IWF 2012 opens with great expectations.
IWF Atlanta organizers couldn’t have hoped for a better first day with people lined up at the doors early and with strong traffic on the show floor all day long. That’s good news and bodes well for the next three days since the first day of any show is generally not its busiest.
“We are off to a good start,” said Patrick LaFramboise, IWF president and CEO.
“Everyone was pleased to see people lined up at the doors this morning, that is good news for everyone, there is a real sense of optimism,” he said.
“It’s what people have been waiting for.”
IWF organizers have been looking forward to a strong fair with advance registrations topping the 13,000 mark and more than 850 exhibitors showcasing hundreds of new products and services.
Of that impressive exhibitor number - which surpasses the last show by a good margin - more than 150 are exhibiting for the very first time.
Jim Wulfekuhle, IWF’s director of marketing & communications, said is pleased with the first day, “there was great traffic and a strong interest in new products and services. There is a lot of pent up demand.”
He added that IWF is the only show for the residential and building industry that has experienced double-digit growth in the last two years.
IWF is the largest North American show venue for material processing, design and technology.
And it’s not only show attendance and exhibitor numbers that are running well ahead of the 2010 edition of the show. The greatly expanded educational component with more than 30 sessions and five, one-day symposiums also offers more than ever before.
Regular sessions are offered on such wide-ranging topics as the right business strategies for a changing market, to engineering specifications, mass customization, new approaches to sales and marketing, back to basics courses and automation to name just a few. In addition there are seminars on various aspects of marketing, business management and manufacturing.
“We have seen double digit growth,” said LaFramboise. “Hopefully that is a precursor of things to come and we are happy to be a catalyst for growth in the industry.”
IWF is bringing together industry leaders and businesses from 50 states and more than 60 countries and fair chairman Michael Burdis, president of James L. Taylor Manufacturing Company, said they are seeing increases in all aspects of the show, “ more exhibits, more products and more buyers.”
IWF 2012 runs Aug. 22-25 in Atlanta at the Georgia World Congress Center.
To register online for IWF go to www.iwfatlanta.com and to save on registration use the promotion code “IWF.”
