Powder Coating '04 was held in Charlotte, N.C., September 21-23, the fourteenth tradeshow sponsored or co-sponsored by the Powder Coating Institute (PCI). Trade show attendance has been dropping for several years now, in our industry and in most industrial sectors. It is difficult to take the time and spend the money to travel these days. Company staffs are lean and expense money is tight. The powder coating industry and the trade show were on trial to see how many people were in the market for new goods and services.
There were 199 exhibitors in all with more than 1,300 people registered as exhibitor personnel. More than 2,050 attendees registered, around 450 conference attendees and over 1,500 for the exhibit only. The total number of people that attended was approximately 3,400.