August 2019 Volume 1

INDUSTRY NEWS & CALENDAR

WHATWAS NEWAT FORGE FAIR 2019

Forge Fair 2019 featured several new features: keynote speakers before the show opened each day, floor show remaining open during technical presentations and lead retrieval services offered by ATS. Keynote Speakers Before ShowOpened Each Day Day 1 (Tuesday, May 21st) featured Jeremy Bout, the founder and host of Edge Factor, which provides solutions to national workforce development challenges and empowers community stakeholders with tools to inspire students to pursue career pathways, reach parents and build bridges between industry and education. Day 2 (Wednesday, May 22nd) featuredDr. Amy Elliott, researcher, Science TV personality and additive manufacturing expert. Dr. Elliott is a researcher and 3D additive manufacturing specialist at Oak Ridge national Laboratory. She starred on an engineering reality TV show called “Big Brain Theory” and is currently co hosting the new web-series, “RoboNation TV.” Day 3 (Thursday,May 23rd) featuredRocky Bleier, Vietnamveteran and four-time Super Bowl winner. Rocky embodies heroism, determination, teamwork, and leadership, having overcome combat injuries in Vietnam to reclaim his position with the Pittsburgh

Steelers. The hard lessons Rocky learned early in life have paid off and helped him to overcome adversity and reach his goals after football. Floor Show Remained Open during Technical Presentations This year attendees were given the flexibility to choose whether to stay on the show floor with exhibitors or attend one of the 71 technical presentations offered during the morning and afternoon presentation sessions. Both the number of presentation “tracks” and sessions were expanded this year to the highest number ever offered at Forge Fair. Lead Retrieval Services Offered by ATS Exhibitors were offered lead retrieval services by American Tradeshow Services (ATS). These services enabled exhibitors to electronically capture contact information contained in an attendee’s ORC code shown on their Forge Fair admission pass. Exhibitors who used lead retrieval no longer had to collect attendees’ business cards to secure contact information to follow up after Forge Fair on leads. Approximately 36% of Forge Fair 2019 exhibitors purchased ATS lead retrieval services.

WHAT OUR ATTENDEES AND EXHIBITORS THOUGHT ABOUT FORGE FAIR 2019

“Kudos to the FIA team for putting on another successful Forge Fair. We enjoyed seeing all the exhibitors and reconnecting with friends in the industry.” - Jeff Albee, Vice President - Sales &Marketing, Viking Forge “Congratulations again on a successful Forge Fair! My team enjoyed our time networking and listening to the speakers. We’re already thinking about the next Forge Fair and how we can get more involved.” - Chelsea Lantto, Director of Manufacturing, Trenton Forging Company “I would like to congratulate the FIA team on an outstanding Forge Fair success! There was energy at this event that I have not felt in the past. I would also like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak at the Forging 101 series at the show. It was a lot of work to prepare the material, but was deeply rewarding in many ways. Thank you! - Suzanne Tkach, Owner & Innovator, Tkach Metal Forming Consultants

“As a robotics integrator and first-time Forge Fair exhibitor, we had tremendous traffic around our booth and equipment we displayed. We came back with great leads and we appreciated the show staying open during the technical presentations tomaximize our time with attendees on the show floor. We also had a nice audience at our technical presentation.” - JimMorris, President, AutomatedCells &Equipment (ACE) “We wouldn’t miss exhibiting and bringing equipment to Forge Fair! We’ve been successful at meeting existing and new customers and the 2019 show was another outstanding year for us.” - Donna Gordon, Director of Marketing, Blast Cleaning Technologies "I ran into the FIA President at the show and held up a stack of business cards with a big smile on my face! Schuler had a great Forge Fair – one of the best in current memory. Thanks for a great show!" -Ken Setz, Sales & Product Manager—Forging Technologies, Schuler Group

Photos on pages 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are courtesy of Fern Exposition Services, LLC and Dallager photography.

FIA MAGAZINE | August 2019 10