With the holidays upon us and the year about to end, many of us have the tired feet to prove that we conquered another PACK EXPO International in October, while some of us are still recuperating from the iba 2012 show in September. The packaging show in Chicago, at 1,120, 999 sq. ft., was even bigger than in the past, as it drew a record crowd. Attendance figures this year increased 3% over those of the 2010 show, despite Hurricane Sandy ravaging the East Coast.
Show organizer and trade association Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI), Reston, Va., says that the four-day event, Oct. 28–31, covered more than 1.1 million net sq. ft. of McCormick Place with 1,965 exhibitors—a jump of more than 6% in terms of space and 8% in exhibiting companies from the 2010 show.