Sanders to Organize Plastics Showcase

The Society of the Plastics Industry has named 26-year events industry veteran Gene Sanders vice president of tradeshows. His job: to make the mammoth triennial NPE — Intl. Plastics Showcase even bigger.

NPE 2006, which ranked No. 12 on the most recent Tradeshow Week 200, attracted 1,838 exhibitors and 64,438 attendees to a 942,524 net square foot showfloor at Chicago's McCormick Place June 19–23.

If anybody can grow the show, Sanders appears to have the resume for it. When he was a vice president for the Telecommunications Industry Assn., he had overall responsibility for Supercomm, which, in its best years, attracted 30,000 visitors and 700 exhibitors to a 300,000 net sq. ft. showfloor. He was also senior director of sales and services for the Natl. Assn. of Broadcasters and its annual NAB, also on the 2007 TSW 200 list right behind NPE at No. 13.

Sanders took on his position with the plastics industry association when Walt Bishop moved from vice president of tradeshows to vice president of SPI's Equipment Council. SPI President and CEO William Carteaux said Sanders was hired to transform NPE from a show strictly for large machinery to one that offers a full range of solutions for the plastics industry.

"We want to go vertical and horizontal," Sanders said.

Attendees from the materials and processors segments had always attended NPE, he added, but now the show wants them as exhibitors too. It will also seek more strategic partners, and beef up NPE's educational offerings to further broaden its appeal.

The show will take advantage of McCormick Place's additional meeting space in the new West Building, while using almost all of the North and South halls for the exhibition, just as it always has.

Sanders said his sales background with other large shows taught him that maximizing opportunities means maximizing revenue. Besides TIA and NAB, Sanders' experience includes a stint at international consulting firm SC&H Group, where he launched C4-Events, a specialized consultancy for tradeshows.

He also said the fact that NPE only takes place every three years is far from a challenge. He's worked on the quadrennial MINExpo Intl. Natl. Mining Assn. and the biennial CONEXPO-CON/AGG and Worldwide Food Expo.

"It doesn't change anything," Sanders said. "We're nonstop anyway when it comes to sales and operations because of the size of the machinery that's exhibited at NPE. There's no sitting back for two or three years."

NPE will next be held June 22–26, 2009, at Chicago's McCormick Place.