Final Thoughts

Twelve years later it still works. SMU continues to grow, we continue to come up with new products and ways of looking at business. Our brand is respected by the steel community and we appreciate our customers and do everything possible to provide the best information so those within the industry who have to make decisions are better able to do so.

I made a similar decision when I started the SMU Steel Summit Conference. We started small, riding on the coattails of Metalcon. Our first conference was in Las Vegas. We charged $100 per head, and had slightly more than 100 executuves, The formula worked, and we continued to grow from there.

I made the decision to put down roots for the conference about six years ago. I selected the Georgia International Convention Center because it made sense for active industry executives who were tired of being used and abused by high hotel rates, multiple airports, expensive cab rides and inferior programs. The GICC, located next to the Atlanta airport, was the perfect location. If not for the pandemic, this year’s event, which is our 10th, would be at the GICC instead of being virtual.

But this is the year of the pandemic, and we roll with the punches. You will now be able to interact and appreciate our program from the comfort of your office or home office (or even sitting outside by the pool).

I have spoken to almost every speaker, we are working with the events team in London, our platform has been built, the exhibition booths are being stocked and we are getting very close to being able to launch this year’s event. The program is going to be exceptional. We are going to cover a wide variety of subjects. There will be many forecasts (economic, political and steel related).

We have moved through 600 registered attendees on our way to (we hope) 800+ executives.

Nominations for the SMU NexGen Leadership Award are due tomorrow, August 5th You can nominate someone (including yourself) and learn more about the nomination process by clicking here. All qualified nominees will receive a free pass to this year’s conference.

You can learn more about our platform and how networking and interacting with our agenda will work by viewing last week’s SMU Community Chat webinar. You can view the recording by clicking here or going to www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/blog/smu-community-chat-webinars and click on last week’s recording.

Most importantly, if you want to join everyone at this year’s event, you can do that by clicking here or going to www.smusteelsummit.com or by sending an email to Events@SteelMarketUpdate.com

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

John Packard, President & CEO