Live embroidery at an event? Lucas Guariglia and the team at Rowboat Creative (asi/313715) have done it. “Bringing embroidery machines to an activation for an event is great, but also completely crazy,” says Guariglia, who co-founded the Chicago-based decorator and merch agency in 2006. “Those machines are so delicate. Anything can go wrong, like the alignment’s off or thread’s breaking, and you have to worry about that. The general consumers don’t understand the concept of production, or that you’re not in the safe space of your normal production zone.”

Among the variety of services the company offers, it has gained notoriety for its “experiential branding” – live decoration services that present attendees at an event with a uniquely decorated garment (and a long-lasting positive impression). But have things changed since COVID? How does the Rowboat team keep coming up with new and creative ideas for live decoration? And what’s the best advice for getting into activations? Guariglia shares his thoughts in this latest episode of Promo Insiders.