Final Thoughts
Final Thoughts
Written by John Packard
August 20, 2018
Diana and I leave for Atlanta first thing on Wednesday morning. It’s an eleven-hour trip, so I will be checking emails and answering texts.
The weather forecast for Atlanta on Aug. 27-29 looks very promising with high temperatures in the upper 80s and lows around 70 degrees. There is only a small possibility for rain, but we will check again later in the week to see if the forecast still stands.
The Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway Hotel has been undergoing renovations. We were just informed that they are behind schedule and this will affect some of our attendees. They are going to need to move some of our reservations over to the Atlanta Airport Marriott Hotel. From there we will have a shuttle going back and forth from the convention center to the hotel during conference hours. Our apologies if your room reservation was impacted. We have been working with the hotel and taking those not registered to attend the conference, etc., and relocating them to the Atlanta Airport Marriott. Marriott is going to provide two buses so anyone at the off-campus hotel will be able to go back and forth as they wish during conference hours (including during and shortly after the networking receptions on Monday and Tuesday).
The hotels in the convention center area are sold out. I believe we will still be able to get people into the Atlanta Airport Marriott hotel (just mentioned above). I believe our blocked rooms are all sold, but you can ask for our rate of $151 per night. The number to call is 888-239-1203 and ask for Steel Market Update rates.
Good news! The lobby bar at the Marriott Gateway Hotel was supposed to have been under renovation during our stay. It is not, so this would be a good place to meet after dinner and during the evening on Monday and Tuesday. However, do not forget that we have a networking reception in the convention center from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Monday (thanks to Steel Dynamics) and Tuesday (thanks to Heidtman Steel). These receptions are open to any registered conference attendee.
Dress: Business casual and we recommend company logo shirts. It makes networking a little easier.
As we mentioned in our last edition of SMU, Barry Zekelman will not be able to speak at our conference due to the filing of his company’s IPO (taking the company public). However, he will be in attendance. We are going to go with just three people on the panel as it is too late to bring someone in to speak at the last second. I think the manufacturing program will go well, as we have three panelists who have not spoken before and who have strong opinions on the market.
We have been booking our Steel 201: Introduction to Advanced High Strength and Other New Steels workshop, which will be held in Middletown, Ohio, on Sept. 11-12, 2018. This is a special workshop in so many ways. The first time we are working with a mill and using mill people to assist in the education process. The first time we will be touring a research center as well as a fully integrated steel mill over the course of two days. The first time our workshop will be at the research center as opposed to a hotel. We have new instructors of our own with Dean Linders coming from Red Bud Industries to help us understand how to process AHSS and other temperamental steels. We are also adding Doug Bernd who recently retired as Senior VP of Purchasing for Steel Technologies (Doug originally came out of Bethlehem Steel’s “Loop” training program and worked with me as Sales Manager for Pacesetter Steel).
You can still book a great seat for our new workshop at $1,000, which is half-price because it is our inaugural 201 training workshop. To get the discounted pricing, go to our website: www.SteelMarketUpdate.com/Events/Steel-201 and use the code: special201 in the discount window when registering. You can also contact our office and register there. Call us at 772-932-7538.
Exciting week ahead of us as we move to just a few working days away from our 8th SMU Steel Summit Conference.
As always, your business is truly appreciated by all of us here at Steel Market Update.
John Packard, President & CEO
John Packard
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