New products, new contacts and collegial exchange at the heart of APEX

The theme, "It's YOUR Show", rang loud and true for attendees and exhibitors at the 2007 IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and the Designers Summit.

Considered the premier technical conference and exhibition for printed circuit boards, design, electronics manufacturing and test in North America, the event was held February 17-22, 2007 in its new home at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This year's shows attracted 9,614 exhibitor personnel and attendee professionals.

The three-day exhibition featured an increased number of exhibitors over last year - 446 exhibitors in 161,400 net square feet of exhibit space. The professional development courses had 916 participants, 874 individuals attended the technical conference, and 99 senior level executives participated in the exclusive management meetings.

A total of 5,087 verified attendees walked the new spacious exhibit floor to witness the new products and technologies on display.  "We had the best show in many years," Mike Konrad, president, Aqueous Technologies Corp. said. "Both lead count and quality were up considerably.  We promoted the show more than in previous years and it paid off."

Sylvain Chamousset, technical marketing manager, Zestron, also shared his satisfaction about the event, "Compared to last year, Zestron has improved its lead count by 40%! Interestingly the downtown L.A. relocation didn't affect the overall traffic to our booth."

Despite some concerns over the shows' move to Los Angeles, the overall feedback is positive, with comments such as "pleasant surprise," "nice variety of fine dining without the wait," and "welcome change."

"Whenever a show moves venues, there are bound to be challenges and ‘speed bumps' that need to be addressed," said Denny McGuirk, IPC president. "IPC is proud of our role in bringing the industry together for critical information sharing and collegial exchange and in providing a cost-effective forum to showcase company products and services for the industry. I'm equally proud to have a dedicated staff that is already reviewing input and working on making the 2008 shows even better - it's the heart of addressing members' needs."

Next year's event will once again take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, February 19-21, 2008.  "With L.A.'s renewed investment in the downtown area, and specifically in the l.a. live project adjacent to the convention center, next year, our attendees will be able to enjoy even more of L.A. within walking distance," said Tracy Riggan, IPC director of meetings and events.

For more information on IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and the Designers Summit, visit www.GoIPCShows.org or contact Anna Garrido, IPC director of marketing and communications at +1 847-597-2804 or annagarrido@ipc.org.