Global Fastener News

C

John Wolz

Exhibitor comments about the 22nd annual National Industrial Fastener Show/East ranged from “I would absolutely sign up next year” to “Morning wasn�t so bad, but after that it was dead.”
“Okay” was the most frequent word exhibitors used to describe to FIN the May 21 show held in Columbus, OH.
“The show was really small compared to other years,” said one industry leader who has been to many national and regional shows. He observed that other exhibitors “seemed bored and their booths were empty. But [our booth] was always active as we have so many more customers than others, so it really was an OK show for us.”
“I thought it was okay,” concluded another. “We saw 155 people at our booth. For the price it was questionable, but for a regional show it was very good.”
Toward the end of the show general partner Jim Bannister announced that the preliminary attendee registration was approximately 800. Bannister told FIN that official numbers will be announced by the end of May and that the final count “may be higher.”
If the final number were to be 800, registration would be down 37% from 2001.
The number of booths was down approximately 43% from last year to about 160. The show had 653 booths at its peak in 1998. �2002 FastenerNews.com