Q4 2008 / ISA Expo 2008

Attendees experienced several interesting changes in course. For the first time, on opening day, the doors to the show did not open until noon, and then events continued up to  until 7:00 PM. At 5:30 PM, several booths opened their own doors of hospitality and offered free food and drinks in the booth to all comers. Cosa Instrument and GE Sensing offered Bratwurst; ASCO gave away Cookies; Ashcroft and Honeywell had free-flowing beer, pretzels, and beverages; and Schneider Electric was popular with their “as-you-like-it” Margaritas and cake.

The ISA itself accepted financial donations for the Red Cross Hurricane Ike Relief Fund The ISA added to these generous donations by dedicating all of the revenues from the show’s industry reception, which included a silent auction. On top of that, the ISA pledged to match donations collected up to $10,000.

The theme of the ISA 2008 EXPO was “One Event, Six Exchanges,” which included process automation, wireless and networking, security, and safety, as well as enterprise integration and environmental quality control.

Working in conjunction with a large number of instrumentation companies, many specialty gas-related companies had booths at the show. These included Matheson-Trigas, Air Liquide/Scott, Concoa, Coastal Specialty Gases, Portagas, and IWS Gas and Supply. Parker Hannifin and Servomex had vans just outside the show entrance, which presented continuous demonstrations of their equipment, as well as refreshments.

All-in-all, ISA EXPO 2008 proved to be an interesting show, and gave SGR staff a chance to chat casually with most exhibitors in our field. During our talks, they indicated that they were pleased with the quality of the attendees, but a little disappointed with the quantity. 

SGR is looking forward to next year’s ISA Expo, with the hope that hurricanes do not again diminish the numbers who  attend.<