Made by@eventcrewBooth and swag checklist
@eventcrew/booth-and-swag-checklist
Plan a trade show booth backwards from the show date: a dated checklist from eight weeks out to teardown, swag quantities sized to the real crowd, a packing list, and the vendor deadlines people forget (advance warehouse, electrical, lead scanners).
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- 1---
- 2name: booth-and-swag-checklist
- 3description: Build a dated checklist for exhibiting at a conference or trade show, working backwards from the show date, plus swag quantities sized to expected booth traffic, a packing list, and every vendor deadline (exhibitor manual, advance warehouse, electrical, internet, lead retrieval). Use when the user says "we got a booth at", "trade show checklist", "how much swag should we order?", "what do we need to ship for the conference?", or "booth prep".
- 4license: MIT
- 5---
- 7# Booth and swag checklist
- 9Most booth disasters are deadline disasters: the advance warehouse window closed, electrical was ordered at the on-site rate, the shirts arrived the day after. This kit plans backwards from the show so every deadline lands on a date with an owner.
- 11## When to use
- 13- Right after booking a booth. The earlier, the cheaper (show services often cost 30 to 50 percent more after their early deadline).
- 14- "How much swag do we need?", "what goes in the booth crate?", "make our trade show checklist".
- 15- For a one-night customer dinner or a webinar, use `event-run-of-show` instead.
- 17## Inputs
- 19Ask once, with defaults in brackets:
- 211. **Show:** name, city, show dates, setup (move-in) and teardown (move-out) times.
- 222. **Booth:** size (10x10, 10x20, island), what is included (carpet, table, power), and whether you have an existing booth kit or are renting.
- 233. **Attendance:** total attendees, and how many are your audience (ask: "of 3,000 attendees, how many would you want to talk to?").
- 244. **Goals:** leads, meetings booked, or brand awareness. This decides swag strategy.
- 255. **Team:** how many people staff the booth, per shift.
- 266. **Exhibitor manual deadlines**, if they have the manual. If not, use the defaults below and mark them "confirm in the manual".
- 28Save to `events/<show-slug>/booth-checklist.md`.
- 30## Steps
- 321. **Set the anchors:** show open date, move-in date, and the advance warehouse window (default: receiving opens 30 days before and closes 5 business days before move-in). Shipments must arrive in that window or go direct to the show site on move-in day, at a higher handling cost.
- 332. **Back-schedule the checklist** in these blocks, each item with a date and an owner:
- 34 - **8 weeks:** read the exhibitor manual, book hotel block, order booth graphics, decide swag, request lead retrieval app.
- 35 - **6 weeks:** order swag (production plus shipping takes 3 to 4 weeks), order electrical, internet, furniture, and cleaning at the early rate.
- 36 - **4 weeks:** finalize demo plan and booth script, book staff travel, schedule pre-show outreach to target accounts.
- 37 - **2 weeks:** ship to advance warehouse, confirm all orders, print one-pagers, build the shift schedule.
- 38 - **Show week:** confirm deliveries, pack the hand-carry kit, staff briefing.
- 39 - **After:** teardown and return shipping labels ready before the show closes, upload leads within 24 hours.
- 403. **Size the swag.** Booth visitors are roughly 10 to 20 percent of total attendees for a 10x10 at a large show, 25 to 40 percent at a small focused show. Order for the expected visitors, not total attendance:
- 41 - Low-cost giveaway (stickers, pens): visitors x 1.2.
- 42 - Mid-tier (shirts, socks, bottles): qualified conversations only, about 30 to 50 percent of visitors. Shirts: sizes S 10%, M 25%, L 30%, XL 20%, 2XL 10%, 3XL 5%, unless they have their own data.
- 43 - Premium (for meetings booked): number of meetings x 1.1.
- 44 - Show the math so they can adjust.
- 454. **Write the packing list:** booth crate (backdrop, table throw, banner stand, monitor and mount, cables), hand-carry kit (power strips, extension cords, gaffer tape, zip ties, scissors, box cutter, chargers, clicker, HDMI and USB-C adapters, mints, wipes, first aid basics, printed order confirmations), and demo devices.
- 465. **List vendor deadlines** in a table with the early-rate date and the late-rate date.
- 476. **Hand off shipping.** List each box that will ship. If the user has `shipment-tracker`, offer to add the rows to `data/shipments.csv` with their needed-by dates (the advance warehouse close date, not the show date).
- 49## Output format
- 51```markdown
- 52# Booth plan: <Show>, <City>, <dates>
- 53Booth 10x20 | Move-in Mon Nov 9, 8 AM | Show Tue to Thu | Move-out Thu 4 PM
- 54Advance warehouse: receiving Oct 12 to Nov 2 (confirm in the manual)
- 56## Checklist
- 57| Due | Task | Owner | Done |
- 58| --- | --- | --- | --- |
- 59| Sep 14 | Read exhibitor manual, note every deadline | Event lead | [ ] |
- 61## Swag plan
- 62| Item | Who gets it | Math | Order |
- 63| T-shirts | Qualified conversations | 450 visitors x 40% | 180 |
- 65## Vendor deadlines
- 66| Service | Early rate by | Late rate after |
- 68## Packing list
- 69### Booth crate
- 70### Hand-carry kit
- 71```
- 73## Guardrails
- 75- Never place orders or contact vendors. Draft the order details for the user to send.
- 76- Every default deadline is marked "confirm in the manual" until the user confirms it.
- 77- Do not invent prices. If the user wants a budget, hand the line items to `event-budget-tracker`.
- 78- Keep the checklist to dates and tasks a person can tick off; no essays.