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The fifth edition of Techtextil North America (TTNA), the international trade show for technical textiles and nonwovens, took place April 1-3 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.
The show hosted 310 exhibitors representing 21 countries, while the total verified registration reached 3,711 from 40 countries. The show welcomed nine international pavilions from Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy (two pavilions – fabrics/nonwovens and machinery), Portugal, Taiwan and Turkey.
“Our exhibitors and attendees alike commented repeatedly on the point that Techtextil North America provides them a unique opportunity to connect and get business done, all in one place, over three days’ time,” said David Audrain, president of Messe Frankfurt USA. “This level of value results from bringing together a variety of industry segments, products and services from across the globe.”
Techtextil North America 2008 attracted an eclectic group of researchers, manufacturers and product specifiers and provided them with an internationally recognized Symposium program and industry-leading exhibitors, spanning more square feet of exhibition space than ever before. Techtextil North America continues to exceed attendee expectations. Simply put, “The key is seeing what’s new, and we are,” said Rieter Corporation’s Tim Hockney.
Symposium Snapshot
The Techtextil North America Symposium was held concurrently with the show. The two and a half day program kicked off with an insightful keynote address from Allen Gant, president and CEO of Glen Raven, focusing on the foundations of success in the global marketplace. Reflecting on his experience at this year’s TTNA, Gant said, “In this turbulent time, it is terrific to see people come together from around the world in peace to conduct business!”
As the Symposium’s Director, Bill Smith reflected, “Mr. Gant's dynamic talk set the stage for a successful Symposium. Average session attendance in each of the three concurrent sessions running each morning and afternoon during TTNA, was about 70 to 80 individuals. As in previous TTNA symposiums the two sessions on military developments that may affect our industry had standing room only crowds with several others filled to near capacity.
“The feedback has been nothing but positive. Educating people to the latest research and industry developments in technical textiles, stimulating and motivating them to take what they have learned at the Symposium and possibly applying that to their products and to solve problems, is the essence of such a symposium. I think we accomplished that.”
Techtextil North America 2009 – Las Vegas
With the exhibitors and buyers both pleased with the turnout and business conducted at the 2008 event, the industry can already anticipate a robust showing in 2009, as TTNA launches its first-ever West coast-based event.
As attendee Amin Radwan, Oriental Weavers of Americas, engineer and general manager − yarn division, stated, “We will definitely visit the show in Las Vegas. This is an important show for sourcing. We had initially planned on only coming for one day, but have returned for a second day to do more sourcing here at TTNA.”
The 2009 Techtextil North America is scheduled to take place at the Sands Expo and Convention Center in Las Vegas, April 21-23, 2009.
For further information and continuous updates, please visit www.techtextilNA.com.
Attendee Quotes
Bekaert Textiles USA, Bradley G. Martin, Manager, R&D/Product Development, Winston-Salem, NC, USA:
“This is our first visit to TTNA and we have no complaints! We have seen a lot of current and potential suppliers here.”
COLGATE, Juvenile Products, Mattress Atlanta Corp. , Dennis N. Wolkin, Plant Manager, Atlanta, GA, USA:
“The show was very easy to visit and the free parking was a warm welcome for me as a first- time visitor. I am pleasantly surprised by the number of relevant exhibitors that I have seen, including those offering vinyls and flame-retardant materials. I will definitely plan to spend more time at the show next year.”
Innegrity LLC, Brian Morin, PhD, CEO, Greer, SC, USA:
“I am here this year as a visitor, but we will plan to exhibit next year in Las Vegas. This show is easily worth travelling to and taking a booth.”
Kaltex, Arturo Quiros Camacho, Sales Manager, Technical Textiles, Juarez, Mexico:
“As there are concurrent Symposium sessions, I am impressed that a CD of the daily sessions is included in my Symposium registration so that I have access to information on sessions that I might have missed.”
Measured Solutions, Inc., Mark A. Reese, Greenville, SC, USA:
“Techtextil North America is the key networking event of the year.”
North Carolina Military Business Center, Teresa Bouchonnet,
Business Development Specialist, Franklin, NC, USA:
“My job is to connect businesses with the military. Through visiting TTNA, I was able to identify and meet exhibiting companies that I was not aware of, who are eligible for U.S. military contracts.”
Polartec, LLC, Marc Webster, Product Development Engineer, Lawrence, MA, USA:
“I am here to attend the Symposium and to connect with new people and new products. I am particularly interested in new yarn sources, new finishing processes and new end uses. TTNA is a good opportunity to work with people from many different countries and companies.”
W.E.T. Automotive Systems Ltd., Liz Bechard, Materials Department, Windsor, Canada:
“We are excited about the new products and materials that we’ve seen and believe that we have found some potential new materials for automotive systems.”
Exhibitor Quotes
Bally Ribbon Mills, Louis Franconi, USA:
“We have seen Techtextil North America grow each year we have exhibited. The event is instrumental in helping Bally Ribbons to sell to new markets. The quality of Symposium and the exhibition hall attracts highly qualified prospects for us to meet. We look forward to future shows.”
DRIFIRE, Stephanie Youker, Director of Marketing, USA:
“The Techtextil North America Team was extremely responsive in preparation for the event. We were the new kids on the block this year, so we had a lot of people checking us out and we were always busy. It was a great way to meet suppliers and buyers.”
Glen Raven, Inc., Hal Bates, Marketing Manager, USA:
“Techtextil North America offers our company an excellent venue to display our products, interact with customers and meet with our vendors. We have found that this show is very cost effective when you review all that was accomplished during the three days of the show.”
Italian Trade Commission, Alex Mussa, Assistant Trade Commissioner, Italy:
“Overall the Italian machinery exhibitors were pleased with this year’s event. The traffic was good and they were able to see important customers. Based on this show, I feel more Italian equipment manufacturers will want to participate in future TTNA events.”
Jarden Applied Materials, Dean Yarborough, New Business Development, USA:
“We are very pleased we exhibited at Techtextil North America 2008. We saw numerous customers. For the amount of money we spent to exhibit, this was a very good investment for our company. It’s impossible for us to meet this many customers any other way.”
Lumat USA LLC, Henk Luykx, USA:
“This was a very, very good show. The attendees were more focused and qualified. We heard only positive feedback from other exhibitors.”
Mesa Laminated Fabrics, Todd Ferguson, Marketing Manager, USA:
“We received a lot of leads from the show. By far, this was the most active trade show that Mesa Laminated Fabrics has exhibited at in several years. We have plans to return to the show and are also looking into exhibiting at the international show in Germany.”
Noble Biomaterials, Jose Portet, Technical Manager, USA:
“We always have good results at Techtextil North America. This year’s show was no exception. Everything was fantastic.“
Performance Fibers, Joan Izzo, Global Marketing Communications Manager, USA:
“Our customers come to Techtextil North America to see the industry’s leading suppliers. TTNA is a good stage for Performance Fibers to do business.”
Plastomer Technologies, Walt Mameniskis, USA:
“This was our first year exhibiting at TTNA. Our experience went very well. We met lots of new prospects and were able to renew discussions with previous customers.”
Schoeller Textil USA, Inc., Thomas Weinbender, President, USA:
“TTNA is better for us in attracting more qualified prospects. We met many new customers from niche industries that we would not otherwise see at other trade shows. The turnout was very good.”
SSM Industries, Inc., J. Forrest Bell, National Accounts Manager, USA:
“We experienced good traffic and good leads at TTNA 2008. The attendees had specific needs and knew what they wanted, which makes for better leads for SSM. We saw qualified buyers from the military, safety garment, racing and home furnishing industries. We
will be exhibiting at TTNA 2009 in Las Vegas.”
Teksis Tekstil, Suheyla Yalcin, Regional Export Manager, Turkey:
“It was a good show for us. We saw our key US customers at Techtextil North America 2008 and we are satisfied with the results.”
For more information, visit www.techtextilNA.com.
About Messe Frankfurt
Messe Frankfurt is one of the world's largest trade fair organizers. With 18 subsidiaries, five branch offices and 49 representative offices outside Germany, the group has a presence in more than 150 countries and at more than 40 exhibition sites. Every year, some 120 trade fairs are held, serving as a meeting place for more than 65,000 exhibitors and over three million visitors. The North American headquarters in Atlanta is currently producing nine trade shows in the USA, Canada and Mexico across various industries. For more information about Messe Frankfurt, please visit the Web site at www.messefrankfurt.us.
Press Contact:
Stephanie Everett
Messe Frankfurt, Inc.
770-984-8016 ext 424
stephanie.everett@usa.messefrankfurt.com
Other upcoming Techtextil events worldwide:
- Techtextil Russia
(27 - 29 May 2008),
Moscow, Russia
- Cinte Techtextil China
(20 - 22 October 2008), Shanghai, China
- Techtextil North America
(21 - 23 April 2009), Las Vegas, NV, USA
- Techtextil
(16 - 18 June 2009), Frankfurt, Germany
- Avantex
(16 - 18 June 2009), Frankfurt, Germany
- Techtextil India
(October 2009), Mumbai, India
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