What is Flyover Con?
Flyover Con is a hands-on conference built for screen printers, embroiderers, and decorators who want practical learning, real conversations, and a stronger sense of community.
Hosted inside a working print and embroidery shop in Polk City, Iowa, Flyover Con brings together shop owners, managers, and decorators to learn from people who are actively doing the work every day. Sessions focus on real-world challenges and solutions – what actually works on the shop floor and in the office.
Flyover Con is intentionally different from traditional industry events. There are no vendor booths and no sales-driven presentations. Instead, the event is built around education, transparency, and connection. Attendees are encouraged to ask questions, walk the production floor, and engage directly with speakers and fellow decorators.
The name reflects a belief that great work is happening everywhere, not just in major markets. The Midwest is full of skilled, hardworking shops doing innovative things, and Flyover Con exists to highlight that work while welcoming decorators from across the country.
"The term ‘flyover’ often describes the Midwest as something to be passed over. For us, it represents the opposite."
Why decorators keep coming back.
You leave with something real.
Every session is built around practical, shop-floor challenges – pricing, webstores, workflows, hiring, data. Not theory. Things you can act on Monday morning.
The hands-on learning and transparency of the entire P&M Apparel team. Lynn – House of Brands
No gatekeeping. No sales pitch.
Speakers share what actually works – including what didn’t. There are no vendor booths, no sponsored talking points, and no one holding back the good stuff.
Don’t change the vibe. Not feeling like I was being sold to was a big deal to me. Karen – Get GAPD
It happens on a real shop floor.
Not a convention center. Not a hotel ballroom. The presses run during sessions. You can walk the floor, ask the crew anything, and see a working shop in motion.
The connections are the point.
Small enough that you actually talk to people. Speakers stick around for coffee, lunch, and happy hour. Most attendees leave with contacts they’ll actually use.
You made each and every one of us feel like family. Angela – America’s Best Apparel
It’s built for shops like yours.
Small shop, large shop, one-person operation – it doesn’t matter. Nobody here is too big to share or too small to belong. The Midwest has always worked that way.
