CMM Intl. 2007 is history.

On the plus side, the show's latest owner, PennWell Corp., did a valiant job over the last two years in pre-show promotion. Deals were struck with Rosemont's Stephens Convention Ctr. to make it cheaper and easier for exhibitors to bring in running machinery—and scores of them did. A thoroughly revamped conference program was organized with an emphasis on converters talking to other converters. And the highly touted Flexible Packaging and Narrow to Mid-Web technology centers were beehives of activity over the course of the show with a constant stream of well-attended equipment demonstrations.

But on the downside, the attendees just didn't seem to show up—again. Traffic was light on Monday, bountiful on Tuesday, then appeared to disappear.

Let's get one thing straight, though, I'm through with the argument that a show is successful only if a lot of warm bodies come to cruise the aisles. It's the right traffic that matters most. No exhibitor should want 10,000 tirekickers they'll never see again; they need the right 10 people with checkbooks. And for the exhibitors I spoke with, they mostly got them. Ask ALE, Comexi, Bobst Group and Core Systems who all made show sales, too, not to mention those whose phones rang the week after the show. In that sense, CMM 2007 was a success.

The converting industry is not what it was in 1997. Think consolidation and the last recession. Blame a smaller number of buyers and their companies just not sending as many to shows for the drop in attendance. While you can't make everyone happy, I still think the majority of CMM exhibitors and attendees were pleased.

Market involvement expands: John Kalkowski joins Reed Business Information as editorial director for both Converting and Packaging Digest. John brings experience as a copy editor, reporter, managing editor and executive editor for a variety of magazines and newspapers in Arizona, Florida, New York and Hong Kong. His work as a journalist has been recognized by a number of organizations including the Arizona Newspaper Assn., the National Press Photographers Assn., and the Small Business Administration.

Most recently, as North American Marketing Manager for Sun Chemical, John led the company's media and public relations efforts. In that capacity, he was actively involved in both the converting and packaging markets.

Welcome aboard, John.