TEXTILES.ORG
Advanced Textiles Association (ATA) completed its debut of Advanced Textiles Expo, formerly known as IFAI Expo, Nov. 1–3, in Orlando, Fla., USA.
This year’s event was again collocated with Sun Shading Expo North America, which is organized by Messe Stuttgart, the founders of R + T, the world’s leading trade fair for roller shutters, doors/gates and sun shading systems. Advanced Textiles Expo and Sun Shading Expo North America combined to attract 4,517 attendees to the Orange County Convention Center where they had direct access to the textile and sun shading industries’ leading companies. Beyond the action on the show floor, both attendees and exhibitors networked and socialized at the opening reception as well as the crowd favorite Industry Night.
The combined show floor featured 375 exhibiting companies displaying their latest products, equipment and services. In addition to visiting exhibit booths, the show floor also hosted live equipment demonstrations, market update meetings and over 20 campfire education sessions broken out by Emerging Technologies, Specialty Fabrics, and Shade and Weather Protection markets.
“The first ever Advanced Textiles Expo is a wrap and we’re pleased with the positive feedback on the trade show and the many social networking events last week,” said ATA president and CEO, Steve Schiffman. “Our second year collocating with Sun Shading Expo North America brought new leads, more to see and learn.”
Schiffman also added, “Besides the name change from IFAI Expo, which was the last step of a comprehensive rebrand of the trade association, we added many new show floor content options, including a live podcast, new education tracks and more. These are just the first steps of our long-term strategy of improving the value proposition for everyone. For 2024, in Anaheim, we are merging Smart Fabrics Summit with our Emerging Technologies Conference and continuing our content evolution, bringing new attendees to the event which will give exhibitors more reason to participate in Expo than ever before.”
New this year was the Emerging Technologies Conference, which was held on Oct. 31, the day before the show floor opened. This conference offered a plenary session and networking lunch followed by an afternoon of 12 classroom education sessions dedicated to the emerging technologies and smart textile markets. Topics included wearables, aerospace advancements, biomedical applications, nanotechnology, automation and more.
Join thousands of your industry peers next year for Advanced Textiles Expo 2024. The official dates are Sept. 24–26, 2024, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif., USA. Sign up for updates at AdvancedTextilesExpo.com.