An overwhelming majority of the exhibitors at the 2014 International BoatBuilders' Exhibition & Conference (#IBEX14) were thrilled with the quality and quantity of attendees at this annual marine industry trade show which is now in its final day. The conference kicked off at 8:30 am today and the exhibit hall will be open from 10 am - 3 pm.
"Attendance is up over previous years and the response to the Tampa venue has been extremely positive," said Anne Dunbar, Show Director of IBEX. "We thank our partners, the exhibitors, attendees, speakers and press for helping make our return to Florida a huge success." Final attendance numbers will be released at the close of the show.
Social media, managed by Josh Chiles, Founder, Engaged! spread quickly with mentions for IBEX surpassing 1 million impressions faster than any year before. The Exhibitor Video Awards: People's Choice Awards Facebook application also set a new record with over 2,180 votes cast.
Exhibitors had this to say about the first two days of the event:
"The entire IBEX experience has been great for us as a new exhibitor with a new product. Getting face-to-face exposure with media, buyers, distributors, and fellow manufacturers has been invaluable. In 3 days we have been able to reach decision makers and get product feedback that may have taken years to acquire otherwise. And from an organizational and professional environment IBEX is running a first class event," Steve Fill, President, Docktail Bar.
"IBEX is the best venue for the marine industry and this event has been a great show with great traffic. We had the opportunity to meet with key customers and potential customers and tell them not only about our products but also about our company as we celebrate our 20th anniversary," said Matt Peat, executive vice president, Transhield USA.
"We are new to the marine industry and we received a very warm welcome. We met with a lot of great people and got some very strong leads. We have been able to introduce new material ideas to the marine industry which have been used successful in the motorcycle, military and fashion industries," said Caroline Berna, Account Manager Material ConneXion.
"The 2014 IBEX was terrific and we received a lot of great feedback about the new format for The Connected Boat, which we partnered with IBEX on. . People in the marine industry are much more comfortable with wireless technology and understanding that Cloud-based services are now a reality. We met with a lot of potential customers and well qualified leads. We are looking forward to Louisville in 2015," said Steve James, Vice President of Chetco Digital.
"This is our first time at IBEX, and we were very pleased with the reaction from the Marine Industry to our 3-D printing machines. This has been a great show, and the attendees were excited about this new concept of printing their own prototypes within hours," said Vince Denino, of Prototyping Solutions a representative of Stratasys 3D.
At the end of the day, Professional BoatBuilder magazine hosted a VIP Reception for their 25th Anniversary by recognizing the advertisers who started with them in 1989 when the publication first launched, and are still advertising. Those advertisers included American Boat Builders and Repairers Association, Awlgrip, Baltek Corporation, Epifanes, Paul Gardner Company, Gougeon Brothers (PRO-SET & WEST System) Interlux, Marine Concepts, Marine Machining & Manufacturing, Paneltronics, Soundown Corporation, Systems Three Resins, Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology.
"'We thank these companies and recognize them for having the courage to sign on as advertisers during our first year of publication and are still with us a quarter of a century later. We will continue our dedication to bringing our readers the skills, materials, and technologies of building and repairing boats," said Aaron Porter, Editor, Professional BoatBuilder magazine.
