In January, the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association announced that the tradeshow sponsored by the American Meat Institute will be joining the International Poultry Expo/International Feed Expo beginning in January 2013 at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. The new show will be named the International Production & Processing Expo, or IPPE. U.S. Poultry & Egg Association will continue to sponsor the International Poultry Expo, American Feed Industry Association will continue to sponsor the International Feed Expo and now the American Meat Institute will sponsor the International Meat Expo.
Added value
Why the co-location? Because we think it adds value – for both the attendee and the exhibitor. For the attendee, there will be a greater breadth and depth to the products and services on exhibit at the International Production & Processing Expo. The strong education programs already available at the expo will only be further enhanced by the addition of the American Meat Institute, an association with a similar history of producing industry-driven, first-rate educational programs.
For the exhibitor, the co-location provides access to a larger customer base, at a significantly lower cost. If you go back in time a decade, the three organizations – U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, American Feed Industry Association and the American Meat Institute – sponsored four shows every two years, or two per year. Now this has been reduced to a single show per year. So, the co-locations with the American Feed Industry Association and the American Meat Institute cuts the exhibition cost in half, or more, for many of our exhibitors. And, all exhibitors benefit from drawing a far larger base of potential buyers.
Further, the co-location maintains an annual schedule, providing the greatest opportunity for exhibitors to meet and greet a much broader segment of the industry. Consider that not every supervisor, manager or engineer can attend the expo in a given year…someone has to stay home and keep the plant running. Many companies have adopted a two or three year rotation among similar job functions for attendance to the expo, particularly among newer (younger) employees. An annual tradeshow provides the best opportunity for exhibitors to introduce themselves – and their companies and products – to these up-and-coming employees who will be tomorrow’s decision makers.
The big event
Beyond the value and efficiencies the co-location brings, it also establishes a new horizon on which the International Production & Processing Expo is the preeminent animal protein sector event in the Western Hemisphere. That positioning propels an interest in the expo far beyond our borders and will enhance the success of the show. Already, a substantial percentage of tradeshow exhibitors and attendees are international, and a more diverse tradeshow increases the expo’s attractiveness to members of industry from around the globe. This enhanced success is returned right back to the respective industries served by the three organizations via support of programs and projects our respective boards deem vital. Like U.S. Poultry & Egg Association and the American Feed Industry Association, the American Meat Institute has a long history of utilizing net revenues from the tradeshow to fund critical research, develop needed education and training programs, communicate about the industry and its concerns, and a host of other industry priorities.
Given that our industry’s success has been driven by ever improving efficiency, it’s certainly not surprising that the industry’s tradeshow is modeling a similar path with co-locations. Doing so will sustain the future of the tradeshow, while allowing U.S. Poultry & Egg Association to continue to serve the industry the other 51 weeks each year.
