PERSPECTIVE: Reed Postpones 2001 IFE Machinery Show

John Wolz

Reed Exhibition Companies officially postponed its International Fastener & Precision Formed Parts Manufacturing Expo.
The postponement without a future date announcement comes only four months after two fastener organizations started a competing show.
IFE had been scheduled in April 2001 in Rosemont, IL.
In February the Industrial Fasteners Institute and the International Fastener Machinery Association announced they would jointly create the Industrial Fastener & Forming International Exhibition & Conference. The first IFFI will be June 4-7, 2001, at the Cleveland Convention Center.
Many machinery suppliers are members of IFMA, and many potential expo attendees are IFI members. That gave the new show clout, and exhibit space sold so fast the initial floorplan had to be expanded.
Insiders say the postponement is in effect a cancellation unless IFFI fails to draw sufficient high-quality attendees to satisfy exhibitors. That keeps pressure on the IFI to bring in members and draw nonmember attendees to the show. A poor turnout would give Norwalk, CT-based Reed an opening to do a 2003 show.
The 1999 IFE was its largest, with more than 150 exhibiting companies and 2,500 attendees.
The Reed announcement acknowledged that �recent actions by industry associations have created an overcrowding of events during the spring of 2001.�
�Attendee research from the last IFE event indicated that there were already too many industry events, and IFE would need to broaden its appeal to reach new markets,� Reed vice president Kel Marsden-Kish explained. �Based on this, we will continue our efforts to seek synergistic opportunities and partnerships complementary to plans to co-locate with Quality Expo International.�