WHEN CHARLES EMELY, PH.D., CAE, CMP, WAS CHARGED WITH THE formidable task of co-locating four separate railway industry events, there was “a certain degree of concern and trepidation.” Would the joint event attract enough attendees and exhibitors? Would the four organizing associations be able to overcome their cultural differences and work together? “We went into this,” Emely said, “not having any idea what to expect.” But four years of planning, negotiating, and persuading paid
off. This past September, Railway Interchange 2011 made its debut at the Minneapolis Convention Center — and was a re- sounding success “from all perspectives,” according to Emely, executive director and CEO of the American Railway Engineer- ing and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA). The organizations initially hoped for 4,000 to 5,000 at-
tendees; they ended up with close to 9,000. And all three trade associations involved along with AREMA — the Railway En- gineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA), the Railway Supply Institute (RSI), and Railway Systems Suppliers Inc. (RSSI) — sold out their exhibit space and had waiting lists. Emely said: “Everyone was pleased with the results.”
Riding the Rails “Everyone” included the railroad industry leaders who in the spring of 2007 requested that the four organizations meet in the same place at the same time, creating one all-inclusive event rep- resenting every segment of the rail-supply industry. “The chief engineering people in the major railroads in the country decid- ed they would like to see this be a combined event primarily to
reduce the number of trips that needed to be made during the year,” Emely said. “The intent was pretty clear. When your cus- tomer base says we want you to do this, you consider it a man- date.” But a mandate is one thing. Consensus and acquiescence are something else. “It was not something that [RSSI] wanted to do,” said Michael Drudy, RSSI’s executive director. And the or- ganization “pushed back.” Drudy said: “We tried a similar com- bined show back in 2000 in Dallas, and it was very unsuccessful. The railroads were very reluctant to send their entire engineer- ing staff to the show and, essentially, vacate their offices. So they ended up sending the civil and mechanical engineers and leaving the signal people behind to man the fort. And the signal people are our customers. So we had a noticeable decrease in the num- ber of customers at that combined show.” Eventually, Drudy said, RSSI relented to “pressure from the
railroads” and decided to “go ahead and give it another try.” But Drudy and his counterparts at REMSA and RSI were still ap- prehensive about the potential turnout for what was christened Railway Interchange 2011 and slated for Sept. 18–21. “Co-lo- cating meant that all of the major railroads had to send the ma-
✱ MIXED SIGNALS:
Railway Interchange 2011 brought four railway industry organizations — the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association, the Railway Supply Institute,
the Railway Engineering-Mainte- nance Suppliers Association,
and Railway Systems Suppliers Inc. — together for the first time
under one roof. The organizations worked together to develop a logo for the combined event.