Introducing the Plastics Technology Expo

In March, I told you about our plans this fall to combine our annual Amerimold trade show along with our Molding and Extrusion Conferences at the same time under one roof. Those plans are picking up steam; our various programs have been buttoned up—we’ve even added a conference track on post-consumer reclaim—and you’ll soon be receiving registration brochures detailing all of our events and how you can sign up.

In the interim, mark off Sept. 21-23 on your calendar and start making plans to travel to the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., for this three-in-one event. You can also check out the Plastics Technology May issue for some more details on these events: p. 17 for Molding 2021, p. 53 for Amerimold 2021, and p. 57 for Extrusion 2021.
 

Taking the Next Step

Now let me take a moment to fill you in on our next move. On March 29-31, 2022, at the same the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, we will be holding the Plastics Technology Expo (PTXPO). The PTXPO will be a new trade show for the North American plastics processing marketplace. It will not be a regional show. It is not intended as a global show. What it will be is an event in the Midwest where processors of all kinds can interact and network with suppliers of primary machinery, auxiliary equipment, molds/tooling and materials/additives.

And by network and interact I mean see. Remember seeing stuff operate at a trade show? Remember making an appointment to visit an exhibitor at a show, walking in and shaking the hand of your contact, making small talk, then taking a tour of the booth and absorbing the sound and smell of machinery in action?

I know I do. And I know you do as well. Because you told us so. Our parent company Gardner Business Media did some research as part of the due-diligence process of putting together this business plan, and a few things jumped off the page when our research team got the results:

 1.  Some 86% of subscribers to Plastics Technology or MoldMaking Technology magazine either agree or strongly agree with a statement that “a major plastics exhibition and conference hosted in the U.S. and featuring the latest equipment and technology demonstrations, materials advances, innovations, and industry best practices is an essential resource for my professional development and networking within the industry.”

 2.  More than 62% of survey respondents would attend a trade show once a year or more often, and fewer than 7% felt like they would attend a trade show only once every three years.

 3.  The Chicagoland area was the preferred city in which to hold an event at this time.

That last one isn’t the least bit surprising. The Midwest is the hub of the plastics processing industry and has been for decades. The Chicagoland area is within driving distance of thousands of plastics processing businesses. The area is also a region that has been underserved since NPE moved its triennial event to Orlando after the 2012 show.

Our plan is to hold this event every spring after 2022 with the exception of NPE years, when we will go dark. In terms of the exhibit area, our intention is to organize the show floor by process and product category so that attendees can use their time at the event as efficiently as possible without having to wander too much. We plan on having pavilions for primary machinery of all kinds, auxiliary equipment and materials/additives, as well as a moldmaking pavilion in the form of our co-located Amerimold Expo.

While we plan on having educational presentations right on the show floor, we don’t want the Plastics Technology Expo to become a hybrid trade show-technical conference. That means that we will continue holding our Molding and Extrusion technical conferences in the fall.

Be on the lookout for more information on this event. We hope to see you in Chicago this year … and beyond.