Conventions

We’re out West again, and visiting with the WPMA. To you and me, that’s the Western Petroleum Marketers Association. Nervous looks and twitching hands seemed to abound at the show, and it wasn’t all because of last night’s losses at the craps table or roulette wheel. The petroleum industry has plenty to be nervous about right now, what with chaos ripping through North African and Gulf State oil-producing countries (guess which way prices went?); plus president-for-eternity Hugo Chavez in Venezuela honing his performance as the worst manager of oil wealth in the history of the Americas; and then of course voices on Capitol Hill beginning to nod resignedly at the mention of likely future gasoline taxes to dampen demand and curb “America’s dangerous oil addiction”. The only way this could get worse, some seemed to be saying, would be GM developing a wind-powered car…

SSPS is the Society for Protective Coatings. It bills itself as “The only Technical Conference and Trade Show specifically developed for key stakeholders in a protective coatings project”. Who? Well, that would be the “Painting Contractors, Facility Owners, Coating Manufacturers, Equipment Suppliers, Inspectors, and the Engineers focused on protecting critical assets and infrastructure using protective coatings”. The technical program went into issues like Standards Most Frequently Used, Suspended Scaffold Access, Green From Start to Finish (finish — geddit?) and Failure Analysis. Anyone got a protective coating to protect me from this weather?

Nope this isn’t a trade show for vehicles to drive us Phat chicks around. Ok, so they didn’t laugh either.

HDAW is the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week, and it’s all about how to make big trucks better. How so? Well, you never saw so many bolt-ons in one place. Accessories and customization packs, batteries, braking systems, chemicals and lube products, special wheels and tires, wheel bearings, snow chains, parts and components, tools and equipment, lighting kits, emergency beacons, worklights and warning lights. hubcaps, torque nuts… If you start out with a ten-ton truck and load just a fraction of these goodies onto it, you’re probably already talking about an eleven-ton truck. You thought trucks were ugly, utilitarian things? You should have seen these delegates lighting up as they found a new toy. In fact that’s what it felt like: big kids let loose in a toyshop…

I’m missing the car gene. If it runs — it’s good for me. But these did catch my eye while i was wandering the aisles of AIWA:

Can you tell I like shiny!!

It is fun to just go to the show and not have to work but truthfully that NEVER ever happens. I’m always working. But I do take the time to stop and smell the pleasther: