An ICUEE Review

The 2009 ICUEE “Demo Expo” was a resounding success, despite the down economy.

Before leaving for the ICUEE show, I anticipated the worst. Low attendance. Lack of booth energy. No new product releases. But I was extremely energized by not only the resounding success of the show, but also at the number of efforts made by AEM (Assn. of Equipment Manufacturers) to ensure the show was a success.

It is the members of AEM that run the show. They are the ones who make the decisions on how often a show will run, the location (should it change) and the added events and co-located expos to add value to each attendee.

This year, the cost to attend stayed the same. It was decided that considering the tight budgets of companies as they slash and burn their costs, it would be best for everyone to not have increased prices or added costs that most companies probably couldn’t have allowed.

The 2009 attendance was strong, despite the down economy, at over 16,500 registered attendees, the show’s second largest attendance to date. More than 780 exhibitors used more than 1 million net square feet of outdoor and indoor exhibit space. The show also boasted over 100 industry-focused education sessions.

There were dozens of new products released from high performance LEDs to Tier 4 interim emissions compliant engines. To see all of the new product releases announced at ICUEE 2009, go to www.icuee.com/Overview/NPTP/

“The feedback was very positive from exhibitors and attendees. This was a great opportunity for the industry to get together and assess where they are now and plan for the future. ICUEE was definitely the place to be if you wanted to test-drive the latest equipment innovations and keep up to date on industry trends," states Show Director Melissa Magestro.

“We encourage industry co-locations to bring maximum ROI to all participants, and ICUEE 2009 had a record number. Their support contributed greatly to our success,” she adds.

The inaugural H2O-XPO of the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) chose to co-locate with ICUEE 2009, as did the iP Safety Conference and Expo (safety and training) and the IUV Technology Conference (design and engineering). NRWA held its annual convention in conjunction with ICUEE 2009.

“These industry co-locations extend the value of the show experience – they help the attendees and exhibitors save time and money and enhance the industry-wide knowledge sharing,” she concludes.