Final Thoughts

August 28, 2019

I thought I was going to get a respite from the stress of putting on the 2019 SMU Steel Summit Conference as the conference has concluded and I have returned home. For those of you who do not know, I live in southern Florida on the Atlantic coast side close to West Palm Beach. Mother Nature has decided that I had better things to do with my time than rest as I prepare for what is now being forecast to be a Category 4 hurricane.

I have been asked many times what I thought of the conference? It is very difficult for me to look at the conference with objective eyes. I know what the intention was for each segment and from every speaker. There were times when I was surprised at the quality of the program and speaker, and other times when I thought it could have been done better. I am always looking for new content and for cutting edge programming. I will strive to improve next year’s program over this year’s.

All of the comments I got were very supportive and appreciative of the job we did with this year’s conference. I didn’t hear from anyone, not even those who had some shuttle bus issues at the other Marriott hotel, that they would not be coming back next year. Of course, everyone knows this has been my “baby” for many years and the comments made to me always seem to be very positive.

Ah, but there were a couple of people who made suggestions on how to improve the program. I want to thank each of you, as I have stated above my goal is to always provide the most cutting-edge program that meets the needs of all of our attendees.

I recognized the need for a manufacturing-focused program, and we will have one at the 2020 conference. The real-time polling needs to be in a better spot, and we will correct that for 2020, as well. I will also have one to two more forecasters at next year’s conference. They will complement the strong speakers I already have in mind (or have already recruited).

Our sponsors and exhibitors were very supportive, and we received commitments from most of them to return next year. It is a good sign when those who are paying to share their company name or to rent space from us say they will continue to spend money as they see value in our product.

Our October 2019 Steel 101 workshop is sold out (although I did tell one attendee if he sent me an email, I would use my “influence” and get him a spot…). Our next Steel 101 will be in Ontario, Calif., in Jan. 7-8. California in January seemed like a good place to be. We will be touring the California Steel Industries steel mill and pipe mill if time permits. Details should be coming out on our website soon.

We are not producing a newsletter on Sunday due to the Labor Day Holiday here in the United States. For me, I will be trying to dodge Hurricane Dorian.

We will be back to our normal publishing schedule on Tuesday.

Enjoy the long holiday weekend.

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

John Packard, President & CEO