Vendor Participation Policy

Import Crate — Event Participation Standards

Introduction

Import Crate participates in a limited number of car shows and meets each year.
Our decisions are based on long-term experience vending at events nationwide and a clear understanding of what makes an event worth supporting — not just for us, but for the brands, vendors, and attendees involved.

We receive frequent requests to vendor or sponsor events. This page outlines how we decide which events we participate in and why we are selective.

How We Evaluate Events

Over time, we’ve learned that surface-level signals — social media engagement, follower count, or promotional hype — are unreliable indicators of real turnout or spending behavior.

Instead, we look for early operational signals that indicate whether an event is being run with structure, stability, and intention.

We prioritize events that demonstrate:

• Stable, centralized information
  Event details should live in one place and remain consistent. Frequent last-minute changes, disappearing stories, or scattered flyers are strong indicators of operational risk.
• Clear logistics without DM’ing
  We should not need to send direct messages to obtain basic information such as date, venue, setup details, or vendor context. If core details require private messages, the event is typically not far enough along for us to commit.
• Follow-through from organizers
  Events that are updated, maintained, and communicated consistently tend to reflect stronger planning and accountability.
• Audience fit
  As a lifestyle-focused brand, we evaluate whether an event’s audience aligns with how our products are actually purchased — not just attendance size, but intent and spending behavior.

Why We Don’t Rely on Vendor Requests

We rarely decide to participate in events based on outbound requests alone.

In our experience, events that are well-organized and well-positioned do not need to chase vendors aggressively. They tend to surface naturally through our own tracking and evaluation process.

When organizers reach out before an event has stable information, a clear reference point, or finalized logistics, it often signals that the event is still forming — or under pressure to fill gaps. In those cases, we typically pass.

How We Track and Evaluate Events

We don’t evaluate events after the fact. We evaluate before committing time, inventory, and staff.

Our process focuses on signals such as:

• whether attention converges to a single reference point
• whether information is being used instead of repeatedly re-explained
• whether details remain stable over time
• whether the event can be evaluated without guessing

To support this, we use CrateOnScene as our internal reference layer — a place where event information lives, stays visible, and can be reviewed without relying on promises or DMs.

CrateOnScene is not about promotion. It exists so events can be evaluated clearly and consistently.

What This Means for Organizers

We are always open to strong, well-run events.

However, we do not:

• commit based on social media engagement alone
• chase events to participate
• negotiate participation without clear, centralized information

Events that are structured, stable, and easy to evaluate naturally rise to the top.

Closing

This page is not a checklist or a submission form. It reflects how we operate as a vendor that invests real time and resources into events.

If an event aligns with our standards, it will already be on our radar — and having it clearly listed and structured makes that process significantly easier.