Antec 2021 Rescheduled for May

It was reported on January 20 that the Society of Plastics Engineers’ (SPE, Danbury, Connecticut) annual Antec 2021 technical conference is entering its second year as a fully-virtual event but has moved the event dates from March to May. Antec 2021 now starts on May 5^th, 2021. Antec 2022 and 2023 will also be held in May of those respective years, with full details of those events to be announced once the pandemic situation becomes clearer.

“The unfortunate cancellation of NPE gives SPE the opportunity to move its annual technical conference back to its traditional May timeframe,” says SPE CEO Patrick Farrey. “SPE had previously agreed to move Antec to March to avoid the conflict of having two major industry events in the same month but May has always been the preferred timeframe for our members, attendees, exhibitors and sponsors.”

Farrey also indicates that the May 2021 edition will feature a powerful new online platform, selected to enhance the social and business connections between attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors. 

“Last year’s pandemic-inspired Virtual Antec was a great success, with more than 4,000 attendees and 50 exhibitors participating,” says Farrey.  “But the overwhelming feedback was that those participants wanted more ways to interact—buyers with exhibitors, attendees with speakers, friends with friends. So, this year’s Antec will do that in ways which weren’t even possible last year.”

The new Antec platform includes sophisticated introduction and connection tools. Through both self-selection and artificial intelligence matching, attendees and exhibitors will be “connected” based on their own preferences and profiles. For exhibitors, this means they can find and speak directly with their qualified buyers and engage one-on-one with decision-makers who meet their specific criteria, through embedded video chat and messaging, during and after the event.

For a preview of the Antec 2021 platform, visit www.4spe.org/demo. 

“Events like Antec are important for the plastics industry. It’s unfortunate that the pandemic has forced the cancellation of the industry’s live events.” says Farrey. “The good news is that, after producing dozens of virtual events in 2020, SPE is prepared for another successful virtual event. And Antec 2021 appears, for now, to be the only major plastics-specific event scheduled for this year.”