It takes a lot of planning and a lot of effort to pack up a booth and bring it to Las Vegas for The PPAI Expo. It’s an exhausting experience for any exhibitor, but it’s one that many do year after year because it tends to be worth it. Those few days on the trade floor can set expectations and launch business for the entire calendar year for many suppliers.
Walking the floor on Wednesday, PPAI Media did a temperature check with exhibitors, mostly witnessing and hopefully not pulling anyone away from interested distributors for more than a moment or two, in order to find out how The PPAI Expo 2026 was going and get some instant reactions.
First-Timers Experience Promo’s Friendliness
Island Time Sports was exhibiting for the first time, having only recently entered the promo space. What surprised owner Kyle McGetrick wasn’t just the foot traffic and interested distributors, it was the friendly promo veterans happy to share advice and experience. To the distributors, another potentially successful supplier means an even healthier promo industry.
“It’s been impressive,” McGetrick says. “We’ve been in business since 2010, but this is the first time we’ve dipped our toe in promotional products. It’s a completely different way of selling. It’s a learning experience. Everyone here has been really friendly, giving us tons of information. We’re learning quickly. We love the level of engagement.”
Kyle McGetrick
Owner, Island Time Sports
Distributors Reporting A Bounce Back
David Berger, owner of Global Promo, said that the first day the trade floor opened was exceptionally strong and that booth placement has always been an important part of the strategic preparation. A trend he is cautiously optimistic about is hearing of distributors’ emergence out of a tough 2025 and what that could mean going forward.
“2025 was an unexpectedly rough year,” Berger says. “We finished the year super strong. We would have had a great year overall if not for external factors. Uncertainty delayed decision-making in this industry. Fortunately, it feels like we have slightly overcome that obstacle. I’m hearing from many of our clients that they also experienced a good fourth quarter. Expo can and seems to be that opportunity to rekindle that momentum.”
David Berger
Owner, Global Promo
Foot Traffic Remains At An All Time High
Exhibitors don’t really have time to talk. There are distributors walking by constantly, and a few are always stopping to check out products and strike up conversation. New partnerships are always forming.
Sarah Earl of Divvyup Socks said that exhibiting at The PPAI Expo 2026 means never really having a break.
“We’re really busy at our booth pretty much all day,” Earl says. “As far as foot traffic, I would say the entire show is doing really well. Distributors love to engage. We have two booths. One [on the trade floor] and one in the lobby, and we constantly have lines for the iPads to register for free socks.”
And distributors might think they have a plan, but something always leads them in a new direction, including their nose. Midnite Snax debuted a s’mores cookie that was constantly coming out of the oven warm. According to Marc Fraum, director of business development, that led to clusters of people at precise times – a good problem to have.
Marc Fraum
Director of Business Development, Midnite Snax
“We’ve actually enjoyed how busy it’s been this year,” Fraum says. “We’ve had a lot of traffic coming through. This year we’re introducing a new bakery division, so a lot of people have gotten word about the cookies. In general, there’s been a lot of interesting conversations, which is not always something we’ve experienced in the past, so it’s a good sign for 2026.”
