One of my favourite odd facts is that the can opener was invented 50 years after the invention of the can. The original heavy metal cans had to be opened with a hammer and chisel for half a century, before the first practical tin opener was patented. Development of the electric light bulb took a lifetime - more than 75 years from the first experiments to the time of Edison's first patents for a commercially practical bulb.
I say this as background to an interesting development that we have been working on for the last decade. Fully ten years ago, one of our contacts in the cement industry, said to us, "Why don't you guys organise an exhibition for the cement industry?" At the time we were very busy organising a number of conferences on a variety of interesting or even 'sexy' topics for the industry, including on alternative fuels and slag. We put his suggestion to the back of our minds.
More recently we've been asked by other companies and individuals if there is a possibility of organising a cement industry exhibition. It seems that the time is now right. "Why now?" you might ask. Well, a little secret that we have here is that we also organise a huge consumer show called 'The 50+ Show.' The show takes over a large exhibition hall of around 6000m2, brings in perhaps 150 exhibitors and welcomes between 5000 and 8000 visitors. As well as a climbing wall, fashion shows, cookery demonstrations, dancing and yoga, you can knit a cosy hat, indulge your memories and fantasies in our classic car 'Motor Zone' and have all your vital signs assessed in our 'Health Zone.' It's quite a day out and people travel a long way to enjoy the show. If you are interested to see more, you can view details at www.50plusShow.com. We've been organising it since 2007 and we finally feel as though we have enough experience in organising big shows to organise one for the cement industry.
So, while maintaining our useful and popular events on fuels and slag, we have decided to create the first-ever Global Cement Expo.
The Global Cement Expo will take place on 14-15 June 2012 at the exhibition centre in Krakow, Poland. Exhibitors from around the world will attend to show their equipment and services for the cement industry - the first bookings have already been taken. Visitors from not just the cement industry but also the lime, gypsum, aggregate, concrete and block-making sectors are invited to attend free - they only need to pre-register via the event's website, wwwGlobalCementExpo.com. There will be two seminar theatres which will include presentations from the exhibitors on the latest innovations from the industry, panel discussions with industry experts on industry trends, equipment demonstrations, a networking lounge and a memorable social evening.
Using our huge database of cement industry contacts and building on past successful conferences, the Global Cement Expo will focus on wear and maintenance, alternative fuels including RDF and MSW, waste heat recovery options, electrical energy efficiency, refractories, quality control, environmental impact abatement, mortars and even on alternatives to OPC. We have previously organised events on all of these topics, so that we have great contacts with experts and interested delegates from all these areas.
Why Krakow? You just need to look at the map! Krakow is right at the heart of Europe, halfway between east and west, one day's drive from 90 cement plants, two hours' flight time from over 250 cement plants and easy to get to from the whole world. The map below shows the number of cement plants in each country, with circles of the number of days' driving or the number of hours of flight time to the Expo. Krakow is also very affordable for all attendees and is a very pleasant place to visit in the summer.
We hope that the Global Cement Expo 2012 will enjoy the same level of success as the AUCBM, the IEEE-IAS/PCA and the AFCM, but in Europe. Other industries enjoy much larger dedicated exhibitions and it's about time the cement industry had a Global Cement Expo of its own. Over the next year we'll be partnering with everyone we can to make it a really representative event for the whole industry.
Global Cement Expo 2012 will be something completely different in the cement industry. We look forward to your positive support for the event, and we look forward to seeing you in Krakow in June 2012!