trade Show Temps

Legal name

Trade Show Temps

Website

https://tradeshowtemps.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Trade Show Temps is a 1997-founded Los Angeles-based temporary staffing agency specializing exclusively in providing bonded, insured, and trained personnel to trade shows, conventions, meetings, and events across California and Nevada, with a documented pool of 900+ temps in California and named enterprise clients across entertainment, healthcare, technology, and consumer products.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Event Staffing Services

NAICS

Temporary Help Services (561320)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

High-Volume / High-Turnover Temp Staffing (BPACACAF)

Keywords

• Event staffing services
• Trade show labor
• Convention temporary staff
• Booth host staffing
• Event workforce solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles, California

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Temporary Staffing Services: Trade Show Temps generates revenue by providing temporary staffing for trade shows, conventions, meetings, and events. They hire their own employees and place them at client events, charging for the staffing services provided. The company operates on a quote-based pricing model determined by event requirements, staffing needs, and duration.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Trade Show Temps is a temporary staffing agency that recruits, screens, trains, and dispatches its own bonded and insured employees to work at trade shows, conventions, meetings, and events throughout California and Las Vegas. The service covers front-of-house roles (registration, greeters, badge printers, room monitors), specialized expert roles (booth hosts, booth models, sales assistants, translators, floor/registration managers), and senior-level roles (show management and professional supervisors), with on-site supervision included.

Product overview

Trade Show Temps (TST) operates as a temporary staffing agency specializing exclusively in trade shows, conventions, meetings, and events throughout California and Las Vegas. The company offers three interconnected staffing service tiers: Friendly Front of House Staffing (registration, greeters, information desk, materials distribution, badge printing, and conference support), Specialized Expert Staffing (booth hosts, sales assistants, booth models, translators, and floor/registration managers), and Senior Level Staff (show management and professional supervisors). TST maintains a pool of over 500 employees in Southern California and over 400 in Northern California, all of whom are bonded and insured employees recruited, screened, and trained by TST management rather than outsourced.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Friendly Front of House Staffing Provides registration typists, line monitors, greeters, information desk hosts, materials distribution, badge printer clerks, bonded cashiers, room monitors, hosts/hostesses, conference assistants, lead retrieval clerks, and speaker/VIP/press room assistants for trade shows and conventions.
• Specialized Expert Staffing Provides booth hosts and sales assistants, booth models, show office assistants, exhibit booth sales office assistants, floor managers, registration managers, sales personnel, and translators with specialized expertise for trade shows and events.
• Senior Level Staff Provides show management and experienced professional supervisors for trade show and convention operations, with on-site supervision included at no extra charge.
• Southern California Booth Models Experienced, professional, and reliable booth models available in Southern California including San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim, and other locations.
• Northern California Booth Models Experienced, professional, and reliable booth models available in Northern California including San Francisco and San Jose areas.
• Booth Staffing Services Provides temporary booth staff including booth hosts, sales assistants, and booth models for trade shows, conventions, and events in San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Anaheim, San Diego, and Las Vegas.

Quantifiable outcome

• Staffing satisfaction reflected in client testimonials praising quality, punctuality, professionalism, and ability to handle complex registration processes
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers22 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Allied Universal: Allied Universal supplies event security and staffing personnel for large gatherings and venues. It overlaps with Trade Show Temps in temporary event labor, although its core offering is broader and more security-led.
• Freeman: Freeman provides event production, exhibit services, logistics, and labor support. It is a broad incumbent serving convention and trade-show clients with a wider service portfolio.
• GES: GES provides global exhibition services, including labor, logistics, and on-site event operations. It is a broad incumbent with significant overlap in trade-show labor and show services.
• ManpowerGroup: ManpowerGroup operates a global temporary staffing and recruitment business across commercial and industrial markets. It provides a broad benchmark for labor sourcing and workforce deployment, though not an event-specific niche focus.
• PeopleReady: PeopleReady provides on-demand temporary labor across commercial and industrial customers. It is a broad incumbent comparable in workforce sourcing and short-duration staffing, but less specialized in conventions.
• Randstad: Randstad provides temporary staffing and recruitment across business functions and industries. Its workforce-supply model is comparable, although Trade Show Temps is more specialized in event labor.
• BDA: BDA is an experiential marketing and brand experience agency that provides event staff and brand ambassadors. It is a higher-scale provider of event-facing labor and activation support, with broader services than Trade Show Temps.

Direct peers

• Staff Pro: Staff Pro supplies event and hospitality personnel for conventions, trade shows, and live events. Its project-based labor deployment and enterprise event customers closely match Trade Show Temps' staffing model.
• NTH Events: NTH Events provides event staff, brand ambassadors, trade show models, and convention personnel. Its event-focused staffing offering directly overlaps Trade Show Temps' booth, registration, and floor-staff roles.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/tradeshowtemps
• Facebookfacebook.com/tradeshowtemps
• Instagraminstagram.com/tradeshowtemps
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tradeshowtemps

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

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 Trade Show Temps