diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index cc2138e..deaf32f 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,13 +42,20 @@ steps are open planning items.
 
 ## Project Status
 
-**Planning stage** (as of mid-2026).
+**Planning stage** (as of October 2026).
 
 - Industry outreach has been ongoing for several years: equipment vendors,
   material suppliers, and independent consultants.
-- Alexander and Simona will soon travel to
-  [Making Vinyl](https://makingvinyl.com/) in Haarlem, Netherlands, to gather
-  further insights from the pressing industry.
+- Alexander and Simona attended
+  [Making Vinyl Europe 2026](https://makingvinyl.com/) in Haarlem (30
+  September to 2 October). Most people they talked to were strongly
+  interested in the full-traceability approach, and for Sibert it was a
+  reason to engage at all (notes in the
+  [exhibitor briefing](docs/suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md#after-the-show)).
+- Payap University (Chiang Mai) has offered land on lease and wants to
+  build joint student programmes with the plant
+  ([site candidates](docs/site-candidates.md),
+  [Payap partnership](docs/payap-partnership.md)).
 - A collaboration with [ResurRec](https://www.resurrec.com/) is under
   discussion.
 
diff --git a/docs/roadmap.md b/docs/roadmap.md
index 21645c3..ded1b63 100644
--- a/docs/roadmap.md
+++ b/docs/roadmap.md
@@ -17,7 +17,11 @@ These three run in parallel and gate everything downstream:
    recorded in the revenue model. The prices disagree with the model on
    per-title services and run size; the tour showed no plating and no
    HVAC anywhere in the incumbent's operation, which is the strongest
-   argument yet for pulling galvanics forward from Phase 5. Carry the
+   argument yet for pulling galvanics forward from Phase 5. Making Vinyl
+   Europe 2026 added supply-side evidence (strong interest in the
+   traceability approach, see the
+   [exhibitor briefing](suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md#after-the-show)),
+   but no buyer prices yet. Carry the
    open run-size question into these conversations. The
    [artist platform](artist-platform.md)'s price calculator, published
    early with indicative prices and an interest list but no payments,
diff --git a/docs/suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md b/docs/suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md
index c28bd52..e9fb53c 100644
--- a/docs/suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md
+++ b/docs/suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md
@@ -11,6 +11,24 @@ Company facts are from vendor sites and the Making Vinyl channels, checked
 are written against this repo's open items (roadmap Phase 1 quotes, the
 traceability spec, the steam decision, the Thai PVC lead, the 50/50 fleet).
 
+## After the show
+
+- **Traceability drew the strongest reaction.** Most people Alexander
+  talked to in Haarlem were very interested in the plan's full traceability
+  ([traceability](../traceability.md), [digital factory](../digital-factory.md)).
+- **Sibert**: traceability was one of the reasons Sibert's representative
+  was willing to talk to us at all; without it he would strongly advise
+  against the plan. Seeing buildfor.life's software development and data
+  work made it clear to him that the project comes from the right
+  direction. For the pitch to suppliers and investors, the data and
+  control side is what makes a newcomer credible, so it leads.
+- **Filed since**: the Newbilt flyers
+  ([pressing line](../equipment/pressing-line.md)), Sibert's VS
+  specifications and Pheenix Alpha's electroforming flyers
+  ([galvanics and stamper prep](../equipment/galvanics.md)).
+
+The briefing below is kept as written before the show.
+
 ## Priority order for the three days
 
 1. **Newbilt** and **Pheenix Alpha**: the pressing-line decision. Both must
diff --git a/docs/traceability.md b/docs/traceability.md
index ef0f233..d28a19d 100644
--- a/docs/traceability.md
+++ b/docs/traceability.md
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@ traceable end to end for the customer. This is a set requirement, and it is
 the core specification for the factory software this repository will
 eventually host.
 
+It is also the part of the plan the industry responds to. At Making Vinyl
+Europe 2026 most people the team talked to were strongly interested in it,
+and Sibert's representative named it as a reason to work with a newcomer
+he would otherwise have advised against building a plant; buildfor.life's
+development and data work settled the question for him (see the
+[exhibitor briefing](suppliers/making-vinyl-europe-2026-exhibitors.md#after-the-show)).
+
 ## What a customer can trace
 
 For any order, the customer can follow the full chain: