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Report from Southern Metal
Finishing Conference
by Ted Mooney
Finishing.com attended and exhibited at the Southern Metal
Finishing conference in Charleston SC on August 6th through 8th for
the third consecutive year. Charleston is a wonderful tourist
destination, even the 3rd time around, with an aquarium, harbor boat
rides, carriage rides, unequaled historical & house tours, and
great dining all within easy walking distance. The conference took
place at the recently renovated Embassy Suites, restored from the
original Citadel, in the heart of the historic district.
The social part of the conference started with a golf tournament
on Sunday followed by a combination pub crawl - scavenger hunt in the
evening. Monday was the start of a two-day course on powder coating,
attended by about 45 people, and an AESF-sponsored course on
Innovative Pollution Prevention. Tabletop exhibition space sold out
early, with about 20 exhibitors. The conference appeared to be
attended by about 150 people. A cocktail party on Monday featured an
entertaining slide show of Sunday's scavenger hunt, just embarrassing
enough to get the participants drinking again. Most of the speakers,
exhibitors, and organizers arranged to go out to dinner en masse,
resulting in a continued great spirit of camaraderie for the
conference.
The Tuesday luncheon featured Jerry Beck, the North American
finishing manager for Schneider Electric (parent company of Square
D), as keynote speaker on globalization. It was half terrifying, half
inspirational, but wholly eye-opening. --
TM
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