A few days ago I shared something on social media about the ongoing seasonal change: “Leaves are changing, it’s getting dark earlier, and SNL is back with new episodes. Welcome back to my favorite time of year.”
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It’s true, this is the best season of them all, and not just because my kids are back in school, or because the White Sox are back in the playoffs. This is also the busiest stretch of the event season for Plant Services editors, and we can hardly wait to see you again in person!
Earlier this year I was able to attend the terrific EASA Annual Convention in Fort Worth, and I hope to meet them in St. Louis next June as well. This was followed two months later by the outstanding Leading Reliability Conference in Clearwater, FL, and plans are already in place for next year’s conference in May.
The first stop this fall is St. Louis for the SMRP 29th Annual Conference, which is being held both in-person and virtually from October 25-28. For those attending in person, the main program includes seven different session tracks to choose from, ranging from technology to leadership, where more than 80 presenters from around the world will share their tips and expertise.
For those whose organizations have suspended business travel until next year, I strongly encourage you to explore the virtual registration option. The online conference agenda indicates which sessions will be offered virtually. Also, whether you attend in-person or virtually, you can earn up to 24 hours of recertification credits by attending workshops and track sessions. To explore the agenda and/or to register, go to https://smrp-annual.us2.pathable.com.
Next up is the Best Practices 2021 EXPO and Conference, taking place this year in my hometown of Chicago from November 2-4. Returning in person after a virtual 2020, this event is exclusively focused on optimizing the on-site utilities that power modern plant automation such as compressed air, blowers, vacuum pumps, chillers, pneumatics, VFDs and more. For those of you who are specialists in this area, I cannot recommend this event highly enough.
Finally the Plant Services editors head to Houston over November 10-11 for the Rockwell Automation Fair, which closes our event season with a look forward at what is coming next in the world of factory automation. Rockwell Automation engineer Jake Thatcher contributes this month’s Automation Zone column on p.16, reviewing best lockout/tagout practices for maintenance teams.
Plant Services is also looking forward to attending an intense multi-day workshop on seals and seal analysis in Birmingham, AL, this fall, but more on that later – I have to survive the workshop before I can file the stories!
I hope you have a terrific fall season, and if the Plant Services editors don’t see you this year, we sure will in 2022.
This story originally appeared in the October 2021 issue of Plant Services. Subscribe to Plant Services here.
This article is part of our monthly From the Editor column. Read more from Thomas Wilk.
