Schedule
Will it arrive on schedule?
We work back from your event’s deadlines, not ours, and share with you what has to happen and when — before any of it is urgent.
Who We Serve — Associations
Your annual meeting changes hands. Your shipping doesn’t have to.
Association event team members turn over. Ours don’t. The same coach handles your annual meeting and every training and educational event in between — so the process that worked last year is still the process this year.
35 yrsshipping to annual meetings and training events
1 coachyear after year, whoever sits in your chair
Return Shippingthe return is planned with the outbound
Three questions, answered before you ask
Accountability
Will it arrive at all?
One coach owns your shipment start to finish. You always know who to call, and they already know your event.
Condition
Will it arrive in one piece?
Everything is palletized and plastic-wrapped on our end. Before that, your coach walks you through packing — proper cases rather than re-used boxes, lighter cartons labelled to ride on top, fragile pieces professionally crated.
Four things that decide how smoothly it ships
Gathering
Materials from more than one place
Programs, signage, giveaways, registration packs — each on its own timeline. We consolidate them or route them separately, depending on the runway.
Timing
Two deadlines, not one
Your deadline to be ready and our deadline to pick up aren’t the same date. The gap is where trouble starts.
Delivery
Where it actually goes
Dock, management office, decorator’s warehouse, or three meeting rooms at once. Every event is different — we clarify prior to shipping.
The return
The return, which nobody plans
We’ve arrived for fifty boxes and found zero in a room the hotel emptied the prior evening. We handle this detail with you & the venue’s convention services manager before it becomes an issue.
If any of this sounds familiar
“The person who did this last year is gone”
No handover, no notes, and the deadline hasn’t moved.
“There’s no playbook to follow”
Nothing to check yourself against, so every decision feels like a guess.
“I forgot to arrange the shipment”
The one that costs the most, and the easiest to prevent.
How it works
1
Start the conversation
Tell us what’s shipping, where it’s going and when the event is. If you don’t know all of it yet, that’s the normal starting point.
2
We ask the questions nobody asked you
About your building, the delivery venue, and the freight itself. Then your coach builds a shipping schedule around the answers — including the return.
3
It arrives, and it comes home
On the day it’s supposed to, where it’s supposed to be.
NorthStar 360
Never miss a shipping deadline again.
Share your event calendar for the year and we’ll reach out ninety days before each one.
There is no cost for NorthStar customers.
Learn about 360Your association calendarExample
Board meeting · Hotel boardroomEvent Feb 10 · coach called Nov 12
Shipping set
Regional training · Conference centerEvent Apr 14 · coach called Jan 14
Shipping set
Annual meeting · Convention hotelEvent May 19 · coach called Feb 18
Shipping set
Continuing education · Hotel meeting roomsEvent Sep 22 · coach calls Jun 24
90 days out
Frequently asked questions
How does this actually work?
Tell us what’s shipping, where it’s going and when the event is. Your coach asks about your building, the venue and the freight, then builds a shipping schedule around the answers, including the return.
What’s it going to cost?
It depends on what’s shipping, how far, and what the venue needs at each end. Request a quote and your coach will create an estimate once those details are known.
We also ship to training and educational events. Separate arrangement?
No. Continuing education, regional training and board meetings all sit under the same arrangement as the annual meeting, with one coach.
Our staff turns over. What happens to our account?
It stays put. Your coach, your shipping history and a written process remain on file, so whoever sits in your chair next can pick it up without starting over.
Start the conversation.
Email your Shipping Coach directly — shippingcoach@northstarexpress.com