CPIA Sells Plast-Ex, Expoplast; Plast-Ex Shifted To May 2011

Canon Communications LLC has acquired the Plast-Ex and Expoplast trade shows from the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA), and will be postponing the Plast-Ex show until May of 2011.

Plast-Ex, which had been scheduled to run in May 2010 at the Toronto Congress Centre, will now be held at that location from May 10-12, 2011. The show will also be combined with the Packex show, as well as automation, design and manufacturing, the Green Manufacturing Expo and processing events.

Based in Los Angeles, Calif., Canon is a longtime producer of trade events, publications and electronic media, and is responsible for 62 trade shows, 16 publications and over 50 e-media offerings throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

According to CPIA president and CEO Mark Badger, Canon and CPIA will work together in developing and promoting these acquired shows in a new co-located event format. “Members of CPIA will continue to be offered discounted exhibition space at the Plast-Ex and Expoplast shows, and will benefit from Plast-Ex being co-located with other highly synergistic successful trade shows serving the packaging, automation, processing and design and manufacturing sectors,” Badger said in a press release.

In a telephone interview with Canadian Plastics, Badger added that there hasn’t yet been discussion about moving the date of the next Expoplast show, currently set for October 2011. “The consensus among the Plast-Ex exhibitors that I’ve spoken with, meanwhile, is that moving the Plast-Ex show to 2011 is a good thing, because the economy will be more favorable by that point,” he said. “Also, Canon’s intention to co-locate the event is very good news, driving more traffic to the show.”