Trade Show Printing Checklist — Shipping to the Venue, Not to Yourself
A trade show printing checklist that assumes your booth is somewhere else. What to order, when to order it, and how to ship it directly to the convention hall from a Houston printer.
Ship to the venue, not to yourself
The #1 mistake exhibitors make: shipping their trade show print materials to their hotel or office, then trying to get everything into the booth. Save yourself the hassle and ship directly to the venue's advance-freight warehouse. Every major convention center (NRG Park, GRB in Houston, McCormick Place in Chicago, Javits in NYC, Moscone in San Francisco, Mandalay Bay in Vegas) accepts advance freight starting about 30 days before the show.
How to time the ship
Advance-freight warehouses close their receiving windows 5–7 business days before the show. Miss it and you pay 3–5x more to ship directly to the show floor during move-in. Our production timeline for a full trade show print package is 3 business days from art-approval; add ground shipping (2–3 business days from Houston, TX to most US cities) and you need to place your order about 10 business days before the advance-freight cut-off.
What every trade show print order should include
- Retractable banner (33" × 81") — the foundation of any booth.
- 8ft × 10ft step-and-repeat backdrop — the branded background for photos.
- Table throw (6ft or 8ft) — 4-sided, dye-sublimated so it doesn't wrinkle.
- 500 business cards — assume you'll run out and pre-plan a reprint window.
- 100 tri-fold brochures — enough for high-quality leads without waste.
The 'day-of' reprint scenario
You've run out of business cards at 2 PM on day one of a three-day show. Order online before 11 AM CT on day two, ship overnight (via FedEx / UPS air), and the reprints land at your hotel or the venue's business center by 10:30 AM on day three. Not as good as running back to your printer, but close — and it works for any US city we ship to.
Pack a small emergency kit
One thing nobody ships you: gaff tape, zip ties, extra rubber bands for retractable banner feet. Throw a 20-piece kit into your carry-on. It's the single item that has saved every trade show booth we've ever printed for.
Kolt Printing ships from Houston, TX every business day.
Live pricing on every product. Free die templates. Same-day shipping cut-off at 11 AM Central. Trade pricing for agencies and print brokers.