At long last, the American Boiler Manufacturers Association (ABMA) this spring will finally host its long-awaited, BOILER 2022 Technology Conference and Expo, first announced in January 2020. That, of course, was on the cusp of the global Coronavirus pandemic, which went on to upend the best-laid plans of virtually everyone, everywhere.
Initially named 'BOILER 2021' and scheduled for last fall in Dallas, ABMA decided not to cancel the inaugural event, but instead to delay it by six months and re-brand it as 'BOILER 2022'. That leap of faith amid global crisis now is paying off, as the organization prepares to welcome some 80 exhibitors and roughly 800 attendees to the Hyatt Regency Dallas, just three months after its well-received 2022 annual meeting in Indian Wells, CA.
"We are excited to see our vision finally become a reality," says Scott Lynch, ABMA President & CEO. "Of course, it is a challenge to launch an inaugural event of any kind in normal times, but everyone knows these last two years have been anything but normal."
Still, a new normal now finally seems at hand across the U.S., and BOILER 2022 aims to fulfill its focused mission of bringing together the boiler industry's entire supply chain and end-users. From there, the goal is to educate and engage attendees and exhibitors, alike, with process and product demonstrations and deep dives into best practices that will help to make the industry safer, more efficient, more productive and more profitable.
"It was really time for us to take that next step forward to facillitate direct engagement with our end-users, and offer education on products and services, like insulation, operations and maintenance," added Shaunica Jayson, ABMA marketing director, commenting on our HPAC On The Air podcast in January.
BOILER 2022 will also feature more than 10 educational sessions on a variety of topics from water treatment, decarbonization, rental boilers, SCR systems, boiler room safety, robotics and more. These sessions offer insights into new technologies, proper operation and maintenance, and how to prepare for anything and everything that may arise in the modern boiler room.
"We really want to make this show something that we can consistently build on and that will bring a lot of value to our members, especially our exhibiting members," said ABMA Advisory Committee Chairman Eric Graham, of Webster Combustion Technology. Speaking alongside Jayson on the recent podcast, he noted, "We only have one shot at making a good first impression, so we definitely want to do that in Dallas."
Even so, betting on this centrally located event's success, ABMA already has begun planning for BOILER 2024, to be held in May 2024 in Denver CO.
"We knew that there was more that we could do for our industry," explains Lynch. "So, when we did our last strategic plan, our board agreed that we want to be engaging the whole boiler supply chain. How can we be better educating and engaging the end users of our products, and the consultants in our industry? That's really where we're going as an organization, to be more than just a manufacturers association."
Part of that shift had already included more engagement with end-users via initiatives like ABMA's own podcast series, Inside the Boiler Room, launched last year, plus special editions of its newsfeeds and Boiler Weekly newsletters. But now, the biggest step is finally about to become a reality this spring in Dallas.
For much more on the event, including details on speakers and exhibitors, visit www.boiler2022.com, and follow our own Twitter feed at @HPACEng.