Powder Coated Tough - Spring 2008 - (Page 14) Breaking News PCI, CCAI Joining Forces BY SHARON SPIELMAN, EDITOR Steve Houston, president of The Powder Coating Institute (PCI), Jerry Trostle, past president and current member of Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI), and John Sudges, current president of CCAI, shortly after this agreement was made. Here is what they had to say. In answer to your question, I think that as you look at the business environment today, we’ve got fewer people in business doing more things. And we’ve got a dynamic where business people are juggling so many more balls than ever before.making it much more difficult to have multiple people from any one organization attend these events. We’re consistently seeing fewer people from business attend but in most cases not fewer companies. I have to add that this is not necessarily a bad thing as the people that do attend are there for a purpose and are typically the decision makers and/or influencers for their company. Trostle: I think a number of things have affected attendance. Our industry is not growing as it was in the past. There’s fewer companies out there doing what we do, and the ones that are doing it, don’t have near the number of people involved in finishing. Before there were companies that would have four or five engineers involved in finishing, and now they have one. So, let’s face it, the pool of potential people to go to shows is much smaller. I think that is one issue. A second thing is with The rumor mill is churning about an alliance between PCI and CCAI. Are the two associations really joining forces to create a long-term show strategy? We went straight to the horses’ mouths for input, and here is what they had to say. W e’ve all heard the adage, “Two heads are better than one, three heads are better than two, etc.” So when two associations in our industry announced a working group alliance, a chat was in order. On the ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership’s blog page Acronym, a July 2006 post reads, in part, that according to a recent Harris Interactive study commissioned by American Business Media (ABM), trade shows still play an important role in the business-to-business marketing mix— even in an increasingly digital world. The report finds that trade shows remain great places to make a sale. Our own show data supports this, but the numbers have fallen a bit over the past few years. Although the number of companies at the shows has not dropped significantly, the number of people available to physically attend the shows has decreased (see figure on page 16). What can the coating industry do about this? Two associations in the coatings industry have decided to join forces for the greater good. I had the opportunity to speak with Why do you think fewer people have been attending trade shows? Houston: Sharon, thanks for calling. I am so excited about telling you this story. This alliance between PCI and CCAI is a great one. We’ve become great partners over the years, and we’ve been involved in physical shows and many different events with great success. And I couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds now that we’ve put these organizations to work even more closely together. This time CCAI is not just a co-sponsor but a co-partner, looking at a longer term show strategy. I think it is going to be best for both organizations, and I think it’s going to be great for the industry. So I am enthusiastic about what the outcome may be and I look forward to jointly creating some great events. 14 Powder Coated Tough
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