How do you demo a military weapon that makes people think they’re on fire? The Air Force Research Laboratory faced just such a challenge at the 2006 Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition. Still in field-testing, the AFRL’s Active Denial System sends out a beam of energy toward enemies that tricks the brain into thinking the body is on fire. It’s the kind of thing likely to cause mass hysteria if demonstrated at full throttle on the show floor. AFRL ratcheted the technology down to create a miniature version, nicknamed the Finger Zapper. Attendees put their fingers on the pint-sized machine, which delivered a pinpoint bead of energy that felt like touching a hot iron. Staffers rewarded their bravery with branded pens shaped like chili peppers.

The Safeboot N.V. booth at RSA Conference 2007 in San Francisco looked like a scene from “CSI.” The provider of data- and device-security solutions used a red Mini Cooper missing a window, yellow caution tape, shattered glass, and an abandoned laptop computer bearing a “Secured by Safeboot” sticker to create a scene that suggested someone had broken into the car and tried to steal the laptop, but dropped it upon realizing its data was protected. The crime scene provided staffers with an easy segue into their product pitch and helped capture 434 leads.

When your company’s name is Big Ass Fans Co. and you sell, well, big-ass fans, who better to help build booth traffic than one of the biggest names — with one of the biggest, um, bodies — in football? For the 2007 International Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigerating Exposition in Dallas, Big Ass Fans brought in Refrigerator Perry — a name not lost on the refrigeration-show attendees — to sign autographs and chat with booth visitors. Attendees registered on site to talk to Perry and get a free autographed Big Ass Fans hat with its signature donkey-butt logo. As each attendee posed with Perry, who sat under one of the company’s gigantic fans with blades large enough to lift a helicopter, a photographer snapped a picture. The photographs were later posted to the company’s Web site, where attendees could retrieve them after the show. With two giants in its booth, Big Ass Fans made a big-ass impression on attendees.

Once inside a car, even the meekest of motorists will belt out a tune now and then. Volkswagen AG played off our closet-crooner habits by offering an in-booth karaoke attraction dubbed “Caraoke” in its exhibits at shows in four U.S. cities. Outfitting one of its new Beetles with a microphone and a camera, VW turned the car into a karaoke recording studio — and a couldn’t-miss traffic builder. Once in the automobile, attendees used the car’s radio to choose one of the karaoke tunes. A two-sided plasma screen positioned in the car’s windshield displayed the lyrics inside the car, while the singers’ antics were simultaneously recorded and displayed on the screen facing the crowd. After their songs were over, attendees headed to the exhibit’s Sight and Sound station to view 30-second clips of their videos. After each show, attendees who provided their e-mail addresses to booth staff received their personal video clips via e-mail to share with friends and family. Since the shows, nearly 3,000 Web surfers have visited www.vwcaraoke.com to view clips from VW’s entire karaoke-video library.