Detroit — The Society of Plastics Engineers' Antec conference will no longer will be co-located with NPE, starting in 2021, SPE announced March 18.
Antec has been co-located at NPE, which is held every three years, since NPE2009. The 2009 NPE was held in Chicago, but the show moved to the Orlando, Fla.'s Orange County Convention Center for the 2012 show and has stayed in Florida since then.
In non-NPE years, Antec has been a separate event. This year it is March 18-21 in Detroit. In 2020 it moves to Texas.
Now Antec will also become a separate event in NPE years.
"Both of these events have outgrown the co-location, and each needs more space to continue their growth," said Patrick Farrey, SPE's CEO.
SPE will hold its 2021 Antec March 22-26 in Denver. NPE 2021 will run May 17-21. NPE is run by the Plastic Industry Association.
Farrey said: "Bill Carteaux and I discussed this immediately after Antec/NPE last May, and we both agreed this was the right path forward. The announcement was withheld only until the location of Antec 2021 was finalized."
Carteaux, the CEO of the Plastics Industry Association in Washington, died Dec. 10 after a battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
SPE's announcement of the dates and location for upcoming Antecs came during Antec 2019.
Brian Landes, SPE's incoming president, said SPE will continue its long-standing collaboration with the Plastics Industry Association, including workforce development, student membership and environmental issues.
Interviewed at Antec 2019, Farrey was asked if Antec, a smaller technical conference, got "lost" at the mega show that is an NPE.
"I wouldn't say that Antec was lost in NPE, but NPE had outgrown, or is constrained by the space of the convention center already. And so the addition of Antec adds additional challenges to their space," he said.
The Plastics Industry Association has its own meetings and conference sessions at NPE, mainly covering business issues involving the plastics sector. And prior to 2009, both groups had cooperated on some technical sessions at NPE.
"There's a lot of activities going on," Farrey said. "So there's this space concern, coupled with the fact that attendees already have so many things to do during that week, so many obligations, that's it just tough for them to attend two events that are happening at the same time.
Next year's Antec, the 2020 edition, will be March 30-April 2 in San Antonio, Texas.
SPE and the Plastics Industry Association, then called the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc., decided to co-locate in 2009 during the Great Recession, when both organizers were expecting challenging conditions.
