In a letter dated December 15, 2008, ASA informed Messe Frankfurt that the American Supply Association Board of Directors had voted to withdraw support and involvement from ISH North America.

“Long and serious consideration was given to this decision, and it included extensive input from our manufacturer members,” said Mike Adelizzi, ASA’s executive vice president. “While the original concept of ISH was to bring the PHCP and PVF industry together under one trade show banner, the result weakened the focus on the sponsoring associations. This loss of focus reduced the urgency to attend among people who had traditionally identified with a specific association. Attendance diminished and ISH didn’t realize the potential we all believed in when we joined forces.”

In addition, Adelizzi said that many of ASA’s manufacturer members clearly voiced their desire to end the partnership with ISH North America. “With the state of the economy the way it is today, a closer working partnership between the manufacturer and wholesaler has an even greater value than in years past,” continued Adelizzi. “ASA is placing a stronger emphasis on providing manufacturers and wholesalers a venue to fortify that working partnership and coupling it with critical information about what the future has in store for our industry. Those are the guiding principles that have led to the development of the agenda for NetworkASA 2009 and the introduction of the Industry Interchange program.”

In related news, Supply House Times has received word that PHCC also is no longer co-sponsoring the event. We are attempting to contact other show sponsors that have not yet officially stated their intentions to support or discontinue support of ISH NA. We will report these developments as we hear back from them.

ASA’s Industry Interchange

ASA will be introducing the Industry Interchange, an innovative and exciting event that will replace the traditional industry trade show and conference booth format. “For a few years now, we’ve heard dissatisfaction about industry trade shows,“ said Adelizzi. “Our Vendor Member Division (VMD) came out strongly this year in favor of developing a new way to connect with their customers and the Industry Interchange is it. What the Industry Interchange allows us to do is choose a theme and a format, hold the event and then have the option of redesigning the whole thing the next year."

He continues, "We aren’t pigeon-holed into just a trade show, or just a conference booth program. This allows the VMD to react in a responsive way to changing needs and desires as to how vendors and their customers best connect. We’re very excited about this event and the potential it has to stay innovative for years to come.”