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2007 AWFS^® Fair Sets New Milestones

The Golden Anniversary edition of the AWFS®Fair, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center July 18 – 22, 2007 continued the tradition of delivering great value to both attendees and exhibitors, setting new milestones in many areas. Over 30,000 industry professionals, drawn from 66 countries from around the world met, networked, learned, conducted business and experienced the excitement of 2007’s largest industry event over the course of four whirlwind days.

With 910 exhibiting companies, the most of any previous show, occupying 475,875 net square feet, an increase of 14 percent from 2005, AWFS®Vegas 2007 was the largest, most successful and exciting Woodworking Machinery and Supply Fair® to date.

“With more exhibitors occupying more exhibit space, it was only due to careful planning and the incredible team effort on the part of all of our staff and vendors that exhibitors experienced the smoothest move-in ever.” notes Angelo Gangone, AWFS VP, trade shows. This set a highly positive buzz that continued over the next four days.”

Other milestones of the 2007 event included a 40 percent increase in the number of new products vying for Sequoia Awards, a 30 percent increase in the number of entries in the Fresh Woods Student Competition, a 45 percent increase in the attendance at the Gala Awards Dinner and the successful inaugural debut of the National Belt Sander National Championships.

“While the anticipated growth in registration, based on the pattern of pre-registration that ran consistently ahead of 2005, did not materialize, overall attendance was virtually the same as the record high set in 2005, proving that the phenomena of the initial move to Vegas was not a one-time draw. Exhibitors in both halls have reported they had great traffic, above anticipated numbers of both leads and sales and most importantly, healthy ROI’s. Space reservations for 2009 are already pouring in, with quite a few requesting increases of as much as triple the amount they had this year”, reports Gangone.

Typical of the kudos is the note from Brian Curran, Pro Channel Account Manager, Professional Tool Mfg., LLC. “…we enjoyed and benefited from our recent experience at the AWFS®Fair last week in Las Vegas, NV. Not only were we thrilled to have won the Sequoia Award for Product Innovation - Power Tools category but were equally pleased by the overall number of attendees at the show and the volume of visitors to our booth. After all, that was the reason for our company having a presence at this show. Given our successful experience as first time exhibitors at AWFS®, we eagerly look forward to attending the next AWFS®Fair in 2009.”

Exhibitors such as Vollmer of America, already have plans to substantially increase the size of its exhibit space in 2009. For Vollmer this is a six-fold increase since making their initial appearance as an AWFS®Fair exhibitor in 1999. “The ’07 show was a big success for Vollmer in many ways. We were able to reinforce existing partnerships with customers while introducing them to our newest technologies. The Fair is a wonderful opportunity to present new applications and to listen to our customers; to learn how to better serve their needs and meet industry expectations. It is this willingness to listen and then adapt our systems to customer needs that drives VOLLMER’s success. The AWFS Fair provides our company with an unmatched opportunity to accomplish these goals and more,” said VOLLMER of AMERICA President, Ralf Kraemer.

The continued growth in attendees drawn from the cabinet industry, the Fair’s largest attendee segment, growing by 12 percent in 2007, offset the prolonged decline in the furniture category that has occurred over the past decade even though it had been buoyed slightly in 2005 as a result of the co-location of the Furniture Market’s grand opening event.

International attendance from our neighbors to the north, Canada, also set new record highs, growing once again by 27percent. Ana Druk, AWFS® international liaison, notes that this year’s international program was the best ever… in participation, use of the International Business Center, and seriousness of the international buyers attending the show. Formal delegations came from a number of countries that had never had a single attendee in the past, and these individuals were prepared to buy. One first time international attendee, not only found two new suppliers, but finalized initial purchases of $135,000 and plans on repeat orders if the products measure up. Another individual used the IBC to finalize the purchase of two pieces of equipment costing approximately $165,000. The DOC representatives who spent the time meeting both exhibitors and international attendees, commended AWFS® on the association’s initial participation in the IBP program and on the quality of the fair’s International Directory, distributed to all international exhibitors who attended the event.

Dale Silverman, AWFS® EVP, notes that “I am excited that, just as in 2005, we had many new attendees from throughout the U.S. and around the world. Particularly thrilling was the record number of Wood and Wood Products Top 100 companies that sent a record number of their employees to the Fair this year and signed most of them up for the Awards Dinner as well. While Home Improvement TV star, Richard Karn might have been the draw, the incredible level of networking that took place among the nearly 500 attendees, including over a hundred individuals from a full one third of the Top 100 industry companies who met and mingled with the top woodworking students of this generation and their very supportive parents, numerous representatives from most of the Sequoia Award winning companies and AWFS leadership was exhilarating. The Awards Dinner has distinguished itself as being “THE” premier industry event celebrating the best and brightest.”

One of the many first time attendees that had never experienced a “major” show before, Rusty Henderson, Master Refinisher from Troy Ohio dropped by the AWFS® booth to thank the association. A long time member of “the trade”, he noted that he had never attended a major show before, “I had expected to see a few of my suppliers…what I have experienced is so overwhelming, my brain has not had time to process it all…I will certainly be back in 2009!”

The Fresh Wood Competition, showcasing 58 finalist pieces drawn from a record 210 entries not only drew record crowds of attendees and exhibitors, but the national press. AWFS® Education Manager, Adria Torrez, and Chris Hedges, winner of both Best in Show and the People’s Choice award, were featured on local television, with the national network planning on expanding the feature for national air in the nest several weeks. The Los Angeles Times has also run a feature on the contest, helping to focus attention of the value of tech education.

The newest and certainly noisiest new feature of the show, sponsored by Accuride, came from the 1500 racing enthusiasts who more than filled the bleachers and aisles for the start of the inaugural National Belt Sander Racing National Championships. As stock and modified belt sanders screamed down a 75’computer-monitored raceway, Car & Driver Radio host, Alan Taylor added his talents to the event. Richard Karn, serving as a guest judge, also added to the excitement. With Taylor’s encouragement and belt sander teams doing their all to win prizes and crowd acclaim, the cheering seemed louder than the hum of million dollar machinery that had been operating all day!