How to Plan a Tradeshow Activation in 6 Weeks

The single biggest mistake we see is teams calling us four weeks out, expecting that to be enough lead time. It isn't — for premium patches, leather goods, or live embroidery, the supply chain on blanks and patches itself runs three weeks. We can pull off a heroic seven-day execution if the brand has artwork locked and is willing to use whatever blanks are in our warehouse, but six weeks is the comfortable baseline.

Here's the timeline we walk our clients through:

**Week 6 — Brief and lock.** Guest count, event date, city, venue, booth footprint, hat styles you want, patch artwork status. We send back a quote and a production calendar. This is also when we lock the crew assignment.

**Week 5 — Artwork prep.** Patch designs finalized, blank colors confirmed, mock-ups sent. If embroidery is involved, the digitizer starts work this week.

**Week 4 — Sample production.** First-run patches and sample-pressed hats produced. We send physical samples to the client for approval. Embroidered samples go through a stitch test.

**Week 3 — Bulk production.** Once samples are approved, the full patch run goes to production and blanks are pulled and sorted.

**Week 2 — Pack and label.** Equipment crated, blanks counted into color/style bins, patches counted into bags, redundant gear added. Crew briefed on the booth flow.

**Week 1 — Ship or drive.** Equipment leaves our HQ. Crew flies or drives in 24–48 hours before doors open. Setup day is always at least a full day before guests arrive.

If you're inside six weeks today and just learned about this format, call us. We can usually still pull it off — but the menu shrinks and rush fees apply.