August 5, 2016
Some things seem to be around forever. Even if you’re of a certain age, it’s probably slightly difficult to remember a time before the Super Bowl. Sliced bread has been around so long, it’s easy to forget that there might have been a time when it didn’t exist (any time before July 6, 1928). Even the wheel had to be invented.
SuperCorrExpo® may not be a tradition as old as the Super Bowl, but if you don’t think it’s super—the best thing since sliced bread—maybe you haven’t been there. It’s the largest corrugated industry trade show in the Western Hemisphere, staged and funded by the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI) and AICC, the Independent Packaging Association.
SuperCorrExpo® has made a mark on the pulp, paper, corrugated, folding carton, and rigid box industries since it debuted in 2000. In the last 16 years, it has become the go-to place for industry veterans and newcomers from around the world to meet new people, strengthen existing relationships, sell equipment, and simply look at the latest and greatest in machinery, such as rotary die cutters, single-facers, and design tables.
Looking back on it now, it seems like a no-brainer that a world-class industry trade show would flourish in the paper and packaging industries, but it really wasn’t so obvious, says Steve Young, president of AICC.
“We knew the first show would be a smashing success,” he says. “First shows always are. It’s new, it’s exciting. The question was, would the fourth and fifth shows be successful?”
So, with 16 years in the rearview mirror and as people plan their trips to the fifth SuperCorrExpo® this fall (October 17–20) in Orlando, Florida, it’s a good time to look at how we got here, and what the future may hold.
The Beginning
Before 2000, if you wanted to attend a corrugated industry trade show, your options were fairly plentiful, which was part of the problem.
“TAPPI’s meeting content tends to focus more on the ‘technical/production’ side, and AICC’s content tends to focus on the ‘management/leadership’ side. So by combining forces, we were able to come up with a program that offered a wider breadth of topics and content that would appeal to all levels in the plant, and we would be able to offer this at a reduced registration fee.”
— Cindy Huber, director of meetings and conventions, AICC
For decades, TAPPI and AICC had each held their own trade shows, and while they were each successful enough entities, it was too much of a good thing.
Larry Montague, TAPPI president and CEO, says he had heard some TAPPI volunteers began thinking about suggesting that TAPPI and AICC join forces to hold one show in the 1990s. There were continued gripes from business owners in the corrugated box industry who were growing weary of exhibiting their equipment at one trade show after another that didn’t seem to offer enough for them. There was a well-received corrugated trade show in Paris, but the price of shipping machinery—some of which weighed tons—to Europe could be cost-prohibitive, and the trade shows that TAPPI and AICC were offering, while well received, felt rather small considering the time and money involved to attend.
Then in 1997, it became obvious to everyone that the two organizations would be stronger if they would align forces and put on a joint conference (see “The Final Score”).
“TAPPI and AICC both had their annual meetings in Chicago a couple of weeks apart, and vendors said that this was ridiculous,” Montague says.
The first show, as then-AICC President Joseph R. Palmeri, Jamestown Container Companies, predicted, was a smashing success. The show in 2000 dubbed itself “The Corrugated Show for the World,” debuting at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Production managers, box plant owners, engineers, technical service personnel, and production employees descended upon the city, and small wonder that they came. It was the chance to see an impressive display of machinery from more than 300 exhibitors and, of course, the opportunity to network. There were also workshops with topics including “Ergonomics for Engineers,” “Printing Technologies for the 21st Century,” and “An Eye on the Latin America Corrugated Industry.”
There were also numerous speakers that year, from veterans in the corrugated packing industry to bigwigs like the chief economist for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, who would give an overview of the containerboard and corrugated industry.
But the most surprising guests were the final ones—political gurus James Carville and Mary Matalin, probably then and still America’s most famous politically diverse married couple. If they could get along, certainly TAPPI and AICC could.
And they did, although in the beginning, it was more like two shows in one, with TAPPI doing their own thing and the AICC doing theirs, all under one roof. Still, it worked, and in the summer of 2001, under the leadership of then-AICC president Craig Hoyt, Buckeye Boxes, the two organizations signed an agreement to present more conferences. Like the summer or winter Olympics, they would meet every four years. The next SuperCorrExpo®, it was decided, would be held in November 2004, once again in Atlanta, to continue every four years through 2020. After that, Hoyt and then-TAPPI President Mike Wallace concluded that their 2020 counterparts could keep the conferences going.
The In-Between Years
As the years have gone by, the two organizations have worked together very well, according to representatives of both groups.
“I think it’s been great,” Montague says. “We’re stronger together. Steve Young is an inspiring guy, and I consider him a friend, and they have their own board, and we have our own board, but we get together and figure out what’s the best approach for the show.”
Young is equally effusive. “Larry and his group are tireless in promoting and building this show, and we’re very honored and pleased to be a partner with TAPPI,” he says.
The conference seems to be fueled by camaraderie. Shortly before the 2012 conference, one attendee wrote in an online industry journal published by BCM Inks—a company that manufactures and markets “environmentally correct” water flexo printing inks for the corrugated packaging industry—that he and his four colleagues were planning on having a “fun and educational time” at the show. In a blog-type post, the attendee offered up “10 Crazy Reasons to Attend SuperCorrExpo® 2012,” one of which was that if you stopped by the BCM booth, you might be able to “share some adult refreshments.”
Another reason to go was the ability to eat yourself into a stupor.
“More free appetizers and refreshments will be available on the show floor, after-show receptions, and in private hospitality suites than you can possibly consume,” the BCM writer stated.
There are, indeed, numerous opportunities at every expo to not think about growing your company and instead enjoy everyone’s company.
“One of our biggest draws is the golf tournament,” says Kristi Ledbetter, TAPPI’s converting division manager. “A lot of people like that, especially since for a lot people, they might only see each other once a year. It’s just fun for them.”
“It’s like a fraternity, fiercely so,” Montague says of the corrugated industry members and of virtually everyone who comes to the SuperCorrExpo®. “With a lot of the downsizing, people will be displaced without a job, but they can come here and network, and a lot of them have picked up jobs. … The corrugated industry is awesome. It’s a great group of people that’s tough to duplicate anywhere.”
And that kinship may be why SuperCorrExpo® has continued to grow as much as it has.
“TAPPI’s meeting content tends to focus more on the ‘technical/production’ side, and AICC’s content tends to focus on the ‘management/leadership’ side. So by combining forces, we were able to come up with a program that offered a wider breadth of topics and content that would appeal to all levels in the plant, and we would be able to offer this at a reduced registration fee,” says Cindy Huber, director of meetings and conventions at AICC.
It has been a massive effort for not only the organizations putting the show together, but also for the exhibitors. As one display owner, Ron Adler of Adler Display, told Business Wire in 2004, designing and building a booth for Mitsubishi “was a great challenge.” The display weighed 16,323 pounds— more than eight tons. “When we crate the Mitsubishi booth for shipment to Atlanta, suffice it to say it won’t go in the back of an SUV or a van,” Adler said.
That year, the conference took up 114,471 square feet and featured 222 companies with booths. Four years later, the conference’s square footage swelled to 129,721 to accommodate 292 companies. In 2012 … well, the country was still feeling the effects of the recession. It was down to 115,420 and 263 companies.
At the time of this writing, the 2016 conference has 133,000 square feet booked and 261 companies on the floor. “And there are months to go,” Ledbetter says.
Of the 2008 conference, Montague says that it was held shortly before the economy imploded.
“If it had been held three months later, it would have been heck in a handbasket,” he quips.
This Year
Both Montague and Young stress the importance of simply showing up. You can’t gain much from the show if you don’t come.
“I always try to walk around the exhibits, and during the last show early on, I asked this one guy if it was worth the trip,” Montague says, “and he just smiled and said, ‘I made a deal with the first guy who walked by here, and it paid for the whole trip. Now, I can just sit back and relax.’ ”
“The most successful companies have a habit of participating,” Young agrees. “They’re networking and meeting suppliers, and they learn what’s out there and from each other.”
There’s also the valuable opportunity to network with people from around the world, without going clear around the world.
“There is a big show in China, but it’s so far for people to travel there,” says Maria Frustaci, director of Latin America at AICC. Of SuperCorrExpo®. Frustaci adds, “It’s the only big machinery show in the Americas. The people from Latin America come to this show because they find a lot of value in learning what’s going on in the industry. They can see everything in one place, different kinds of machinery, technology, everything. It’s the place to be.”
As for the events this year, the schedule is too packed to mention everything, but there will be workshops developed by TAPPI and AICC, with topics like “1500′ per Minute Corrugators—Why Not 2000′ per Minute?” and “Analyzing Production Numbers/Financial Impact” and “The Secrets to Becoming an Employer of Choice.”
Round robin breakout sessions will cover topics such as “New Flute Profiles and Their Purpose” and “Corrugator Troubleshooting Methods.” And there’s the opportunity to simply unwind with the aforementioned Corrugated Classic Golf Tournament and an evening off-site visit to Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Hey, you know what they say. All work and no play …
In fact, that’s one reason the conference is being held, for the first time, in Orlando. No offense to Atlanta, but it was thought that there might be more for families to do in the land of Disney.
“The most successful companies have a habit of participating. They’re networking and meeting suppliers, and they learn what’s out there and from each other.”
— Steve Young, president, AICC
As for this year’s conference, Montague says, “It’s no Mickey Mouse operation.”
This is true, and there will be keynote speakers offering inspiration, enlightenment, and humor. This year’s speakers are Ron Sasine, principal of Hudson Windsor LLC, who until recently was the senior director of packaging for Wal-Mart (see Sasine’s feature, “The Case for Corrugated”); Eduardo Posada, Chair and CEO of Grupo Gondi, based out of Mexico; Jonathan Kraft, president of The Kraft Group; and Kevin Kallaugher, editorial cartoonist for The Economist. Not surprisingly, with the conferences matching up with election years, the final speaker tends to have some role in the political arena, a tradition Carville and Matalin started in a year with one of the most surreal, down-to-the-last-chad elections in history. This year’s election looks to be equally ho-hum.
As for what happens beyond 2020, both Young and Montague say that they like the idea of continuing, so that there is a SuperCorrExpo® 2024, a SuperCorrExpo® 2028. …
“I want to sign it so far out that I won’t have to mess with it,” Montague says. “That’s our intention.” He adds that a decision will be made soon after this year’s show, because everything has to be booked years in advance.
“But, man,” he pleads, “let’s get through 2016 first.”
Young is on the same page. He chuckles at the thought of all the work still left ahead in planning this year’s event: “When we’re finished, we’re always glad it’s over.”
Geoff Williams is a freelance journalist and author located in Loveland, Ohio.
