480+ corporate events · 5 years
Photo Booth Rental in Chicago for Corporate Events
Book photo booth rental in Chicago for a McCormick Place stand, a Navy Pier gala or a Loop holiday party, and each guest walks off with your logo on a portrait.
What a photo booth adds to a Chicago event
Chicago shows are huge and the aisles are long, so a stand needs something visitors can see from three booths away and try in a minute.
The big shows here are trade shows with buyers, not fan crowds. The National Restaurant Association Show brings food brands to McCormick Place each May, and NeoCon brings interior designers to THE MART each June. A buyer at those shows meets dozens of stands a day, and a portrait with your logo is the one thing from your stand they keep on their phone.
Food brands also hold their own events here. McDonald's runs Hamburger University at its West Loop headquarters, and Mondelez and Google have offices in nearby Fulton Market. Their franchise meetings and launches want pictures that look like the brand, not a generic party frame.
AI mirror photo booth rental in Chicago
The full-length mirror turns each visitor into a styled portrait in seconds, printed or texted. Before the shot, a short sign-up gives your sales team the contact. For a restaurant brand, the looks can follow your menu or your mascot.
360 photo booth rental in Chicago
A camera arm circles the guest and records a slow-motion clip. It fits a gala under the 60 ft ceiling of Festival Hall at Navy Pier, where there's room for a crowd to watch.
See all photo booth formats for sizes and options.
Where the booth goes in Chicago venues
Chicago venues differ in docks, distances and rules, and each one decides how the booth arrives.
McCormick Place, South Loop
2.6 million sq ft of exhibit space in four buildings: North, South, West and Lakeside Center.
Navy Pier, Streeterville
Festival Hall covers 170,000 sq ft with an eight-truck dock. Evening galas here run right after a show day, so setup windows are short.
Hyatt Regency Chicago
2,032 rooms and a 70,000 sq ft exhibition hall on the river. A booth in the foyer catches guests between sessions.
THE MART, River North
NeoCon showrooms run floor by floor, and every station goes up by freight elevator in a booked slot.
Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, Hyde Park
The 1893 World's Fair building in Jackson Park, with a U-505 submarine and a Boeing 727 inside. A booth with a museum backdrop turns a client night into a story.
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont
840,000 sq ft next to O'Hare, for fly-in meetings that never go downtown.
More Chicago venues
The full guide to corporate events in Chicago covers neighborhoods and the show calendar.
Corporate events in Chicago
What a Chicago booking includes
One booking covers the booth, the person who runs it and the show paperwork, so you have one contact through move-in and move-out.
- Travel from one of our two bases. Orlando, where our office and warehouse are at 310 N Orange Ave, or Los Angeles, whichever suits your dates.
- An operator all day. At a busy show the line builds in minutes. Our operator runs each session so your booth staff keep talking to buyers.
- Your branding. Logo frame, welcome screen and AI looks in your campaign style.
- Prints and phone copies. Visitors keep a print and get the file before they reach the next aisle.
- More from one crew. Add AV rental in Chicago for screens and sound, a racing simulator or VR, and the same team runs them. For a group flying into O'Hare, see destination management in Chicago.
Photo booth rental in Chicago: what moves the quote
- The booth format, or both formats at one event.
- The hours and the number of show days.
- Dock and freight handling through your show contractor, plus any power and internet orders.
- Winter setup from December to February, when loading takes longer.
- Prints, custom looks and sign-up fields.
- The trip from one of our two bases.
You'll have one total for your Chicago date before you commit, sent within minutes of your request.
There's no package price. These items shape your quote:
Read how we quote to see what we need from you.
How a Chicago booking runs
Every step matches a Chicago deadline: the exhibitor manual, the COI names or a permit.
McCormick Place rules that touch a photo booth
Chicago's convention rules are strict but published, so we plan around them before the truck leaves.
- Exhibitor rights stay with your staff. Under the McCormick Place Exhibitor Bill of Rights, your full-time employees may set up a booth of any size with their own tools and plug in their own electronics. Those rights can't be passed to a contractor, so we agree with your show contractor how our booth comes in and who connects it.
- No lifting equipment. Exhibitors may not use forklifts, pallet jacks, scissor lifts or motorized dollies. Heavy cases come through the dock with the freight contractor.
- Small loads. The ASUV program lets you unload a car or small van at set docks with a non-motorized hand truck.
- Fabric and boxes. Fabric backdrops must meet NFPA 701, only one day of materials may stay in the booth, and empty cases can't sit behind it. We plan where the empty cases go before move-in.
- COI names. McCormick Place wants the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and the Chicago Park District named as additional insured.
- Outdoor events. A booth on a street or plaza needs a DCASE special event permit, filed 21 to 180 days ahead, with review of up to 35 business days.
Questions about photo booths in Chicago
Who can set up the booth inside our McCormick Place stand?
Your full-time staff have that right under the Exhibitor Bill of Rights, but it doesn't pass to contractors. We confirm with your show contractor how our operator assembles the booth and who connects power.
Is the booth's backdrop allowed under Chicago fire rules?
Fabric in a McCormick Place booth must meet NFPA 701. We check our backdrop against that rule before the show, and your own certified backdrop works too.
Can you load in during a Chicago winter?
Yes. January averages about 25°F at O'Hare. The booth travels in cases and stays packed until it's inside, and we use covered docks where the venue has them.
Can we put a photo booth outdoors in summer?
From June through September, yes. July highs average about 84°F. Grant Park is busy then: Lollapalooza brings about 400,000 people over four days each July, and the Chicago Marathon starts and finishes there in October, with 52,062 finishers in 2024. Check your date against both before you book a downtown plaza.
When do holiday parties fill up in Chicago?
From mid-November. Christkindlmarket opens at Daley Plaza the Friday before Thanksgiving and runs to Christmas Eve, with more than 1 million visitors, and Loop offices plan parties around it. Send your date by early fall.
Can the booth run all four days of the Restaurant Show?
Yes. The same operator stays for every show day and resets the booth each morning. At FinovateFall in New York, we ran the racing simulator for i2c for three show days, and the booth staff saved about 51 external contacts. For a food brand in May, a sign-up step before the photo does the same job.
Lock in your Chicago date
Send the date, the venue and your booth number. We'll check availability and the show rules right away.
Tell us about your Chicago event
Send the event type, date, venue or neighborhood, guest count and budget. For a show, add the building, level and booth number. Or call +1 213 912 1010
