ICW NEWS
TRADE SHOWS
Mid-Winter Dental Show – Chicago – Febuary 22-24, 2008
By Jason Blank, ICW Product Specialist
The forecast was 18* with light snow that day… and as I stepped out of the airport for the first time, I was met with a blistering blast of -2* air and snowflakes that felt like daggers when they hit my face.
“Welcome to the Chicago Mid Winter meeting” I told myself as I jumped into the cab.
The show started early Friday morning and right away we could tell it was going to be a very busy day. Guests were pouring in even before the doors ‘officially’ opened and our booth immediately became engulfed with anxious people asking questions. Our new booth looked great and drew people in like I’ve never seen. My guess is the highly visible signage that we’ve added this year as well as the new 4 sided design. Separating what we offer by series helped customers choose what product would be best based on their budget and requirements. Overall, we received quite a few compliments on the new setup. (good job guys!)
Records were broken at the 2008 Mid Winter Meeting with 9,991 Exhibitors and the other 24,544 people being a mix of Dentists, Assistants, Students and Administration officials. It was apparent on the trade show floor that attendance was up from last year’s record. Walking room was hard to come by if you wanted to escape for a drink and bumping shoulders was just accepted as normal as you made your way down the aisles. Finally around 5:30pm the crowd started to thin and some of us were able to take a break. Nearly everybody had skipped lunch that day because of the intense crowd and the potential for new business relationships.
Overall it was a VERY good meeting and I’m sure that quite a few new orders will be generated because of it. We have a strong Sales Rep team out there that loves to sell our product. After all…. Who doesn’t like to sell and represent the best in the market?
Building Report
Construction began in October 2007 on the new ICW building,
located just north of our existing facility. 
When completed, the new
structure will be nearly 1-1/2 times the size of the existing building. The
project will include 70 additional parking spaces, a new lunch/community
room with an outdoor patio. Estimated
completion date is May 2008.
Work has started on the extension of Grumman Road to the north.
When finished, Grumman Road will connect southward to Coker Butte Road and
north to Vilas Road.
Below is a current photo of the construction.
The photo updates every 5 minutes. Refresh your browser to view the latest
version.
