ith their maze of aisles and row upon row of carnival-style booths competing for your attention, trade shows can start to feel like a big game board, with each booth just one more stop on the board. So why not turn the trade show into a game itself?

That’s exactly what the folks at the Atlantic City Pool & Spa Show have done. And while you won’t get $200 for passing “Go,” you can win some pretty cool prizes, says Joel Caesar, Atlantic City Pool & Spa show manager and executive director of the Northeast Spa & Pool Association-National Spa & Pool Institute affiliate. Game players can win anything from personal computers to laptops to DVD players to VCRs to a host of other electronic gadgets and gizmos. “You name it in toys for boys and girls, and we’ve got ’em,” says Caesar.

All told, the show plans to give away $10,000 in prizes before the doors close — just for visiting booths.

Here’s how the game works:
Upon registration, each attendee gets a big ticket sectioned off with six different numbers that correspond to a booth number. Simply visit the booth numbers on your ticket, and get your card stamped at that booth. Then when you get all six stamped, turn the card in at the show store, where it gets placed in a barrel for a drawing at the end of the day.

As soon as you turn the card in, you win an instant prize.

In the past, instant winners have taken home coolers emblazoned with the show logo, neck wallets or show bags. This year, Caesar says instant winners can expect prizes of a “patriotic nature.”

Of course, the instant prize is just the beginning of the winnings. Because each instant winner could also become a daily winner of one of the larger prizes (computers, DVDs, etc.) given away at the end of each show day. Once your card is in the barrel, you have a chance to win a big prize over each of the show’s three-day run. About 15 big prizes will be given away each day.

Along with making the trek across the show floor a little more fun, the game is designed to encourage attendees to visit the far corners of the show, says Caesar. “This way, “ he says, “people can see more of the show.”