Timeline for a fair abroad

1–10 days

the on-site build window at the end of the timeline

Stand types

Freight, ATA carnet, customs

three steps that join the timeline and need buffer

Exhibition stand services

First block: contract and manual

When the space contract is signed you know the area, the number of open sides and the position. Design cannot start without those three. The same day, download the technical manual and mark six headings: height, the neighbour’s face, fire class, rigging, floor loading, working hours.

This block also holds the budget approval. Once the space rental is paid the stand budget firms up and the internal approval starts. If approval slips, design does not begin; if design slips, production is squeezed. Abroad there is no recovering that, because the freight window is fixed.

List the items needing approval at this point and put each deadline in the calendar. Approval runs in parallel with design rather than holding it up, but production of anything that might be refused is deliberately delayed.

The brief is written in this block: the goal for the show, the product list, meeting space, store and kitchen requirements. How a brief is written and the order design follows is on the stand design page.

Second block: production and paperwork

Once the design is approved, production starts and the paperwork chain starts with it. The crate list is drawn up as production is planned, with dimensions, weight and value for each item. It underpins both customs and insurance.

Graphics approval is what slips most often in this block. Copy, language and image choices sit with marketing, and because print is the last step the delay goes unnoticed. But printing needs curing, trimming and packing time, so graphics approval deserves a deadline of its own.

Workshop pre-assembly closes this block. The stand is put together in the shop, gaps are found, the assembly sequence is photographed. For a fair abroad this step is not optional: finding a missing part on site is not the same as finding it in Istanbul.

The venue order forms go in during this block too: power, carpet, furniture, cleaning, empties storage. Because early and late prices differ, the deadline goes in the calendar.

Third block: transit, site and closure

Freight, customs and the delivery window sit here. Before the vehicle leaves, the loading order is set against the build order and the crates are numbered. Flights, hotels and site passes are finalised in the same week.

Show days appear on the timeline as well: daily cleaning, restocking hospitality, swapping products and the hour of the technical check. They are small jobs, but left ownerless the stand no longer looks like it did on day one by the third morning. One line in the schedule prevents that.

The site build is the tightest part of the timeline. The installation schedule is a separate document and is tracked by the hour. Keeping a technician on site through the show days is part of the plan.

The timeline does not end when the fair does. Tear-down, return freight, discharging the customs document, booking material into store and recording damage are the closing steps. Until they are done the project is not closed, and an open document affects the next show.

How far ahead should the timeline start?

Whenever the space contract is signed. Stand size and the items needing approval set the length; starting early costs nothing, starting late does.

Who runs the timeline?

One project manager, with one counterpart at the exhibitor. With two counterparts, approvals slow down and the delay lands on site.