BORDEN, IN – More than 150 people participated August 26-28 in the Woodworking Fair Midwest (WFM), a regional trade show created in light of the IWF 2020 cancellation. Eighteen exhibitors showcased their product and services to attendees from 12 different states, as far away as Georgia and Pennsylvania.
“This was an experiment. We didn’t know what to expect,” said Kirsti Nelson, Director of Marketing and Communications at Vecoplan. Nelson served on the event steering committee and managed the show’s marketing. In a post-show survey, she said, “Over 85 percent of exhibitors stated they were satisfied with the quality of attendees. We may not have had huge groups of people inundate us, but that’s a pretty impressive satisfaction rating considering this was a first-time event.”
Many exhibitors set up their machinery to do demonstrations. Six had a 600 square-foot or larger booth to display their equipment.
WFM also surveyed attendees on their impression after the show. Their consensus was that they want the show to return.
“Seventy percent of attendees said they’d like the show to happen each year. They were pleased with the products and services at WFM. Half of the respondents said they’d like to see even more exhibitors. So who knows? WFM may be here to stay. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day,” said Nelson.
WFM exhibitor in alphabetical order included:
• Cefla Finishing
• Dekker Vacuum Technologies
• Dubois Equipment Company
• Honeyville Metal
• IVEC Systems
• CasadeiBusellato
• Lamello
• Northtech Machine
• Nova Dry Kiln
• PMK Systems
• Pyramid Technical Group
• Striebig
• TigerStop
• Timesavers
• RUF Briquetting
• Vecoplan
• Weinig Holz-Her
• Woodtech Machinery
The Woodworking Fair Midwest was described by promoters as a friendly, casual event designed for the good of the industry that was formed as a result of IWF 2020 being cancelled. A trade-only event, the focus is on the secondary woodworking market including wood finishing, planing, profiling, cutting, grinding, and sanding, among other technologies. The website, woodworkingfairmidwest.com, allows attendees to register free of charge and potential exhibitors to express their interest.
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