Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
April 18, 2018
I try to make all of our customers feel as though they are a part of our organization and, indeed, you are. It is very important to me to get feedback from our readers, as well as from others associated with the steel industry. To get that feedback, I travel to conferences and various meetings, we have our flat rolled steel market questionnaire that regularly goes out to a group of about 640 executives, I speak on the phone to as many people as I possibly can (anyone is welcome to call), and I read and respond to my emails.
The other day I mentioned that we may discontinue publishing MSCI data. I did get one customer who responded that would be bad for his company. Before we make any final decisions, I would like to ask for more comments as the MSCI data has existed for as long as I have been in the business. I don’t want to take anything away from my customers without first asking for your feedback. Here is your opportunity to do so – please contact me at John@SteelMarketUpdate.com if you have an opinion one way or the other.
A quick note to mention that Tim Triplett and I are scheduled to attend the Metals Industry Boy Scout Dinner in Chicago on May 10. There is an ad in the sidebar of the newsletter and our website with information about the dinner and a link to their website.
Our next Steel 101 workshop is about two-thirds sold out. We still have room, so if you have been thinking about sending some of your people to Memphis in early June (June 5 & 6) please register soon. Over the past couple of years, we have been consistently selling out our workshops and creating wait lists. You can find more details about the workshop on our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel101 or you are welcome to contact our office at 800-432-3475.
Since the beginning of April, we have had 119 executives register to attend the SMU Steel Summit Conference. We are quickly closing in on 350 total registrations and should be well past that mark by the end of this week. We are well on our way to our goal of 800 attendees.
We were able to secure a few more hotel rooms at the Renaissance Gateway Hotel, which is across the street from the Marriott Gateway and next to the SpringHill Suites. As of right now, all three hotels do have rooms, but I expect them to begin selling out within the next few days or by the end of the month at the latest.
We are in the process of working with Marriott to add another one of their properties to our list of available hotels with special rates and a shuttle bus to the convention center. We will advise as soon as the contract is in place.
We have made a special arrangement with the Georgia International Convention Center that allows us to expand this year’s conference to 1,200 people if the need arises.
I
was asked today about getting a list of the attendees. We appreciate all of our attendees and their privacy. There is a list of the attending companies on our website, and we will publish that list from time to time in our newsletter. However, about 30-60 days before the conference begins we will release our app for 2018. It is the same app as in past years, but with more bells and whistles. All of the attendees will be in the app and you will be able to search by company or by name. When we release the app, everyone registered for the event will get an email advising that the app is available. We will have much more about our app in the coming months.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, Publisher
John Packard
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