Packaging Show Records Big Numbers

Nov. 1, 2006
PACK EXPO International 2006, sponsored by the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI, Arlington, Va.) the most comprehensive packaging tradeshow

PACK EXPO International 2006, sponsored by the Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI, Arlington, Va.) the most comprehensive packaging tradeshow in the world's largest packaging market, delivered 45,741 buyer attendees, up 553 from the 2004 show. The show saw increases in all attendance levels, including buyers, exhibitors and international attendees. In addition, the number of exhibiting companies and net square footage increased over 2004.

Add in the exhibitor personnel and the international press corps, and the total attendance for the five-day event was 71,407.

The show consumed 1,254,624 net square feet in all of Chicago's McCormick Place venues.

Using their personalized My PACK EXPO online business tool before and during the show, PACK EXPO buyer attendees established 100,404 "exhibitor must-see lists," created 24,825 personal maps to locate exhibitors they wanted to know more about, and viewed 3,247,889 pages of packaging supplier and PACK EXPO show information. Taken all together, more than 1.1 million direct business-to-business connections were made through PACK EXPO .

"More than seventy percent of the PACK EXPO attendees personalized their tradeshow experience utilizing a My PACK EXPO portal," said Charles D. Yuska, president and CEO of the PMMI. "In the past, show attendance was the sole indicator of event success; today, personalized connections are the measurement every exhibitor and attendee should care about, after all, finding a solution tailored for an individual person or company's packaging challenge is what every attendee seeks."

The My PACK EXPO portal tool was free to all PACK EXPO attendees via Packexpo.com, PMMI's newly expanded online business tool. Using the tool, PACK EXPO attendees were able to plan their tradeshow experience and focus their efforts on the technologies, suppliers and educational programming about which they wanted to learn more.

"PACK EXPO is about connecting the consumer and industrial goods companies that attend the event with suppliers that can solve the toughest packaging challenges," added Yuska. "The My PACK EXPO tool allowed for strong matching before the event, therefore onsite lead quality was exceptionally high and matchmaking will continue going forward."

The My PACK EXPO tool will remain open and available for both attendees and exhibiting companies for three months. Users will have access to their saved searches, supplier information and other connectivity features.

"The end of the show is just the beginning for PACK EXPO exhibitors and attendees," noted Yuska. "Through Packexpo.com, the show will be extended online and PACK EXPO participants will continue to be linked directly to each other via My PACK EXPO ."

Source: PMMI