“Exhibitors reported that not only were leads up, but the quality of the attendees continues to grow,” said Jim Pittas Senior, Vice President of PMMI. “A full audit of the event will be forthcoming, but all initial reports from exhibitors and attendees clearly show that Pack Expo International and Pharma Expo 2016 was an overwhelming success.” Exhibitors and exhibit space were not the only records broken. In no previous year has the event received as many endorsements as this year, with the largest ever Partner Program, including 31 associations. International pavilion organizers came from all corners of the globe – including Argentina, Bavaria, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Taiwan.
The education offerings were also the largest in its history. The three Innovation Stages at Pack Expo and one at Pharma Expo offered free on-floor education, while The Pharma Expo Conference Program, produced by International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE), provided three topic tracks covering manufacturing operations, compliance trends and pharmaceutical packaging. One particularly well-received addition was the NextGEN Networking Fair, an event that connected both supplier companies and consumer goods manufacturers with student talent in the Education and Workforce Development Pavilion. Fourteen teams of students from 10 partner schools also participated in the Amazing Packaging Race, sponsored by ASCO. A team made up of undergrads from Indiana State University, Cal Poly, Virginia Tech and Rutgers University took home iPads for finishing first in the seventh annual competition. ASCO also awarded $5,000 academic scholarships to Nathaniel Weger, a junior at the University of Iowa, and Quinnlan Sweeney, a junior at Clemson University.
PMMI also hosted the 6th annual PACK gives BACK, featuring the magic and comedy of Penn and Teller. The sold-out event, sponsored by co-sponsors Rockwell Automation and DuPont, and Bronze sponsor Massman Automation Designs, attracted over 1,400. A portion of the proceeds will benefit No Greater Sacrifice (NGS), a non-profit organization providing educational scholarships to the children of wounded and fallen soldiers.
