SPESA EXPO 2010 TESTIMONIALS

Congratulations to the SPESA staff for the great SPESA EXPO! Best show we have been at in a VERY long time.

SPESA EXPO was the best show I’ve ever attended from a supplier standpoint… people wanting to buy rather than asking questions. A lot of decision makers were in the crowd. We thoroughly enjoyed the EXPO. We found it valuable with respect to conversing with current contacts as well as exploring business opportunities with new ones. We anticipate converting many of our leads into great business relationships. The SEAMS Association members that attended as exhibitors were quite amazed at the number and quality of contacts that stopped at their respective booths. Many said they expect to gain new business from the show. Looking forward to the 2012 show!

Great show! So busy! Everyone seemed quite pleased with the attendance and the results at SPESA EXPO.

In terms of steady traffic through our booth, we were busier at SPESA EXPO 2010 than we have been at any trade show in 25 years. We saw a number of current customers as well as some very promising prospects. Thanks for your efforts.

I am the president of Superior Sewing Machine & Supply LLC and the immediate past president and current member of the board of directors and the executive committee of SPESA. In all roles, as we approached the show, I was cautiously optimistic. My expectations were exceeded on all fronts. The show was a great success for SPESA. Additionally, SPESA’s collaboration with Messe Frankfurt proved to be a win-win for both organizations. Superior had a wonderful show. We were visited by customers around the Americas and even a few from Europe. We also were able to meet many of our suppliers from around the globe and even found some new ones. I also spent some time discussing the show with other exhibitors. All were pleased with the quality of the visitors and very happy with the cross-traffic from the shows with which SPESA co-located. All in all a great job by the show organizers and a terrific result!

Everyone I have spoken to has stated that SPESA EXPO exceeded their expectations. Some have said it was the best show in 20 years. Our internal staff also said the show exceeded their expectations. [TC]2 was honored to have been selected to coordinate the educational programs for the EXPO and to reinforce its reputation as technology leaders through the creation of the Cool Zone.

Thank you and all of the SPESA staff for all your hard work -- before and during -- SPESA EXPO 2010. The co-location approach to trade shows was a tremendous success. What the SPESA Board of Directors and leadership envisioned truly came to fruition in Atlanta. In the global economy today, companies’ ability to thrive will depend on their ability to cooperate and collaborate. Moving forward will require imagination, determination, and collaboration for us to span the global economy.

SPESA EXPO met our expectations. Several potential customers remarked that the combo of Techtextil North America and SPESA EXPO worked well. Gerber Technology met several potential clients that “crossed over” from Techtextil. We had good representation from East and Mid-West regions of North America along with good representation from Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Honduras. Gerber was pleased with the good quality level of customers attending -- serious interests and not so many “tire kickers.” The show was well organized with a good traffic flow. SPESA EXPO provided the opportunity for Gerber Technology to showcase our new products and meet existing and new customers. It also provided us the opportunity to meet with industry colleagues to exchange experiences and views on the industry in North America as well as the global marketplace.

There was a new excitement at SPESAEXPO 2010, in Atlanta, that I have not seen for years. Methods Workshop has been participating in tradeshows all over the world since we started in business in 1982. The world has changed and tradeshows now have to create innovative and creative ways to change with it. As a long time SPESA Board member, I know how much time and effort our management staff and Board have put into making this show different. The co-location with Techtextil North America offered attendees a “one-stop shop” for information from “concept-to-delivery.” Attendees came to learn, interact and find solutions to improving their bottom lines. Methods Workshop had consistent booth activity of decision makers throughout all three the days of the show. (Important note: domestic manufacturers were back and exhibitors from the international sourcing pavilions used this opportunity to see all of the technologies at the EXPO. We did business at the EXPO and have more qualified leads for follow-up than we have had in years. SPESAEXPO 2010 has created a new “norm” for future shows.

Everyone agreed that we’ve never seen such consistent high-quality traffic at a trade show. Even though SPESA EXPO was smaller than the old Bobbin shows, the quality of traffic was great. We’re really optimistic about 2010. We really appreciate the SEAMS Association pulling this (Supply Chain of the USA) together for their members. It was a great show.

The SEAMS Association participates in quite a number of trade shows, and I must say SPESA EXPO had the best quality traffic. I made contact with retail and branded companies, some discussing bringing back some products to the U.S. They were very excited to learn that companies do exist that produce their products domestically. Not only did SEAMS members who were exhibiting get leads for new business, we were also able to get information for some of our members not at the show. Thanks,SPESA, for making this happen. SEAMS and its members look forward to the newly branded show, Texprocess Americas 2012.

SPESA EXPO was a great show. I feel like I got 8-12 leads, and I feel like there are at least 3 that are solid that we’re going to get some business from. We’re very optimistic about it. I think the next show will have a lot more people there.

We made a lot of contacts. I think we’re going to get some good work out of it. I got a call on my cell phone from a man I didn’t even give my number to. He had gone through the trouble to call one of my customers that we share and get my cell phone number so he could contact me, because they’re going to place some work with us. This is a perfect example of networking. SPESA EXPO was a great show.

The purpose of us exhibiting at SPESA EXPO was to find supply sources, equipment, things like that. I thought the show was great. I’ve never been to this one, so this was my first time. If this was a slow or a small one, then I’d hate to see a big one. There was a lot of walking, a lot of people; we could do business with a lot of the people here.

We travel to quite a few shows such as Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Many of the people that came to this show came to see the equipment at the other end of the building. Of course, if they need something to sew on, they also need something to sew. As a fabric company, we thought SPESA EXPO was a very, very successful show. We were able to get face-to-face time in a good, active atmosphere. It was very heartwarming to look down our Made in the USA pavilion and see the people that were participating. It was busy all three days. We made some great contacts and solidified some situations. It was a wonderful show -- I’m glad we pursued it.

SPESA EXPO was the best show we’ve ever attended, and we’ve exhibited in a lot of shows: Guatemala, Los Angeles, Los Vegas, wherever we needed to go. This was non-stop traffic, and I’ve never been to a show like that. Usually there is a lot down-time, and this time we had no down-time. It was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The SEAMS group (SPESA EXPO Supply Chain of the USA Pavilion) had a lot of entrepreneurs stop by, and I was able to take them down the aisle to talk to someone directly. We were educating people as well as marketing. I bet we’ll get a couple new members out of the show.

We definitely think that the show was a success and very well organized. Dürkopp-Adler America, Inc.

It’s a good show for us. It covers the entire spectrum from machinery to services, including software and automation.” Siemens representatives were meeting with both large and small companies at the show.

The quality of contacts is better than we had hoped for. We met with a lot of Vice Presidents and decision makers. People seem more confident, and they’re going back to growth mode.

We had scheduled appointments with more than 20 companies prior to the show and also had several walk-in meetings at the show — many of them significant-size companies.

SPESA EXPO 2010 last month was very positive for us. Our company received many visitors and we were able to see many of our old friends in the Industry. It was nice to go back to Atlanta and remember the old Bobbin Shows.

Our experience as an exhibitor at the SPESA EXPO 2010 was tremendous. We had a consistent large volume of attendee traffic throughout the show. Almost 70% of the people that visited our booth were USA based, and of those 80% were from USA based manufacturing facilities. Over the three day period of the EXPO, we had one on one contact with decision making management people from 8 of our top ten ranking customers. At a rough estimate, I would guess that it would cost over $30,000.00 and months of time to attempt to accomplish this in the field. It will take some time to define the actual dollar amount of sales that we will generate as a direct result of the show, but we are following up on leads and quotes that represent over a million dollars of business that we would not normally have had access to. My congratulations to the Gardners and all the SPESA staff for staging a phenomenal show.

The show was very impressive, good to see textiles are still alive in the USA and good interest from overseas. I think I spent most of my time in the main aisle which became a meet and greet convention! Thanks again.