Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
May 27, 2020
You plan for as much as you can, and hope for the best…
My events team, coupled with the CRU events team out of London, made the determination about a week ago that it was not going to be possible to conduct the SMU Steel Summit Conference at the Georgia International Convention Center in Atlanta at the end of August (24-26). We have been working diligently for months to create a viable option that meets the high standards we have set for our conference over the years. We had two options: cancel the conference and leave more than a thousand executives without our content and networking or provide a totally new experience – a virtual conference (not a webinar). After much study and discussion, we have opted to do what SMU always does – stick our neck out to provide you with a new and exciting experience!
The Best Laid Plans….
Our plan was to work on a well scripted document and article to be released in Sunday evening’s issue of SMU. We had worked with a couple of steel-related publications with ads for their upcoming June issues, not expecting one of them to “scoop” us and announce our virtual conference yesterday afternoon before we had all the pieces in place.
Now What?
So, we are going to provide a new experience. One that includes one-on-one networking within the conference platform.
I can already sense a myriad of questions flying my way. What the heck does a virtual conference mean? What’s a platform? Isn’t this just a webinar with a new name? Why should I pay money for webinars that SMU (and others) are giving for free? I go to the SMU Steel Summit Conference because I want to be face-to-face with my customers and suppliers. Why would I give that up? What is this going to cost me?
I intend to answer every one of those questions and many others in the coming days and weeks.
Let me start with this. I would like everyone who has registered already to take a deep breath for a few days, speak with me directly if needed, or allow me some time to roll out what the virtual experience is going to be like, and why you and your coworkers are going to want to attend.
If you are not yet registered – registration at the new virtual conference price levels is now open. Click here to go to registration. The full price is $450 for a single executive who is not an SMU or CRU member company. If your company is a member, the number drops to $400 for a single person. If you register two or more executives from the same company and you are an SMU or CRU member company, the rate drops to $350 per person. If your company is not an SMU or CRU subscriber company and you are registering more than one person, the rate is $400 per person… Confused? Events@SteelMarketUpdate.com
D
o You Trust Me?
If you have lived through one or more SMU Steel Summits, if you know my history for understanding what is necessary both for content and networking, then stick with me. I am commited to bringing value to you and your company.
So far, the sponsors and companies with multiple people already registered I have spoken to are still, as Tom Cullen of Magic Coil Products told me this afternoon, “all in” for this conference. Not just one person, their entire team(s) originally planned for a live event in Atlanta.
My goal is to make this as large and exciting as our live event in Atlanta.
I will have much more on the 2020 SMU Virtual Steel Summit Conference in the coming days. The platform is under construction, our speakers are still with us as are our sponsors/exhibitors, and we anticipate an exciting experience.
If you have questions, please feel free to reach out to me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
Read more from John PackardLatest in Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
And so it begins (again). Not to be outdone by Thanksgiving, President-elect Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on all imports from Canada and Mexico. He also threatened to hit all imports from China with tariffs of 10% - an amount that would come on top of a boatload of pre-existing duties and tariffs.
Final Thoughts
“We’ll always have Paris,” as the famous line in Casablanca goes. And this month, the global steel industry did as well. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Steel Committee met in the City of Lights earlier this month. There was also a meeting of the Global Forum addressing excess steel capacity.
Final Thoughts
It’s once again A Tale of Two Cities in the steel market. Some are almost euphoric about Trump’s victory. Others, some rather bearish, are more focused on the day-to-day market between now and Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Final Thoughts
One of the perhaps unintentional perks of being a trade journalist is the opportunity to travel and cover an array of industry conferences and events. Some I've attended have been at fun locations, like Palm Springs and Tampa, Fla. Others have been in more practical locations, like SMU’s Steel Summit in Atlanta and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA) meetings in Washington, D.C.
Final Thoughts
t this point in the game I think what we can say about Nippon Steel’s proposed buy of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel is that it will go through, it won’t go through, or the outcome will be something new and completely unexpected. Then again, I’m probably still missing a few options.