Sun, sea and Informex 2006: C&I tastes success in the US
Informex 2006 annual US fine and speciality chemicals exhibition Orlando, Florida
 Freezing winds matched with blazing sunshine greeted the Chemistry & Industry team on arriving in Orlando, Florida, for Informex 2006, the annual US fine and speciality chemicals exhibition. Their travel plans were also delayed by the worst snowstorm in the northeastern US for many years! Informex itself had already been affected by severe weather – the original venue in New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Katrina at the end of August 2005 so the new owners of the exhibition, CMP Information, which had just acquired Informex from the US Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA), had to find a new location at short notice.
The transfer to the Sunshine State was achieved relatively smoothly and the doors opened at the Orange County Convention Centre, Orlando, on 13 February to 30% more pre-registered attendees than the 2005 show in Las Vegas. Exhibitor numbers were also up from 486 to 503, with 110 exhibitors attending for the first time. Although generally viewed as a US industry event, non-US exhibitors from 38 other countries accounted for 43% of the overall total.
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'One potential new C&I reader saw a story about one of her customers and just grabbed a pen to fill in the application form.’ |
Informex is very much a networking event as well as an traditional exhibition. Within minutes of the doors opening SCI marketing and business development executive Katherine Simpson (pictured) was signing up potential new C&I readers. By just halfway through the event, she had signed up over 150 prospective readers and recruited a new SCI member.
Meanwhile, features editor Rob Winder was talking to industry executives about the latest developments and trends and the C&I advertising team, Mo Hoque and Malcolm Fullarton were pounding the aisles promoting the benefits of C&I’s specialised circulation to existing and potential advertisers and the opportunities presented by SCI’s diverse conference and event programme.
‘It was extremely pleasing to discover the high recognition level for C&I at this US event,’ said C&I editor Neil Eisberg. ‘What was also very pleasing was the eagerness of potential new readers to sign up for a trial subscription as a result of C&I’s content. One signee was wavering until she saw a story about one of her customers and just grabbed a pen to fill in the application form.’
US potential
‘The US represents a huge opportunity for SCI, and C&I in particular,’ Eisberg added. ‘With our focus on innovation in science and chemistry in particular, we have a unique proposition that was instantly recognised as such by everyone we spoke to during the show.’
Although there were no major news announcements in Orlando, German fine and speciality chemicals producer Lanxess chose Informex to formally launch the new image of its fine chemicals and contract manufacturing spin-out, Saltigo. The new company, wholly owned by Lanxess – which was itself spun out of German chemical major Bayer in 2005 – becomes a legal entity on 1 April 2006.
For 2007, Informex moves to San Francisco before returning to New Orleans, its spiritual home, in 2008. But the main Informex news was the launch an Informex in Guangzhou, China, in December 2006, with two additional Informex events in the planning stage for 2007.
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