When Hurricane Irma blew through Florida during the week of Sept. 11 this year, it forced the postponement of the composites industry’s largest trade show and conference in its largest market. Which, of course, is not a trivial matter. Indeed, CAMX organizers at ACMA and SAMPE deserve a ton of credit for, effectively, pulling off two trade shows in three months — the first brought nearly to the finish line only, to be dashed by Irma, and the second this week, brought to and past the finish line with great success in Orlando, FL.

And, of course, it wasn’t just the folks at ACMA and SAMPE who made this happen. In September, many CAMX exhibitors had booth materials and displays en route to Florida when the hurricane hit, and they too had to do it all over again for the rescheduled event this week. And we must not forget the attendees, for whom all of this logistical wrangling was done. They also had to re-schedule and recommit to the new dates. So, a big thank you goes out to everyone who helped make CAMX 2017 a success.

So, how did CAMX 2017 (the reboot) turn out? It turned out very, very well. Although a few exhibitors had to pull out of the event, the exhibit hall was still a robust, healthy and vibrant place. And, although final attendance figures have yet to be tallied, feedback from exhibitors I talked to was positive, proving definitively that rescheduling CAMX 2017 was a wise move.

We were, as usual, at the show, and discovered a variety of new materials, technologies and products that promise to help make the job of composites fabrication more efficient and more affordable. You will find a full report about these discoveries in next week’s CW EXTRAnewsletter. You can also look forward to a video report from the show. Until then, if you were at CAMX, thank you for attending, enjoy the holidays, and be sure to add CAMX 2018 to your calendar: Oct. 15-18 in Dallas, TX (sans hurricane).