Published 1/15/2018

Engage the Next Generation – Sponsor the Plastics Race

Sponsor The Plastics Race. Engage the next generation workforce by promoting our industry and your company. Participate in The Race and build relationships!

Cynthia Kustush

Contributing Writer

Have you heard about The Plastics Race? It is a fun, interactive way to engage the next generation of plastics industry workers, and it is sponsored by the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) Next Generation Advisory Board (NGAB) and MMT’s sister publication, Plastics Technology Magazine. What’s more, this “race for plastics knowledge” will be held during NPE2018 in Orlando (which is co-located with the SPE ANTEC), and you can be a sponsor and interact with Race participants right from your company’s booth!

Here’s how it works. The Plastics Race is basically a scavenger hunt designed to challenge participants who are young, up-and-coming plastics professionals through industry veterans. Ideal teams will be composed of a mix of newbies and veterans who will use a course map to visit sponsor company booths to search for special QR codes that, when scanned with a smart device, produce questions that test the team’s plastics knowledge. Questions are random, and will be drawn from the fields of polymer science, polymer chemistry, plastics engineering and much more. The team with the most correct answers will win a special prize.

The Plastics Race will be held on Monday, May 7, from noon until 2 p.m. The SPE and Plastics Technology are looking for 200 companies to sponsor QR codes for The Plastics Race. Sponsorships are $1,000 each and funds raised will be used for:

Co-located events that will engage and draw more students and young professionals to TopCons (i.e. Volleyball & Cookout at IMTECH and Whirlyball at the Annual Blow Molding Conference)
Humanitarian events such as plastics clean-ups and 5Ks for charity
Annual NGAB face-to-face meetings for strategic planning
Young professional SPE recruiting at industry events
Visits & speakers at SPE student chapters to promote continued SPE membership
All-Student Chapter Board Meeting at ANTEC

The SPE and Plastics Technology are looking for 200 companies to sponsor QR codes for The Plastics Race.

Here’s another cool benefit. As a sponsor, you can form a team and join The Race! A member of your company will be invited to volunteer to help a team boost its collective plastics knowledge by adding your company’s specific area of expertise. I’ve participated in a race and industry veterans I’ve talked to who have also participated say they’ve had a great time and would do it again.

There is also the benefit of knowing that sponsors are encouraged by the SPE and PT to n

The Plastics Race provides an opportunity to further engage the next generation of plastics professionals while also having fun and building relationships. The Race will be held on Monday, May 7 during NPE2018, which will be co-located with SPE’s ANETC in Orlando this year. The SPE and Plastics Technology Magazine are seeking 200 Race QR code sponsors.

ot only welcome race participants to their booth, but to use the time to also share information about your products and services. Plus, there is a new online race that will help extend sponsors’ opportunities to continue connecting with the teams.

Get in on The Plastics Race! Companies who have participated previously include Progressive Components, Bales Metal Surface Solutions, 3M, Arburg, Wittmann Battenfeld and others.

Complete the registration form online at 4spe.org/tpr. Place your cursor over “The Plastics Race” on the horizontal navigation bar across the top of the page and click on “Sponsor the Race” in the drop-down bar. On the next page, click on the bright green registration button in the upper right-hand corner of the page to start the form.

Alternatively, the form in the attached brochure can be completed and sent with a check or credit card info to:

Society of Plastics Engineers

Attn: Scott Marko
6 Berkshire Blvd, Suite 306
Bethel, CT 06801