Are you ready to attend the premier trade show for everyone who makes a living in crafts? Be prepared to hit the ground running—h+h americas is a massive show, with multiple opportunities for networking, education, shopping, business strategy, and socializing. It helps to come prepared to avoid the inevitable overwhelm of having everything from the crafts industry at your fingertips. We have several pre- and post-show tips to help you make the most of your h+h americas experience. Let’s get started!

It’s important to set your KPIs (key performance indicators) before the show. What do you want to get out of attending h+h americas? Your goals could be to:

• Capture new business leads
• Scout and build potential partnerships
• Promote or launch a new product or service
• Increase brand awareness
• Learn new strategies for marketing or strengthening your brand or business

Being very clear about your goals for h+h americas will make it easier to plan ahead and maximize your time at the show. 

Make a roadmap for exhibitors you want to visit and connect with on the show floor. There are 609 companies from 25 nations occupying over 90,557 square feet at h+h americas! Who do you want to connect with? This could be craft educators, influencers, and retail businesses. Consider the gaps in your store and your customer’s pain points, then hit the floor with intention!

If you have a team with you, split up the visits so you can hit everything you want to hit. If you don’t have a team with you, it’s especially important to map out an intentional path for yourself. That map should look different for each day you’re at the show to ensure the fullest coverage possible.

Is your craft business considering incorporating clubs and rewards into your service offerings? Maybe you’re curious about how you can use AI to streamline workflows? h+h americas has classes for that!* 

Think about your current pain points and areas in which you want your business to grow and improve, but aren’t sure where to start. Then, check out the h+h americas class offerings, including h+h University. It’s not too late to register for classes, and they aren’t just a place for education—they’re also fantastic for making new connections and networking with your fellow craft retailers!

*Promotions & Clubs & Sales, Oh My: Sales Beyond the Shelf with Patty Lyons and Integrating AI into the Fabric of Your Business with Alanna Wilcox

You’re coming to the show to network and grow your craft retail business. What do you have to offer the community? Outline your unique services and products in a one-sheet handout that you can distribute every time you connect with someone new.

This handout should include your contact information and details about you, your business and the services you offer:

• Educators – classes, prices, skills taught, availability
• Designers – designs (include graphic), wholesale prices, where to buy
• Influencers – content offerings, prices, channel details, general stats (followers, engagement levels, etc) 
• Manufacturers – popular products, prices

To truly power up your one-sheet, create a QR code and a landing page that details the information in the handout and display it prominently on the one-sheet. Assume that there will be many handouts at the show, and that many of them will wind up in the hotel room bin at the end of the show. Make it easy for your new contact to scan the QR code and save your information digitally. If possible, include registration information on your landing page so they can sign up to learn more—and create a welcome email that has all of the information in the one-sheet! 

The h+h americas app is your best tool for collecting leads. Find the exhibitors and contacts you’ve met and want to follow up with and add them to your Favorites (see below). This will make it much easier when you need to sort and score new contacts (as outlined below in “Post Show”). 

In the hours during and after h+h americas, social media is hopping with posts about the show. People who are curious about attending h+h americas (and likely experiencing FOMO!) and people who are attending h+h americas are part of the scroll, looking for exciting content and new accounts to follow. 

Both during and after the show is a great time to post your h+h americas content. Share photos and videos, create a Highlight on Instagram, repost fun content to your Stories and feed. Use social media as a tool for discovery and to drive more attention to your business and brand. It is an excellent time to ride the wave!

Networking is an important aspect of attending h+h americas. However, not all leads are created equal. Take time to sort through your new contacts and give each one a score:

• Hot – These leads are ready to engage with you right now—congratulations! Whether it’s purchasing your products or hiring you as an educator or an influencer, put these leads at the top of your list for next steps.
• Warm – These leads will likely require some additional contact to be ready to engage with you. Have a sequence in place to touch base with and educate these leads with more information.
• Cold – These leads require the most nurturing, and likely the most time to create a strong foundation for working together. As with warm leads, have a sequence in place to start connecting with and nurturing these leads. 

It’s also important to sort your new contacts. Create categories for types of contacts (educators, influencers, manufacturers, retail businesses, designers, etc) so it’s easy to refer to each when it’s time to…

h+h americas is a big, expansive show with so much to see and do—and it can be quite overwhelming. You’re meeting a lot of people in a compressed amount of time, and it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle. 

Reach out to your new contacts within the first 24-48 hours of meeting. This means reaching out pretty soon after meeting, maybe as you’re settling in for the night at your hotel. Research shows that the faster you follow up, the higher your conversion rate. Don’t wait so long that they forget about you!

Don’t send out a mass email to all your new contacts. It’s okay to create a template that you re-use for each contact, but make sure to include something unique to distinguish the message so it doesn’t feel generic. A simple line or two (“I really loved your Stars & Stripes Quilt pattern!”, “I’m so intrigued by your class on editing for YouTube Shorts” etc) shows that you paid attention when you met. Personalize the subject line as well to really make it stand out in their inbox. Here are some tips to make your message effective:

• Mention the class, product, service, or offering that really caught your attention
• Follow up with any discussed topics—this could be pricing and/or product details, class offerings, designs, information about your business
• Outline next steps to deepen the connection (a follow-up call, consultation, etc)

If you attended h+h americas this year and realized you’re ready to exhibit at the next show, we have great news for you: exhibitor applications are open for h+h americas Fall 2026 and h+h americas 2027!

Take your learnings from the show and join us for our next adventure to continue building up your craft business and deepen connections you made this spring:

h+h americas Fall 

NRG Center, Houston, TX

Wednesday, Sept. 30 – Friday, October 2, 2026

h+h americas 2027

Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL

Tuesday, May 4 – Friday, May 7, 2027

h+h cologne 

Cologne, Germany

Friday, April 2 – Sunday, April 4, 2027

Fiber+Fabric Craft Festival

Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL

Thursday, April 29 – Sunday, May 2