TPT January 2009

I ndustry N ews

Fabtech 2008 hits the jackpot in Las Vegas

we’ve been in going back to 2000,” said Mr Al Julian, vice president (marketing) of Megafab. Mr Wes Morgan, global communications director of Thermadyne Industries, said “The Las Vegas location worked out well for us. The quality of meetings with our distributor customers made the trip worthwhile…. We’ve already started our planning for Chicago in 2009.” First time exhibitor Mr Alex Laymon, president of DPSS Lasers Inc was impressed with the serious buyers he met. “These were people who were well prepared, and came to the show looking for specific solutions to specific problems.” The 2009 show will take place from 15-18 November at McCormick Place in Chicago, while Fabtech 2010 will be held in Atlanta from 2-4 November. Fabricators & Manufacturers Association International (FMA) – USA

Fabtech 2008 and the AWS Welding Show was a great hit at its first showing in Las Vegas, USA. The event welcomed over 12,000 manufacturing and welding professionals on the opening day, with more than 21,000 during the entire three-day event. The show was also the first Fabtech and AWS Welding event to introduce Metalform, a new exhibition for the metal forming market.

The exhibition was the first show designed for the USA’s west coast and attracted a new audience accordingly, with around 56 per cent being first-time attendees. Thirty- two per cent were from the west coast, and 16 per cent were international attendees – up from 10 per cent compared to the past two years. “It’s clear that our effort to expand the

reach of the show for both attendees and exhibitors was successful. We’ve committed to return in 2012,” said Mr John Catalano, show manager from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. The response from exhibitors at the show indicates attendees were ready to buy. “It was a big show for us. We had the largest number of leads from any trade show

 Fabtech 2008 has left the building

Fax : +1 815 484 7701 Email : info@fmanet.org Website : www.fmanet.org

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J anuary 2009

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