Packaging and processing professionals gathered in Chicago last week for PACK EXPO International 2012, the largest packaging and processing trade show in the world this year. The four-day event, Oct. 28–31, covered more than 1.1 million net square feet (nsf) in McCormick Place with 1,965 exhibiting companies — an increase of over 6 percent for space and 7 percent for exhibiting companies from PACK EXPO International 2010.
Pre-registration for PACK EXPO was up significantly (nearly 10 percent) going into the event, however, the East Coast storm did have some effect on the final attendance numbers. Still, in spite of the storm, PACK EXPO welcomed 45,300 attendees to McCormick Place for the four-day event, which is an increase of 3 percent over the 2010 show. Much of this increase can be credited to the significant growth in the number of international attendees, which was up just over 53 percent from 2010.