ExhibitPower wasn't designed by software engineers guessing at workflows from their laptops. It was built by an operator who watched his own team struggle — then spent nearly three decades fixing it.
Craig Koopersmith founded Sabre Technologies, the parent company that would eventually give birth to everything that followed. For its first years, Sabre operated as a B2B marketing services firm — primarily serving oil and gas clients — while building custom trade show exhibits along the way.
In June 2000, Sabre acquired Total Solutions Marketing and rebranded it as Skyline Displays of Houston — entering the exhibit industry as a full-scale dealership. The business grew steadily, and with it came a level of operational complexity that standard, off-the-shelf software simply wasn't built to handle.
As the industry began adopting early digital management platforms, our team pushed for a solution that could truly keep up with our pace. We evaluated the available market tools and found a gap: we didn't just need a database; we needed a game-changer built by people who understood the chaos of the warehouse and the pressure of the show floor. Realizing that the perfect tool didn't exist yet, we asked the question that changed everything: "Why not build it ourselves?"
With minimal cash and an eager young developer, ExhibitPower version one (EP1) went live. It was, by Craig's own admission, rough around the edges. But the 50% that worked was a massive leap forward from spreadsheets and sticky notes. Training time for new Asset Management Coordinators dropped from two years to just 90 days. For the first time, users were smiling at their screens. Craig was hooked.
Craig began designing EP2 by sketching workflows on whiteboards during late nights in his home office. He watched his own coordinators wrestle with rigid software, devising elaborate workarounds just to track a simple shipment. "Why doesn't it just..." they'd start, then trail off in frustration. EP2 was built to answer that question, addressing real pain points under deadline pressure. Released in 2012, it was a major step toward a truly integrated system.
Craig spent 10 days in isolation designing EP4, merging the hard-won lessons of the previous versions into one platform. He saw a bigger vision: an industry built on collaboration but operating in silos, with Project Managers performing endless duplicative work. What if all that collective knowledge lived in one shared system? EP4 launched in 2017 to solve exactly that.
When Innovative Environments (IE) was founded to handle custom manufacturing and high-end interiors, the trade-show-centric EP had to evolve. Autumn Thompson, IE's superstar Multifamily Design Consultant, captured the struggle perfectly: "It's a round peg in a square hole." The feedback was taken to heart; the software needed to become even more flexible.
The investment level increased significantly — a larger development budget, an upgraded team, and a mandate to build a platform the entire industry could run on. EP5 launched in 2024. That same year, Steve Smith joined as Integrator. After a three-hour walkthrough of 40+ integrated modules in Craig’s "command center," Steve realized the difference: "This isn't software forcing people to work differently. It's software that works the way people actually work."
ExhibitPower AI launched in March 2026. It represents nearly three decades of experience, 60+ integrated modules, and millions of dollars in investment. This isn't software built on guesswork; it’s a platform built by a team that still runs their own companies on it every single day.
Every version of ExhibitPower was tested where it counts — inside live, operating companies with real deadlines, real clients, and real consequences.
Craig watched his own coordinators wrestling with off-the-shelf systems, devising elaborate workarounds just to track a simple shipment. "Why doesn't it just..." they'd start, then trail off in frustration. He grasped something the software industry missed: software should be designed by the people actually using it, not by engineers guessing at workflows from their laptops.
He also saw a bigger opportunity. Thousands of Project Managers across the industry were doing the same duplicative work — entering the same show data, the same venue details, the same vendor contacts, over and over. The industry depended on collaboration but operated in strict silos, each with its own system walled off from the others.
What if all that collective trade show knowledge lived in one system? Not just one company's data — but shared intelligence across the entire network? That vision has been the north star of every ExhibitPower version since.
Every feature traces back to a real workflow problem watched firsthand. No theoretical features — only tools shaped by watching real people hit real walls.
Vendor ratings, show knowledge, and industry benchmarks aggregated across the network — because what one company learns shouldn't stay a secret from everyone else.
EP works best when every employee uses every module every day. That's not a sales line — it's how the system was architected, and how the companies that built it actually run.
The full operating system for exhibit houses. 60+ modules covering every function from first lead to final invoice — sales, production, inventory, rentals, purchasing, quality, finance, HR, and reporting.
$1K–$15K/mo883+ rated exhibit vendors across 28 categories — I&D labor, AV, flooring, cleaning, logistics, and more — searchable by city, rating, and specialty. Built from 20 years of IE's own vendor relationships. Always free.
Always FreeAI-powered marketing automation and real-time lead capture for exhibitors. Pre-show campaigns, mobile lead capture with voice-to-intelligence, automated follow-up, and ROI tracking — all in one workflow.
Per Show or SubscriptionRequest a demo and we'll walk you through the platform that's been refined across six major versions, three decades, and two operating companies — now available to yours.
Tell us what you need and we'll show you exactly how ExhibitPower AI fits.