Exhibitors at the largest international event for the metal construction industry tout success for this year’s METALCON tradeshow and conference in Baltimore from October 26-28.
Donnie Snow, Southern Region Account Manager at Akzo Nobel, a leading global paints and coatings company, said, “I love METALCON! It’s the one place we need to be. In this business, you have to have a presence. You have to be here. Our competition is here, so you’ve got to be here. We network with existing and new customers, as well as introduce new products. Every year you need to try to keep it fresh and introduce new products, and Baltimore offers the perfect set up for us.”
Ireland’s Gearoid Hogan, Vice President of Sales & Marketing with Combilift, a specialist forklift & straddle carrier manufacturer, said, “This show provides the opportunity to meet with customers and showcase our new machinery. It is one of the top shows we attend each year. It attracts serious attendees who are here with a purpose.”
Newcomer to METALCON this year was Accurate Perforating, a leading prime manufacturer of custom and standard perforated metals. Michael Beck of Accurate Perforating said, “The show has been good for us because it brings us closer to our customer, to the end-user. I really didn’t know what to expect. With other shows, the people are more generic. Here, the exhibitors are our customers. Baltimore is a great venue, and it really changed my opinion of the area. It is a great location to attract the international attendance we are seeing.”
Also new to the show this year was Acculign Framing. Company President Bridget Saladino said, “A lot of our target customers/partners are here, and we love the city. METALCON has exceeded our expectations, and we are impressed with the caliber of attendees and exhibitors. I think we'll look back in a year and point a number of successes to the relationships made at METALCON, which we believe will really help to grow our business.”
The guys at D. I. Roof Seamers, manufactures of quality roof seaming tools, were fired up about this year’s show. Here’s what they had to say: Jonathan Rider, Chief Administrative Officer, said, “This year was fantastic. Baltimore is a good location. We have more quality leads. People are coming to see the preferred vendors all in one place at one time. The Metal Construction Association’s (MCA) metal roofing championship games are a big draw, as well as the MCA Triumph Awards.” Sales Manager, Kevin Thomas said, “From a builder’s standpoint, we could travel for half the year and still wouldn’t see more people than we would here. This year we doubled our booth size to a 20 x 20. We are seeing the value in it, and it is paying off. More people are ready to buy.”
Speaking of the roofing games, this sold-out event awarded a total of $5,800 to its winners. Ten teams of two competed in five “Battles”, inspired by this year’s theme “Battle Stars over Baltimore” in honor of our Star-Spangled Banner birthplace. Top awards each day included a Grand Prize award and a Best Quality award. The winner on Wednesday for both categories was Joe Arnold and Paul Kulb of Thomas Phoenix International, and on Thursday, the same was awarded to Dennis Duce and Gonzolo Tellez of Intermountain Roof Advisors. “It was an honor to be part of this event, and we look forward to competing next year,” said Duce. Next year’s teams will be able to pre-register for the Las Vegas games beginning in February 2017.
Robyn Ommen, Marketing Representative with Valspar, a global leader in the coatings industry, was happy to report her outcome. She said, “We’ve had a lot of traffic and good conversations with customers ―a lot of international attendees. We are a global company so it’s great to connect with people from all over. Each year, we introduce new products and continue relationships with existing customers. We do a lot of networking before, during and after the show. We keep busy with breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings, sometimes doubling up on meetings.”
Miguel Pena of GSSI Sealants, a small, family-owned manufacturer of premier sealant tapes, said, “I come every year, I think it’s a great show and the metal construction industry needs a show. My biggest customers are exhibiting here also, so it is good to be able to see all of my customers in one place. I get to finally meet people I have been in contact with for years over the phone or by email. It is great to see things like AMIE that are cutting edge. This cutting edge technology really adds to the show.”
As part of its focus on technology this year, METALCON featured a large scale 3-D printing technology project developed by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and industry partners known as the Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy (AMIE) project. AMIE demonstrated rapid innovation through additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, addressing electricity supply and reliability challenges via an integrated approach to power generation, storage and consumption. Dr. Roderick Jackson, the technical lead for AMIE and the Building Envelope Systems Research group leader at ORNL, drew a crowd as a keynote speaker on the Future of Design and Technology Trends in Construction followed by a guided tour of AMIE in the exhibit hall. “I enjoyed engaging in a dialogue on innovations in construction with industry professionals at METALCON,” said Jackson.
Other exhibitors including the folks at ACE Clamps, manufacturers of roof mounting innovations, were excited about the show this year too. Bob Mercier of ACE Clamps said, “Day one of METALCON started with a bang for us! We’re showcasing a new product, a nice video and have a good location. We’re using METALCON to launch our new product, which is drawing a lot of traffic to our booth. METALCON is key for networking with other industry leaders.” Tamas Kovacs, an engineer with ACE Clamps said, “We’re receiving some nice feedback on how to improve future products.” Brad Wasley, Ace Clamp Sales Manager said, “As far as attendance, this is the best attendance at our booth in the past five years. Our new, larger booth size, the position of our booth across from the roofing games and the advertising dollars spent all contribute to this year’s success.”
Baltimore resident Bill Funk and Coil Business Development Manager of Duracoat Products, a leading coil coatings company, said, “We’re generating a lot of leads. Being positioned right by the front, showcasing new products and our friend, NASCAR Race Car Driver Jeff Gordon all contribute to our success. Also, we have our entire sales force here. We’re combining our presence at the show with our sales meeting. Sales meetings are a good idea to tag onto METALCON, and Baltimore is a good venue because there’s a nice area to walk around, and you can stay for the weekend to explore.”
“Baltimore was truly a great show with an upbeat vibe, and the location was excellent for us once again,” said Claire Kilcoyne, METALCON Show Director. “We saw an increase in international attendance, successfully raised $7,500 for the America’s Fund, enjoyed a packed ballroom for the MCA Triumph Awards, witnessed a sell-out for the roofing games, and kicked off a successful roofing certification program to repeat in 2017. We look forward to continuing and building upon this year’s success in Las Vegas next year.”
