Final Thoughts

Final Thoughts

Written by John Packard


Our office is overwhelmed with the response we have had to our 5th Steel Summit Conference which is only our 2nd two day conference. As of this afternoon we had 272 people registered. The facility we have can comfortably seat 292 people… We will have a full house. Thank you.

For those coming to the conference – your conference experience will not be complete unless you download the Steel Market Update Events App. This can be done through the App store on your smart phone or tablet. You will want to download the App for a number of reasons but I will give you three reasons right now:

  • You can access a complete list of the attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors. Not only will you know who is attending but you have the ability to communicate with them either prior to or at the conference. Networking is #1…
  • We will provide the speakers Power Point presentations to our attendees through the App. No more having to ask and wait. Easy access to presentations is #2.
  • During the conference will will conduct real-time polling which will happen through the App. Real-time interaction is #3.

OK, so now you are going to ask me – how do I get the App (and more importantly where do I get my password as the App is password protected and only available to those registered for the conference)? If you can’t find one of the emails with the details and your password: Please contact Brett@SteelMarketUpdate.com or by phone: 800-432-3475 and he will help you.

Once you get to the conference we will have an booth in the exhibition area dedicated to our newsletter, website and the App. Brett will be holding down the fort there and will be able to help you. However, if at all possible, please download the App before you arrive at the convention center.

Brett can also help those who might have questions about the differences between Premium and Executive level newsletters/membership. He is the one who populates our website with all of the data, surveys, etc. If you have not taken time to dig through our website stop by the Newsletter booth and ask Brett to show you some of the secrets to the site.

We have picked up a number of reservations for our next Steel 101: Introduction to Steel Making & Market Fundamentals workshop which will be held in Davenport, Iowa on October 6-7th and will include a tour of the SSAB mill. You can find out more information about the program, instructors and how to register online. Or, for those attending our conference will will have an Events booth in the exhibition area that will be maned by all of the Steel 101 instructors. Got a question? Want to know what kind of experience our instructors have? Stop by and talk to us.

I want to take a moment to thank our sponsors for this year’s conference: Our corporate sponsor is Pacesetter Steel Service, Inc. Pacesetter will have a booth in the exhibition area and we recommend that you spend a few moments checking it out and meeting their team. Our Networking Party sponsor is Steel Dynamics and they will have a number of their people at the conference. Take a moment to thank them for their support of our conference. The two lunches are being sponsored by Cargill and Samuel. Coffee is being provided all day long thanks to Magic Coil Products and Alliance Steel – both companies have been long-time sponsors for multiple conferences and their support is greatly appreciated. Break sponsors are Kenwal and All Metals. Our Exhibitors are: Institute for Trend Research (ITR), Association of Steel Distributors, Pacesetter Steel, Fabricators & Manufacturers Association and our two booths.

Yes, we will have a new opening to the conference… For those of you who did not attend last year this won’t mean anything to you (sorry).

Sorry to those who are not attending the conference – my focus has been on the speakers presentations (I’ve seen some real good ones) and making sure everything gets done and done on time. Some of this will spill over into our newsletter over the next few issues. I think it will be a good thing as we pick up information that we did not have before (or that was presented in a new way).

By the way – if you can’t go this year mark your calendar for next year – probably August 30-31, 2016…

As always your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.

John Packard, Publisher

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