Hidden Hills Club | August 31, 2026

Behind the Booth: Hidden Hills Club Takes Champs Vegas 2026

Every summer, the biggest names in cannabis pack into Las Vegas for Champs Trade Show, and every summer, Hidden Hills Club shows up to prove why we're still one of the names worth talking about.

This year marked our fourth year at Champs, and by every account from the people who lived it, it was different. Smaller show, bigger results. Same booth location, new energy. A soft launch we'd been building toward for months, finally out in the world in front of the people who matter most. Here's what it actually took to pull off one of the best trade shows in Hidden Hills Club history, straight from our Marketing Director, Giselle, and our CEO, D.

Four Years In, and It Still Felt New

"This Champs felt different than the other years prior," Giselle said, looking back on the lead-up. The team had spent the last couple of months curating and perfecting new products, some of them things Hidden Hills Club had never done before, some of them still rare in the market, all while getting ready to soft launch in Vegas.
 
D put a finer point on just how unusual this year was. Champs Trade Shows actually cut the show floor down by more than half this year. Fewer booths, fewer brands, a noticeably quieter floor than in years past. And yet, D said, "surprisingly, this was probably one of our best-performing trade shows we've ever done year to date."
 
That's not a small claim. While plenty of brands have been struggling or phasing out entirely as the industry deals with tightening legislation and a tougher economy, Hidden Hills Club walked away from a smaller Champs with one of its strongest showings ever. "That just shows how strong our brand awareness and brand presence are in the community and in the industry," D said.

Getting the Booth Show-Ready

None of that happens without weeks of unglamorous prep. Giselle described a stretch of one to two weeks that was nothing but banging out projects back to back: marketing assets, one-sheets, flyers, product placements, and getting everything shipped out to Vegas in time.
 
The team showed up the day before doors opened just to put on the finishing touches. Dorothy, who leads the booth design and doubles as the event's coordinator, primes the entire build well before anyone else touches down, so by the time the rest of the team arrives, it's mostly assembly and final setup.
 
This year's booth also got a refresh. D scaled the footprint down to a 10-by-20 but rebuilt the layout as an open floor plan, something he said gave a much better flow for customers and salespeople to actually talk and do business, rather than funneling everyone through a cramped counter.
 
As for where that booth sits on the floor: Hidden Hills Club has held the same spot for the past several years, tucked back near the common area where the bars and lounges are. "I find that this is one of the best locations at the trade show, prime real estate," D said. "Champs always gives it to us." It's the kind of placement that keeps the booth in the flow of foot traffic all weekend, with longtime partner brands set up right alongside for the same reason.

The Soft Launch: Mini Mart Seltzers Make Their Debut

The headline product moment of Champs 2026 was the first-ever public debut of Hidden Hills Club Mini Mart Seltzers, five new THC-infused, canned flavors that the team had spent months developing. This was the first time Hidden Hills Club had ever done a seltzer, and the reaction on the floor said it all.
 
"Everybody's loving them," Giselle said. "They're loving the packaging, they're loving the flavor, they're loving everything." The lineup on display at the booth included Watermelon Slushie, Cherry Limeade, Blue Razz Lemonade, and Pomelo Punch, alongside Mango Pineapple, each one carrying 60 mg of hemp-derived Delta-9 THC, powered by Premium Nano D9™.
 
"It's cool to see really just the ideal end result come to life," Giselle added, "and knowing that everybody had a part in making that product come to life."

By the Numbers

Sales weren't just strong on paper. The team closed both new clients and returning customers, and picked up new wholesale accounts alongside the fresh sales orders, a milestone the whole team felt directly by the end of the weekend.

The Official Afterparty at Encore Beach Club

Hidden Hills Club has a tradition: the official Champs afterparty always lands on day one, setting the tone for the entire week ahead. This year's party at Encore Beach Club was, by D's account, the largest one the club has ever thrown: 40-plus tables booked and roughly 1,500 people through the doors.
 
"No one's not included," D said of the guest list. Over 20 to 30 different brands showed up to celebrate together, alongside day-one supporters, longtime business partners, and people the team has come to consider family. Johnny Dang flew in from Texas with his team, and the whole Hidden Hills crew was there to close out the night with him.
 
"It doesn't always come from that setting explicitly," Giselle said of the celebration, "but I think it's fun to do, especially in the name of Vegas. We're in Vegas, why not?"

Private Dinners and Familiar Faces

Beyond the big public party, Hidden Hills Club keeps a quieter tradition going too: private dinners with the people closest to the business. This year that meant a private room and a long table at a restaurant inside The Durango with some of the club's biggest clients, and a separate private dinner with manufacturer partners and Johnny Dang at Mott 32.
 
"In terms of a more intimate setting, we like to do private dinners, private rooms and events with either our manufacturers or our biggest clients," D said. "That's typically what we do."

What We'd Do Differently

Not everything gets wrapped in a bow, and D was candid about it. Looking back, he pointed to a handful of things the team can tighten up for next time: better coordination and more uniformity across the sales team, earlier call times, and more sleep instead of partying too hard before the next day's work.
 
On the content side, he was just as direct: faster editing, more time allocated up front, more skits prepped in advance, and a better shot list going in. "Those are some of my takeaways from this event," he said.

Why We Do This

Ask either of them what actually moves the needle at a trade show, and the answer isn't the booth size or the sales numbers. It's the relationships. "Year after year, the overwhelming one is just relationship building and seeing each other face to face," Giselle said. Dinners, handshakes, showing up for each other in person, she added: "there's still a lot of power in shaking each other's hands, building our relationships, and just establishing that trust."
 
That's the reason blogs like this one exist in the first place. Most people see Hidden Hills Club as a cannabis brand, or a lifestyle apparel line. They don't see the weeks of prep, the one-sheets, the booth builds, or the team pushing through exhaustion to show up for the people who support the club. "We want to be able to show people what we do," Giselle said. "We want to make sure that everyone feels like a part of the shield."
 
By the time the team packed up and headed home, the fatigue had caught up with everyone, but so had the pride. "Everyone said this was going to be the worst trade show," D said. "This ended up being one of our best ones in the history of Hidden Hills." He was proud of the team first, and ready to get back to work second. "Once you become complacent, that's when you fall off. Here, with Hidden Hills, we're always striving for more."

Celebrate With Us: Try Mini Mart Seltzers

Champs 2026 is over, but the products we debuted on that floor aren't going anywhere. Mini Mart Seltzers are now available in five flavors, each one carrying 60 mg of hemp-derived Delta-9 THC and built for exactly the kind of good times we just described.
 
Hidden Hills Club. Welcome to the Club.

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