Global Fastener News

FEATURE
NIFMSE Hall of Fame Bricks Removed From Columbus

The Greater Columbus Convention Center so liked the National Industrial Fastener Show that it installed a path of bricks with the names of the show’s Hall of Fame members.

At the time NIFS was among the 10 largest trade shows in Ohio’s capital city.  The trade show started in Columbus in 1981 with 90 fastener companies exhibiting in 103 booths and grew to dominate downtown for three days annually.  NIFS peaked at 473 companies 678 booths in 1998. 

But after the show owners started a second trade show in Las Vegas in 1997, Columbus began declining.  NIFS/West outgrew the once dominate Columbus in 2000.

After 22 consecutive years in Columbus, NIFS/East began a rotation to Orlando, Baltimore, Atlanta and Columbus, but never regained strength.  NIFS/East was not held in 2009. 

Participation in the NIFMSE Hall of Fame also fell.  The Industrial Fasteners Institute began its “Soaring Eagle” awards program in 2001.  Some fastener leaders began questioning whether certain NIFS Hall of Fame inductions were too oriented toward “usefulness” to show management.  A few potential inductees even spurned the “honor” and attendance at induction banquets dropped.  No one was inducted for five years beginning in 2009.

The show owners tried again holding the East trade show in Columbus in 2010 and in 2011.  But it fell to 55 booths in 2011 and was canceled.

So today, the NIFMSE Hall of Fame means nothing to the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

Fastener salesperson and commentator Marty Nolan was in Columbus in December and looked for the brick walkway and took pictures. 

“While I was visiting the site a construction worker told me that they were doing a lot of work in that area and he was pretty sure they were going to be removing the Fastener Hall of Fame pavers as they expanded the Convention Center,” Nolan wrote in his FastenerBlog.   “I called the Columbus Convention Center and, sure enough, they confirmed that the HOF walkway was going to be removed.  I left them my name and asked that they call me to let me know when this would be happening.”

Nolan followed up last month and was told that the bricks had been removed and were sitting in a wooden box on a pallet.  

“I told them that if they did not have anyone to claim them that I would welcome the opportunity to retrieve them,” Nolan explained.  “In mid-January, I was sent an email saying if I wanted to pick them up I could take possession of the bricks.  With the help of a few industry friends, we did just that.”

The NIFMSE Hall of Fame was revived in 2014 with two inductions, followed by two more in 2015. 

Nolan said the bricks “are in safe storage until a suitable site can be found for them.”

NIFMSE was sold last year and Karalynn Sprouse of Emerald Expositions – the new trade show owners – is asking the industry for suggestions on what to do with the bricks.  “Emerald is listening and we will continue to find ways to commemorate these innovative people in our industry,” Sprouse told Nolan. 

Dale Tarantino responded to Nolan that Mel Kirsner’s Fastener Museum would have been the appropriate place for the bricks.  But the museum Kirsner spent decades collecting historical items for was destroyed by a Southern California wildfire in 2003. 

Nolan noted that the NIFMSE HoF “is meaningful to a lot of people in our industry.  I’m hoping a lot of good ideas get generated as to what to do with the bricks and also with the Hall of Fame in general.”

Emerald has turned to the Fastener Industry Coalition to choose honorees for 2016 instead of show management.  The Coalition seeks nominations of fastener professionals who have made significant contributions to the industrial fastener industry on a national or global scale.  The deadline for nominations is February 28, 2016.  For criteria and to nominate a candidate: fastenershows.com/hall-of-fame-members/.

Nolan’s saving of the NIFMSE Hall of Fame bricks is featured on the February 18, 2016, Episode #102 of Fully Threaded Radio.

For more stories on the former trade show in Columbus, OH, click on the Fastener History section of GlobalFastenerNews.com.

1980 FIN – Fastener Industry to Have New Showcase Next Year
The planned 150 booth exhibit will feature the latest lines in all types of industrial fasteners.

1988, 1996 & 1997 FIN – NIFS Partners Attempt OEM Shows
First exposition to showcase the OEM products of fastener manufacturers slated for November, 1988, in the Cleveland Convention Center.

1997 FIN – Las Vegas Show Gamble Pays Off
The owners of the National Industrial Fastener Show & Conference gambled that a western version their show would be a winner in Las Vega.

1997 FIN Calendar – 256 B.C., 1569, 1798, 1813, 1841, 1859, 1883, 1887 & 1892 Fastener Dates From Mel’s Fastener Museum
These quotes preserve at least a peak at materials lost in the 2003 Southern California wildfire.

2002 FIN – How the Fastener Industry Discovered Columbus
Officially, it was the “National Industrial Fastener Show & Conference” through most of its 22-year history. But to the industry the easier name and the term of endearment for the show held in the capital city of Ohio was simply “Columbus.”

2003 FIN – California Fires Destroy Mell’s Fastener Museum
The collection included an 1892 catalogue from Pawtucket Manufacturing Co. and a book, History of the Bolt & Nut Industry, written by W.R. Wilbur in 1905.

2009 FIN – ‘World’s Largest’ Title Goes to Fastener Fair Stuttgart
For decades NIFS has touted itself as the biggest fastener trade show.