Family Get-Together

Las Vegas will host a number of industry gatherings in March.

The words "family reunion" don’t typically conjure images of four-star hotels, exciting nightlife and fine food. More likely, it’s campgrounds, badminton and overcooked hamburgers.

But promoters of the Annual Convention of the National Association of Demolition Contractors (NADC) look upon the event as the gathering of the demolition industry’s family, even if the setting is undeniably that of a trade show.

This year’s show takes place March 10-12 at the MGM Mirage hotel and convention facility in Las Vegas.

"This year, of all years, we’re happy just to get the demolition family together," Alicia D’Arcy of the NADC says. "We’re hoping that people come because they are trying to get over what happened in September and to see their old friends. We like to think of the convention as a way of getting the industry together as a family."

Susanne Cobey, president of long-time NADC associate member and exhibitor Eagle Crusher Co. Inc., Galion, Ohio, echoes the sentiment. "It feels like a reunion." She says many of the NADC’s members are small, family owned companies much like Eagle Crusher. "Yes, we are there to promote our equipment. But everyone looks forward to going because it is such a special experience seeing all the family members again."

Cobey adds, "It’s our industry, there’s no question about it. Many of our customers are members. It’s just a great organization. That’s why we’re there."

Eagle Crusher is also exhibiting at the ConExpo-Con/Agg Convention, which is March 19-23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. "It’s a great show," she says of ConExpo, "but it doesn’t have the warmth and the camaraderie [of the NADC Convention]."

 THE EXHIBIT HALL

The March 2002 annual meeting of the NADC will be its 29th annual event. Headquartered in Doylestown, Pa., the NADC is a trade organization representing more than 500 demolition contractors and 200 associate companies that supply the industry with products and services.

Golf and tennis tournaments get things off to a spirited start Saturday, March 9. The 15th annual golf tournament begins with a 7 a.m. shotgun start at Angel Park Golf Course. The 5th annual tennis tournament is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Bally’s Tennis Court. Exhibits open March 10 at noon.

In addition to an exhibit area featuring the products and services of more than 75 companies serving the demolition industry, the convention also includes seminars and networking opportunities.

Leonard Cherry of Cherry Demolition, Houston, who is current president of the NADC, says that exhibitors are responding positively. "We’re anticipating a show equal or larger to those of prior years, despite what we’ve heard about some shows suffering."

D’Arcy says that the MGM Mirage has recently expanded its convention space, which enables all of the exhibits to be housed indoors. In previous years, the larger trucks and excavators were displayed outdoors because of space restrictions. "We’re very excited that we’re going to have everything under one roof," she says.

Cobey says Eagle Crusher plans to take advantage of the Mirage’s expanded exhibit space by displaying its newly designed 1400 Ultra Stealth Crusher. The machine can be transported in all 50 states without removing the hopper/feeder, which should result in savings for their customers because it eliminates the need for a crane, she says.

The NADC Convention provides "a wonderful opportunity to continue promoting our equipment to new customers," Cobey says.

Cherry says the exhibit area at the Mirage measures 90,000 square feet. He expects the new configuration to improve flow, benefiting exhibitors and attendees.

D’Arcy is expecting approximately 1,400 attendees this year. "The shows in Vegas are the best attended," averaging 200 to 300 more attendees than when the association hosts shows in Florida, she says. "There’s a huge drive-in crowd that we get from California." Industry members based in California also are more likely to fly into Vegas, whereas they may not fly to Florida, D’Arcy says.

Cherry adds, "So many of our attendees are owners. Exhibitors have the opportunity to speak to the person who is holding the purse strings. That bodes well for the exhibitor."

Attendees of the NADC’s 29th annual convention have the opportunity to attend breakout sessions Tuesday, March 12. "We did them last year, and we’re doing them again this year on topics that we feel are important to contractors from a business standpoint," D’Arcy says. The topics to be covered are:

• "What’s My Business Worth?" with Don Shelly, a partner with the Construction Group;

• "Negotiating Skills: Five Basic Skills for Resolving Conflict" with Walter R. Adamchik, a senior consultant with FMI Corp.; and

• "On the Road to Comfortable Retirement" with Julia Barinova and Evens Barthelemy, financial consultants with Salomon Smith Barney.

In addition to the breakout sessions, the convention features two speakers on Monday, March 11. Barry Asmus, senior economist for the National Center for Policy Analysis, presents "The Best is yet to Come: Prospects for the State of the American Economy." On the lighter side, Doug Shelby, deputy city manager of Las Vegas, dissects the host city, revealing some of the history and mystery obscured by the neon glow.

D’Arcy says, "Some years it’s nice to go back to something that you are familiar with; particularly this year. Obviously, because the demolition industry has played a big part in cleaning up the World Trade Center, we can’t hide from the fact that it happened. But it’s nice to get together to celebrate something – that we’re a family."

For more information on the NADC Convention, visit www.demolitionassociation.com  or call 800-541-2412.

While the state of commodity markets and the economy in general don’t present scrap recyclers with much to get excited about, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) hopes the possibility of adapting to and surviving a changing economy will.

ISRI, the Washington-based trade association for the scrap processing and recycling industry, has adopted "Embracing Change" as the theme of its 2002 Annual Convention and Exposition March 10-14 at Las Vegas’ Bellagio Casino Resort. The theme is intended to celebrate the success of the industry and to explore new ways of achieving success in an unpredictable environment.

David Krohne, assistant director of communications for ISRI, says the theme "will be featured prominently in major addresses as well as in a variety of sessions focusing on how to deal with change in a positive way to keep the industry viable and growing along with the myriad changes in the world at large. Attendees will learn techniques and gain information for coping with changing laws and regulations, new technologies and new methodologies."

In addition to providing an occasion for networking and browsing the exhibit hall for equipment and services, ISRI’s Annual Convention provides attendees with several educational opportunities.

Sessions on business management, regulatory compliance, emerging technologies and trends and other business-related topics will be presented, as will the annual spotlights on recyclable commodities.

According to Bob Garino, sessions will spotlight market trends for ferrous scrap, nickel/stainless scrap, copper, aluminum and rubber.

Detailed information on session dates and times can be found on ISRI’s Web site www.isri.org.