Waste Expo Deep in the Heart of Texas

The Lone Star State will be the place for the waste industry’s serious business minds in June. The Environmental Industry Associations (EIA) and Primedia will be hosting WasteExpo ’99 at the Dallas Convention Center from June 7 through June 10.

“Roping in New Markets” is WasteExpo ‘99’s appropriately Texas-like theme, which also alludes to the business opportunities the show has to offer for those who plan on getting involved this year. “Roping in New Solutions” will be the theme for the educational conferences. According to Jacqueline Wolfe, a director of expositions with Primedia, the themes of this year’s event pertain to “discovering new ideas and the latest solutions.” Wolfe adds that the themes also address the challenges each attendee faces within the rapidly changing industry as it moves into a new millenium.

EIA promotional material heralds this year’s convention as an opportunity to explore “New Markets, New Technologies, [and] A New Century!” But that’s not all that will be new about this year’s exposition.

NEW PARTNER PART OF WASTE EXPO

WasteExpo ’99 will be the first show following Washington-based EIA’s merger with Primedia Inc., a media company based in New York City. Among other things, the merger means that Primedia will now share in the responsibilities of managing and producing EIA’s WasteExpo as well as the company’s Waste Age publication. The partnership agreement was announced in January.

 While Primedia will ultimately assume many of the show’s organizing responsibilities, the EIA will continue to have a high degree of visibility at the WasteExpo and will continue to be heavily involved in developing the conference programming. The EIA represents some 2,000 businesses involved in waste services and equipment manufacturing, distribution and servicing, and includes within it the National Solid Wastes Management Association and the Waste Equipment Technology Association.

1999 EVENTS AND ATTRACTIONS

Will attendees or exhibitors see evident changes in the show and exhibition this year? According to Wolfe, improvements have been made but will be more apparent for WasteExpo 2000. Exhibitors and attendees of this year’s show will, however, have access to the same educational and networking opportunities in Dallas that they have come to expect from WasteExpo in the past. Representatives from both the EIA and Primedia believe the new arrangement will enhance WasteExpo’s status as the largest trade show for the waste and recycling industries in North America.

This year’s exposition will offer four days of conferences and three days of expo hours for attendees. In addition to a priceless “elbow-rubbing” experience with other members of the industry, WasteExpo ’99 will continue its tradition of bringing together some of the industry’s most respected experts for its series of educational tracks. All of the other WasteExpo staples, such as factory tours, meetings and featured speakers, will be present in Dallas as well.

WasteExpo is one of the top 200 trade shows in North America and has become a “must attend” event for most companies within the waste industry. The show attracts more than 10,000 attendees annually and offers more than 500 exhibiting companies displaying their products and services across more than 220,000 net square feet of space. Last year’s exhibition in Chicago featured 531 exhibitors and was attended by more than 10,400 people, including over 8,100 categorized as qualified buyers by show organizers.

WasteExpo promotional material touts it as a “one-stop-shop” for any company’s waste industry needs. This means that WasteExpo continues to maintain its reputation as a place where businesses, both small and large, can make contacts, in addition to making themselves known to the rest of the industry. The show is also known as an opportunity for waste industry participants to educate themselves and get up to speed on the current state of the industry. This is achieved through the show’s daily series of seminars and educational tracks.

All types of waste industry businesses will likely find something valuable to take back from the show, which continues to open its scope a little more every year. This year’s conference topics range from broad (“How the Changing World Marketplace Affects Your Business”) to the specific (“Integrated Controllers in Processing Equipment and Systems”), to controversial topics like sexual harassment in the workplace and industry safety standards.

The itinerary of Monday, June 7 offers a general business and management educational track, which includes sessions on “Trends and Technology” and “Small Haulers.” Monday’s events also include tracks on “Technology/Business Strategies,” “Equipment & Insurance/Risk Management,” “Recycling,” and “Landfill.”

The second day of the show will include seminars on “Medical Waste,” “Composting,” “Safety/Regulation,” “C&D/Demolition,” and “Landfill.”

Wednesday offers three educational sessions for the retail/supermarket waste generators. The first session is a Supermarket Case Study featuring Linda Smith of H.E. Butt Grocery Company, San Antonio, and Fred Freer and Michael Savage, both of Philadelphia Tramrail Co. The second session will include presentations by Denny Gill of Ameri-Kan, Warsaw, Ind., and Dave Malter with Malter Associates, Woodridge, Ill. Session Three will include presentations by Shannon Harrop of J. V. Manufacturing, Springdale, Ark., and Denny Pool of SP Industries, Hopkins, Mich. This will be the first time the retail/supermarket waste generator branch of the industry has been spotlighted at WasteExpo.

The last day of WasteExpo’s educational series will be devoted to international topics including “How the World Market Affects Your Business” and “How to do Business Internationally.” There will also be a Latin America Business Roundtable on Thursday.

Some of the special events slated for this year’s show include a welcome reception, titled “On the Border,” which will combine Texan and Mexican culture for an evening of networking, food and entertainment. There will also be a spouse luncheon at the Antares restaurant, titled, “Financial Fantasies, Fallacies and Facts” on Wednesday. The luncheon will be conducted by investment professional Tia Tomlin.

Two elective tours will also be conducted during the course of the show; one through the Dallas Arts District (Monday) and another to the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center (Tuesday).

There will also be an awards breakfast with Heather Whitestone McCallum, Miss America 1995, as well as a General Session, keynote presentation by Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame head football coach, now the head football coach at the University of South Carolina.

In an attempt to increase international attendance at the show, the EIA is offering a special orientation at the opening of the Exposition for international visitors. This will help international visitors to find their way around the show floor. Interpreters will also be on hand.

For more information on Waste-Expo ’99, visit www.wasteexpo.org on the web.

Dallas: Big City in a Big State

You already knew that the Lone Star State of Texas is easily the biggest thing happening on a map of the U.S. (the lower 48 that is), but what do you know about its number one visitor destination, the city of Dallas? . . . Besides what you know about J.R. Ewing and the “grassy knoll”?

Well, you probably didn’t know that Dallas is the largest city in the nation not on a navigable body of water and that it is the ninth largest city in U.S. With a population of slightly more than one million, Dallas continues to grow at a steady pace. The entire Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is made up of a population of more than three million people.

Although the city of Dallas covers 384 square miles of rolling prairie and cityscape, that’s still a lot of people in one metro market. And with that many mouths to feed, it’s no wonder that Dallas offers four times more restaurants per person than New York City, or that Dallas has more shopping centers per capita than any other major U.S. city. In addition, the second busiest airport in the world, the DFW International Airport, and Love Field, one of the nation’s busiest in-town airports, both serve Dallas.

Rounding off Dallas’ “bigness” are these facts provided by the Dallas Visitors and Convention Bureau: Dallas is the Southwest’s leading business and financial center. It boasts the largest wholesale market in the world and lays claim to being one of the top convention cities in the United States.

As one might expect in Texas, they like to be the biggest.

A Brief History of Texas

John Neely Bryan, a Tennessee lawyer, settled Dallas in 1841. Bryan had hopes of constructing a port on the Trinity River, but those dreams would never materialize.

At the end of the 19th century Dallas was already on its way to being a leading agricultural, railroad and trade center. By the 20th century Dallas found itself changing with the rest of the U.S.

In the 1920s Dallas was a major city for manufacturing and banking, and was a center in the world cotton market. In the ’30s and ’40s Dallas grew along with oil field management and services, and aviation and military manufacturing. The’50s brought wholesale trade and distribution to the forefront of Dallas’ economy. High-tech manufacturing and professional sports surfaced in the 1960s, and by the ’70s and’80s Dallas found itself a major international air hub, and a Mecca of international business. Real estate development, crowned with landmark skyscrapers, boomed in the region.

Combine all of this with the shops, restaurants, museums, parks and playgrounds that Dallas has to offer to see why it is the leading leisure and convention destination in Texas. According to the Dallas Visitors and Convention Bureau, as the city moves into the next century it continues to redefine itself with a focus on activities and the infrastructure of the central city.