Shipping to a Hotel or Conference Center: What Changes Without a Decorator

Shipping to a trade show has a built-in safety net. The show has a decorator, the general service contractor that runs the floor, plus an advance warehouse and a crew on the dock whose job is to receive your freight and deliver it to your booth. Shipping to a company meeting at a hotel or conference center has none of that. There's no decorator to hand it to, so the venue coordination lands on you.

Here's how to get your materials into a hotel ballroom or conference center meeting room without surprises.

What's different about hotels and conference centers

• Nobody is assigned to receive your freight. The front desk, the banquet team, the AV team and the loading dock may each assume someone else is handling it.
• Docks are small or missing. Many hotels have a single shared dock built for food deliveries, or no dock at all.
• Delivery windows are narrow. A busy hotel may only accept freight at certain times, and storage before your event may be limited or come with a charge.
• The room may be far from the door. Your meeting could be three floors up and down a corridor from where the truck parks.

Questions to ask the venue before you ship

1. Who signs for the delivery? Get a name and a department, not just "the hotel."
2. Is there a loading dock? If not, the truck will need a liftgate to get pallets to the ground.
3. When will they accept freight? Ask for the earliest date and the hours, and whether there's a charge to hold it before your event.
4. Will the driver bring it inside? If your materials need to go past the dock or into the meeting room, you may need inside delivery.
5. Is there a specific time it has to arrive? If the venue can only take freight in a set window, book a timed delivery.
6. How does it get back out? Confirm the pickup time and where the boxes should be staged after the meeting ends.

Planning the trip home is just as important. See The Return Shipment Nobody Plans (and How to Plan It).

Book the extras before the truck shows up

A liftgate, inside delivery or a timed window is easy to arrange ahead of time. Discovering you need one when the driver arrives usually means a failed delivery, a second attempt and a phone call to the person running the meeting.

How NorthStar handles it

Because hotels and conference centers usually have no decorator to receive freight, your NorthStar Shipping Coach confirms the delivery details with you and the venue in advance, and arranges a liftgate, inside delivery or a timed window when it's needed. We can deliver to the meeting room and unpack, and your coach arranges the return ahead of time. We work back from your event's deadlines and tell you what has to happen and when, before any of it is urgent.

You can read more about how we work with corporate meeting planners.

Have a meeting coming up? Request a quote, or reach a Shipping Coach at 703-532-0520 or shippingcoach@northstarexpress.com.

About the author
Rex Houlihan is the CEO of NorthStar Express, a trade show and event shipping company in Falls Church, Virginia that has been shipping to events for 35 years. Rex also created Coast2Coast4ALS, a cross-country bike ride raising awareness and funds for the ALS community. Connect with Rex on LinkedIn.