The second week in September marked the biennial IMTS Engineering Trade show, the biggest event of it’s type in North America.
I’ve been attending engineering and technology trade shows since the early 1990s and felt without doubt, this was the best attended show I’ve been to, a feeling backed up by the official attendance which was 129,415 over the 6 days of the show. From the moment the show opened there was serious interest in all 3 of the products Wenzel had on display that continued all week.
Few shows keep going for 6 days and if they do the last day is usually painful with hardly anyone there other than the exhibitors. The last day of a show, particularly if it is a Saturday is the time for exhibition staff to “walk the show” and look at other booths. At this IMTS however there was also some serous interest from a number of customers and potential customers who chose to visit on Saturday. This is unheard of and I can say with confidence there was more serious interest on Saturday afternoon that there has been during the whole duration of certain shows I can think of that I have attended in the past.
“We collected a record number of leads captured during the week, with many customers now in the quoting process”. Drew Shemenski President of Wenzel America;
“IMTS was a great show for API. There was a great mix of those who were familiar with our company as well as those in search of solution providers”. Ryan Zemmer Global Marketing Manager from API
Not only was the show enthusiastically received by the exhibitors I spoke to, their optimism and expectation of future business seemed unreserved. Buck Bicek Regional Sales Manager Quality Magazine.
“The rapid growth of digital technology, automation and additive manufacturing are especially driving interest. The booming manufacturing economy means visitors have capital and are ready to invest.” Peter R. Eelman, Vice President – Exhibitions & Business Development at AMT
Why was this? I think Mr. Edelman summed it up very well. The US economy is booming and many people were at he show because they need to buy machines to meet their production needs and took the opportunity to see everything in one place. This is in contrast to what we have seen for the last decade where most visitors were out to “kick the tires” of something they might buy one day if ever they had the money.
