Kansas City sits almost exactly in the middle of the country, which is not a small thing when you are trying to get a few thousand people into one room. Flights are short from both coasts, freight arrives fast, and the convention center is surrounded by a downtown that has spent the last fifteen years getting genuinely good. Here is what to know about badges for a Kansas City event, and where to send your attendees once the sessions wrap.
Planning an event in Kansas City
The Kansas City Convention Center anchors downtown with Bartle Hall, which offers 388,800 square feet of column-free exhibit space on a single floor, plus a 46,450 square foot Grand Ballroom and the adjacent Municipal Auditorium for general sessions with some architecture behind them. Column-free on one floor is the detail exhibitors care about, because it makes floor plans simpler and load-in faster.
One thing that trips up first-time planners: Kansas City spans two states. Convention and trade show business is almost entirely on the Missouri side, where the convention center, the hotel blocks, and the entertainment districts are. The Kansas side handles a different kind of event, with Kansas Speedway, Children's Mercy Park, and the Legends district out in Wyandotte County, plus the Overland Park Convention Center in Johnson County for regional and consumer shows. If your RFP just says "Kansas City," confirm which side before anyone books a hotel.
Spring and fall are the strong seasons. Summer gets hot and humid with a real thunderstorm season attached, and winter can swing thirty degrees in a day. The city's agriculture, animal health, engineering, and association business runs steadily year round.
A quick word on Kansas City: This is a city with more fountains than anywhere outside Rome, a jazz history that produced Charlie Parker, and an argument about barbecue that will never be settled and should never be settled. It is also unpretentious in a way that puts attendees at ease. Give people one free evening and a restaurant recommendation, and they will handle the rest themselves.
Choosing badges for a Kansas City event
Kansas City weather does not commit. A spring conference can hand you a seventy-degree afternoon and a thunderstorm before dinner, and summer brings the kind of humidity that follows people indoors. Attendees walking between downtown hotels, the convention center, and the Power & Light District will be in and out of it all day, which is exactly the cycle that softens uncoated paper and tears it out at the slot punch by day three.
- Multi-day conventions: 30 mil plastic handles four days of handling, re-entry scans, and humid air without degrading.
- Pre-registered conferences: 18 pt paper gives you full-color branding at the lowest cost per badge once your list is locked.
- Summer programs and rooftop receptions: Plastic, or paper in a rigid holder. Assume humidity and a surprise storm both get to the badge eventually.
- Two-state events: If your program splits between Missouri and Kansas venues, a badge that doubles as a shuttle and access credential keeps the whole thing simple.
- Staff and crew: The 2.125 x 3.375 mini reads at a glance and stays out of the way on a busy floor.
Ordering timeline
Custom badges print within 5 business days of proof approval, then ship. Custom lanyards run 10 to 12 business days after proof approval plus shipping, so lanyard artwork is the piece to finalize first. Work backward from your in-hands date rather than your show date, and confirm the convention center's receiving window before you schedule delivery.
Kansas City's central location is a quiet advantage here. Sitting near the middle of the country means ground shipping reaches it faster than most major convention cities, so a tight timeline in Kansas City has more room in it than the same timeline would on either coast.
Things to do in Kansas City
Start with the thing nobody expects. The National WWI Museum and Memorial is the only one of its kind in the country, it sits on a hill just south of downtown, and the elevator to the top of the tower gives you the best view in the city. It is a short walk from Union Station, which is worth seeing on its own.
The KC Streetcar is free and runs from the River Market through downtown to Union Station and the Crossroads Arts District, which makes it the easiest thing you can hand an attendee with two spare hours. The Crossroads fills up on First Fridays when the galleries open late. Over at 18th & Vine, the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum share a building and both deserve real time. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is free, has the giant shuttlecocks on the lawn, and is one of the better collections in the middle of the country. Country Club Plaza covers shopping and dinner under Spanish-revival architecture and a lot of fountains.
Then there is barbecue, which is not a side trip here, it is the point. Arthur Bryant's near 18th & Vine is the historic one. Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que operates out of a working gas station on the Kansas side and has the line to prove it. Gates, Q39, and Jack Stack all have devoted partisans. Tell your attendees to try two and pick a side, because everyone here already has one. The Power & Light District next to the convention center handles group dinners and after-hours without a cab, and Boulevard Brewing runs tours in the Westside.
Give your Kansas City attendees a badge that holds up through whatever the weather does, and a city that is a whole lot more interesting than they were expecting.
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FAQs: Event Badges & Things to Do in Kansas City, MO
Where can I get custom event badges in Kansas City, MO?
Billy's Badges prints and ships custom paper and plastic event badges throughout the Kansas City metro on both the Missouri and Kansas sides. Orders print within 5 business days of proof approval and ship to your venue, hotel, or the convention center's receiving dock.
Are most Kansas City conventions in Missouri or Kansas?
Missouri, by a wide margin. The Kansas City Convention Center, Bartle Hall, Municipal Auditorium, and nearly all of the downtown hotel inventory are on the Missouri side. The Kansas side hosts a different mix, including Kansas Speedway, Children's Mercy Park, and the Legends district in Wyandotte County, plus the Overland Park Convention Center in Johnson County for regional and consumer shows.
How far in advance should I order badges for a Kansas City conference?
Give yourself at least two weeks before your in-hands date for badges alone. If custom lanyards are part of the order, make it three to four weeks, since lanyards take 10 to 12 business days after proof approval plus shipping. Kansas City's central location does work in your favor, since ground shipping reaches the metro faster than it reaches either coast.
What badge material works best for a Kansas City event?
30 mil plastic for anything running more than a day, especially in summer. Kansas City humidity and the constant move between air conditioning and outdoor heat soften uncoated paper and warp it at the slot punch. Paper works well for shorter spring and fall conferences, particularly in a rigid badge holder.
What is there to do near the Kansas City Convention Center?
The Power & Light District is immediately adjacent for restaurants and nightlife, and the free KC Streetcar runs from the River Market through downtown to Union Station and the Crossroads Arts District. The National WWI Museum and Memorial sits just south with the best view in the city, and 18th & Vine, home to the American Jazz Museum and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, is a short ride east.
Where should attendees eat in Kansas City?
Barbecue, and the choice is the fun part. Arthur Bryant's near 18th & Vine is the historic pick, Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que runs out of a gas station on the Kansas side, and Gates, Q39, and Jack Stack all have loyal followings. Beyond that, the Power & Light District handles group dinners within walking distance of the convention center, and Country Club Plaza covers a nicer evening out.