January 2010 Vol. 65 No. 1
Web Exclusive
Day 3: The UCT Experience—Attendance and Results
By Day 2 of the conference, attendance at the Tampa show had reached approximately 90% of the turnout for the entire 2009 show in UCT’s home state of Texas, with a particularly strong showing from contractors and regional partners of the big players. Some regional representatives questioned gave their reason for coming as a way to get in touch with Florida clients or show strength with a corporate partner, but education was another big motivation. “I’m a contractor, so I really come here for the new technology and the classes,” said J.B. Conant of Sunbelt Infrastructure. “I’ve seen more new technology here than anywhere.”
HDD Drilling Forward
HDD Rotary appreciated the attention. “This is our best UCT in seven years,” said president Gary Haub. Part of the success stemmed from the new string of seven-and five-eighths-inch drill pipe HDD Rotary is now offering, the largest diameter manufactured under its processes, but VP of operations Jay Miller noted that they benefited particularly from teaming up with partners. Since their booth backed the booth of support vendor Superior Drillpipe, “People would come by and Superior would say, ‘You want seven and five-eighths?’ and send them right over.”
Superior Drillpipe is a new exhibitor to UCT, and only 25 months old as a company, but by its own account the manufacturer made an extremely successful debut. The company’s president, Warren Hoover, said Tuesday morning one meeting had already made the show worthwhile for him. Of course, with the bulk of exhibition time still ahead, there were other meetings. Superior’s Jerome Reese explained why customers were eager to talk to the company: “The upsetter we have [the machine that forges the end of the pipe] is one of only two in the world with a 2800-ton capacity. It shakes the whole plant.” That means the upset “strengthens the pipe in the most crucial areas, gives it a thick wall at the weld so it doesn’t fail. You can drill 10 miles below the ground and it doesn’t fail on you.”
Ditch Witch was particularly pleased with the Tampa location. “There are a lot of customers here that we haven’t seen in a few years,” said Paul Ebersole. Their bright-orange booth stayed busy through Wednesday, and contributed to an optimistic outlook for 2010. David Pierce put it succinctly: “There’s interest out there. People are tired of being down.”
Sewer and Water: Tight Markets, Tight Relationships
Still, with municipal budgets tightening, some observers noted fewer than usual water and sewer engineers and public works employees in the exhibition aisles. Keith Hanks, senior engineer for the City of Los Angeles, explained that revenues were down in L.A., just like everywhere else, and the city was having to make choices. He was primarily “chasing down CIPP people” at the show, with the next year’s priorities focusing on small pipe rehabilitation and replacement and only a few larger rehab projects.
Still, there were happy endings to quite a few stories in the sewer and water segment. Pipe rehabilitation company AP/M Permaform hit a home run, despite the trepidation among municipalities. “A single contact made the show worthwhile for us,” said Steve Henning of AP/M. “There was more than one, though,” added his colleague Ed Brown. The company garnered goodwill in the education sessions, too. Henning’s Wednesday class, “Structural Rehabilitation of Storm and Sewer Pipe by the Centrifugally Cast Concrete Pipe Process,” drew on research from the company’s newest offering and was mentioned as a highlight of the education sessions by attendees.
Aware of the market conditions, sewer maintenance company Carylon’s Bill Kriedler and Andew Costa were not chasing new business, but taking good care of the old. Said Costa, “I kind of equate trade shows to weddings and funerals. You have a whole big family out there, but it’s only at the major events that everyone gets together.” With that kind of proximity, Carylon meets suppliers and deals with vendor issues. “We throw together a couple lunches and dinners. [Our] people come a couple hours to the exhibit hall, but then the priority is relationships.”
It Isn’t Over Until Someone Wins $500
With the Stay to the Last Day program in its second year, it was certain that the show would end on a high note. Sponsors donated prizes of cash cards worth between $250 and $500 dollars, and for winners Daniel Monteros of Asus, April Cloutier of Lymtech, Joseph Moreno of Brown and Caldwell and Abhay Jain of the University of Texas at Arlington, sticking around until the close of the exhibit hall paid off. Of course, with next year’s UCT a highly anticipated return to Houston for the first time in three years, many are already planning for 2011.
A safe and successful 2010 to all of you, and see you next year!
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