Two major industry trade shows will bump into each other and Halloween in 2018.

The International Fastener Expo will be October 30-November 1, 2018, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

The Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association 42nd annual convention will be October 28-30, 2018, in Phoenix.

Halloween is Tuesday, October 31.

STAFDA was originally scheduled in Denver during mid-November 2018, but was booted by Colorado this summer in favor of a five-year contract with a larger trade show (See FIN, October 2, 2017).

STAFDA was able to reschedule to Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Phoenix.

IFE will open on Tuesday in Las Vegas with conferences, a half-day preview for the machinery and source global sections and opening reception, followed by the regular trade show Wednesday and Thursday.

“We realize we bump up against the Fastener Show in Las Vegas next November, but given the extreme set of circumstances STAFDA was handed, we didn’t have any choice in the matter,” Foley told STAFDA members.

One IFE exhibitor commented that “for those businessmen and women who are also parents and grandparents and/or who enjoy the fun of Halloween night, this poses quite a conflict in missing this holiday so special to many!”

Holding the show on Halloween is “just not good business,” another IFE exhibitor said. “I heard from many attendees they were not coming next year.” Web: FastenerShows.com or STAFDA.org