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Atlanta, GA: The fourth edition of Techtextil North America, the international trade fair for technical textiles and nonwovens, took place March 28-30 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia. The event proved to be the most successful yet with a record number of buyers, exhibitors and symposium attendees. The show hosted 329 exhibitors representing 25 countries while the total registration reached 4,081 from 43 countries. International exhibitor participation also increased with the show welcoming ten pavilions from Belgium, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, South Africa, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
Regarding the growth in exhibitor numbers and quality increase of buyers, Michael Jaenecke, Brand Director Techtextil / Avantex, Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH comments “The success of Techtextil North America 2006 – especially under the aspect of quality – confirms not only the importance and attractiveness of that market but also the networking within all involved industries and with the Techtextil brand. After the success of their first national pavilions at the last Techtextil in Frankfurt, Italy, Portugal and South Africa took Techtextil North America as their second step within our brand to enter new markets.”
In addition to the outstanding variety and quality of exhibiting companies, buyers were excited about several special feature areas on the show floor, including the inaugural Technology Showcase. This showcase provided attendees the opportunity to see several important and new industry applications displayed in a practical and user friendly format. By providing industry leading exhibitors, an internationally recognized symposium program, several special feature areas, and ensuring a clean, dynamic and attractive show floor, Techtextil North America continues to exceed attendee expectations. These aspects were confirmed by Rosalia Brown, Account Manager, Specialty Plastics & Elastomers with Dow Corning who stated "TTNA 2006 was an excellent opportunity to gain insight into the vastness of the textile industry. As a representative for an industry group, I found TTNA 2006 to be an informative and worthwhile venue for learning, as well as a valuable marketplace for networking within the industry. No matter what your affiliation to the textile world, TTNA provides an exceptional promotional venue that is both important and meaningful. I look forward to another great show in 2008."
Industry Education
The Techtextil-Symposium North America held concurrently with show also hosted a record number of attendees. The two and a half day program kicked off with an intriguing keynote address from Greg Rogowski, President and CEO of Performance Fibers, focusing on the future global marketplace of the industry. “It was an honor to be the keynote speaker at this year’s Techtextil North America. We saw more senior level customers walking the show and an increase in traffic, especially in the international audience in attendance. This is important as more companies enter the global marketplace. It was great to hear the positive buzz on the growth of the industry and its boundless opportunities for the future.” stated Mr. Rogowski upon completion of the event.
Other popular session topics in the Symposium included technical textiles R&D at the university level, advanced nonwovens, developments in fibers, emerging technology, specialty applications, protection for law enforcement and military, automotives, user driven future technology, as well as the hottest topic in the industry – nanotechnology. The overall program was deemed a success by the attendees, with Tom Tassinari, Government Business Coordinator for Battelle Memorial Institute noting “We were quite impressed with the Techtextil Symposium last week. There were many interesting exhibits and some very forward looking papers presented.”
Positive Outlook
With the exhibitors and buyers both pleased with the turnout and business conducted at the 2006 event, the industry can already anticipate an even better showcase in 2008. “We were extremely pleased with the high quality of the attendees this year, and we will be continuing with our expanded attendee marketing campaign to ensure that this growth is repeated at the next edition of the show”, commented David Audrain, President of Messe Frankfurt USA. The fifth edition of Techtextil North America will be held April 1-3, 2008 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.
For further information and continuous updates, please visit www.techtextil.com.
Exhibitor Quotes
ARC Technologies, Bill Douglas, National Sales Manager, USA: “Great show that met all our expectations.”
Basofil Fibers, LLC, Jennifer Brust, Marketing Manager, USA: “Techtextil North America has again exceeded our expectations. We were more than pleased about the number and quality of visitors to our booth.”
British Wool Textile Export Corporation, Ann Thomson-Krol, Director, United Kingdom: “Thank you to Messe Frankfurt for the high standard of support you gave to the UK participants – all were very impressed with the attendance and smooth running of the event.”
CITEVE, Fernando Merino, Technical Textiles Director, Portugal: "The organization of the Portuguese joint participation had in 2005 a first well succeed experience in Frankfurt. Atlanta 2006 became the second experience abroad promoting a Portuguese sample of producers of technical & functional textiles and the most relevant R&D projects of CITEVE . The decision to come to Atlanta is due to the fact that the USA market is a huge consumer, growing fast and open to new suppliers. Besides, this first participation in Atlanta gave us a close feeling of the opportunities. We have now a better understanding about the type of companies to involve in future occasions. The global opinion is positive."
Collano, Inc., William Asmann, Account Manager, USA: “The show went well in many respects: organization, attendance, facilities. No complaints here.”
GE Plastics, Youssef Fakhreddine, Industry Manager, USA: "The show was a success for GE Plastics, we generated a good number of quality leads and were pleased with the quality of discussions and interest in our products and services. This was our first time exhibiting at Techtextil North America and believe we have accomplished our objective of introducing our products to the high performance textile market.”
Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center, Behnam Pourdeyhimi, Professor, USA: “This was the best so far in my book. The attendance was the highest, and the quality of the talks topped any other similar event in recent history. The traffic at the booths was incredible, and at times, in my session, there were dozens standing in the back to listen to the talks.”
Performance Fibers, Alan Giangregorio, VP of Sales and Marketing, USA: “Impressed with the show. Saw a higher level of participation than in the past – more senior level. Heard many people feel more positive about the industry and its future.”
Schott + Meissner, Jeannette Engel, Sales Manager, Germany: "Top location and trade fair center for personal interaction with business key players and new customer contacts. As well many of our potential clients as new potential business partners did come to attend the show and the seminars and we feel a positive trend on the market with more capital available to spend on new projects in the future. In today's shifting marketplace, the show did offer good opportunities to make promising connections into new sectors and new international business markets."
SMIT S.p.A., Andrea Jonoch, Area Sales Manager, Italy: “We were exhibiting for the first time at Techtextil North America and were very pleased with the results. We even have received weaving machine orders and we will definitely participate again in 2008.”
Team Textile Canada, Richard Cormier and Philippe Lalonde, Mission Co-Organizers, Canada: “Our immediate feedback from our delegation participants is extremely positive. The Canadian exhibitors at TTNA 2006 were very pleased at the quantity and mostly the quality of leads generated from the show. TTNA 2006 was a great success for our group; congratulations to Messe Frankfurt for another show well done.”
Textile Tapes Corporation, Markus Wohlert, Vice President Sales, USA: “The exhibition was a complete success for us. It was well organized. We have not regretted in participating in the show for even one second. Thanks a lot again for the perfect organization and I am more than 100% sure we will participate in 2008 as well.”
For more Techtextil-Symposium North America information contact:
Industrial Textile Associates
Bill Smith, Symposium Director
110 Shady Creek Ct.
Greer, SC 29650
Tel.: 864.292.8121
Fax: 864.292.5333
E-mail: billsmith@intexa.com
CINTE Techtextil China, Shanghai, China
September 19-21, 2006
Techtextil-Symposium South America, São Paulo, Brazil
November 7-8, 2006
Techtextil Rossija, Moscow, Russia
February 2007
Techtextil, Frankfurt, Germany
June 12-14, 2007
Avantex, Frankfurt, Germany
June 12-14, 2007
Press Contact:
Daniel McKinnon
Messe Frankfurt, Inc.
1600 Parkwood Circle
Suite 515
Atlanta, GA 30339
770-984-8016 ext. 423
E-mail: daniel.mckinnon@usa.messefrankfurt.com
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