NEW YORK — This year's Polyurethanes Expo, to be held in Dallas this fall, will offer a revised schedule and conference format from past events.
Scheduled for Sept. 17-20 at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel, the event for the first time will run over a weekend, and will feature fewer technical presentations in favor of more sessions on industry issues and end-use markets.
The meeting's organizer, the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.'s Polyurethanes Division, is making the changes to attract more users of PU chemicals and materials, according to Fran W. Lichtenberg, the division's executive director. For the second straight year, the event includes a trade show.
Lichtenberg expects PU Expo '98 to attract more than 2,000 attendees, nearly a quarter of those from outside the United States, and said in early June that more than 60 firms had signed on to exhibit.
In addition to roughly 40 technical papers, the program will include sessions devoted to global climate change and the environment, business opportunities in Latin America, and to end-use markets such as appliances, automotive, construction and furnishings.
Jon M. Huntsman Sr. will open the event with a keynote speech Thursday afternoon, and former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda will close the event with a talk midday Sunday.
For details contact Arlene Laboy at the Polyurethane Division in New York at (212) 351-5425 or see the division's Web site at www.polyurethane.org.