Well our first full year into the trade show scene has concluded.  We have met some wonderful people and seen some great scenery along the way.  We’ve had varying levels of success and learned a few lessons and/or tricks.

The fascinating part is how Trade Shows can give one exposure in areas that are in no way directly related to the geography or industry of the actual show.  Some examples include going to an Oil and Gas based show and then meeting with a civic construction company through contacts at the show, or going to California to end up in Europe, or the one I find the strangest, going to Pennsylvania to end up meeting with a company a half mile away.

Trade Shows are in many ways like Tungsten Carbide, there are many different types and grades, which all provide very similar function, prices vary, but the most important aspect is finding ones which “fit” your company, your application, and your budget.

Bad news, good news coming out of Canada.

The bad news, according to FuelFix, capital spending in the oil sands is being decreased due to the decreasing price of oil.  While this is not good news for continued growth of the region, which has both Oil and Gas and Mining influences, it has little effect on the daily operations of the area.

Which brings us to the good news:  Existing mines and oil production will remain at current capacity.  Simply put it is more expensive to shut them down.  Running them at the break even point or reducing shifts strengths to lower the break even point is the economical option.

Please note:

With the impending landfall of Hurricane Sandy, all shipments to the East Coast may have unavoidable delays.

To all in Hurricane Sandy’s path, stay safe.

Had a great time with all the folks who attended the DUG Eagle Ford show in San Antonio Oct 14-16. Great attendance and the icing on the cake was meeting the Keynote Speaker; Sgt. Dakota Meyers, Medal of Honor Recipient.

Finished the week in Midland/Odessa for the Permian Basin International Oil Show. Car had an 1/8″ of dust/dirt on it when we got back at the end of the day. Meeting up with people is always difficult, either they are in the show when you are at the show, or they are at the show when you are at their shop. Anyone we missed, catch you on the comeback…