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Table of Contents Welcome to FABTECH ......................................................................................... 2

About FABTECH .................................................................................................. 2

FABTECH Audience Profile .................................................................................. 2

FABTECH Education Program .............................................................................. 2

Benefits & Role of Speaking/Volunteering at FABTECH ....................................... 3

Benefits of Speaking at FABTECH ........................................................................ 3

Role of Speaker at FABTECH ............................................................................... 3

Benefits of Volunteering as Session Leader at FABTECH ..................................... 3

Role of Volunteer as Session Leader at FABTECH ................................................ 4

Session Details .................................................................................................... 4

FABTECH Session Room Sets/Timing ................................................................... 4

FABTECH Code of Conduct .................................................................................. 4

FABTECH Speaker Tips & Guidelines.................................................................... 5

How to Market & Promote Your Participation .................................................... 6

FABTECH Branding .............................................................................................. 6

FABTECH Speaker Landing Page .......................................................................... 6

Speaker Button ................................................................................................... 6

Speaker Discount Code ....................................................................................... 6

FABTECH Blog ..................................................................................................... 6

Social Media Strategy ......................................................................................... 6

Travel Information .............................................................................................. 7

Hotel Reservation ............................................................................................... 7

FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions ..................................................................... 8

FABTECH Education Contacts .............................................................................. 9

Content Management System ............................................................................ 9

Education Program Managers ............................................................................. 9

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Welcome to FABTECH Thank you for participating in the FABTECH 2017 Education Program. We appreciate your

expertise and participation to further the education of the manufacturing workforce. FABTECH

features some of the best and brightest subject matter experts in the metal forming and

fabricating manufacturing industry.

This guide will provide valuable information and address any questions that you may have

about being a presenter at FABTECH so that you and the attendee have a positive experience.

About FABTECH North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event. FABTECH

provides a convenient ‘one stop shop’ venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers,

see the latest industry products and developments, and find the tools to improve productivity,

increase profits and discover new solutions to all of your metal forming, fabricating, welding

and finishing needs.

FABTECH Audience Profile Primary industries in attendance include: Aerospace, Agriculture, Automotive, Construction,

Energy, Heavy Equipment, Mining/Utilities/Power Generation, Military/Defense, Oil & Gas, and

Other Transportation.

Primary job titles of attendees include: Owner, Corporate Executive, Manufacturing/Design

Engineer, Manufacturing Production, Forman/Leader/Supervisor, Welder, Machine Operator,

R&D, Purchasing, Distributor, and Sales & Marketing.

FABTECH Education Program The Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, Int’l (FMA), SME (Society of Manufacturing

Engineers), Precision Metal forming Association (PMA), American Welding Society (AWS) and

Chemical Coaters Association International (CCAI), co-sponsor the sessions on cutting, laser,

finishing, forming & fabricating, management, job shop solutions, lean, automation, stamping,

workforce development, and additive manufacturing. All sessions are two hours in length,

offering practical knowledge you can use right away. Sessions with Tech Tours combine

classroom instruction followed by expert-led guided tours on the show floor to see technology

operating in designated booths.

The American Welding Society (AWS) presents a comprehensive lineup of welding education.

Led by the industry’s top professionals, programs focus on best practices and new commercial

developments in welding and thermal spray. Events include conferences, seminars, RWMA

Resistance Welding School, professional program, society events, and more.

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Benefits & Role of Speaking/Volunteering at FABTECH

Benefits of Speaking at FABTECH There is much evidence that speaking at public forums often results in attaining business

because an audience of potential customers or clients gains an increased awareness of the

company in general and specific subject areas in particular. As a speaker at this event, you will:

Share your technical knowledge, best practices, case studies and innovations.

Position yourself with personal exposure as an industry expert.

Showcase your company's leadership, progress and success.

Network with industry peers.

Introduce yourself to new customers.

Reveal solutions with new manufacturing professionals.

Increase exposure for your booth at the exhibits:

o Your name and company will be posted on the show website and listed in the

brochure mailed to over 275,000 industry professionals and decision makers.

Complimentary registration: This will be done for you by the conference team and you

will be notified the location to pick up your badge.

Unlimited access to education sessions, special event panels, keynote and featured

presentations, speaker lounge and entrance to expo hall.

Role of Speaker at FABTECH As a committed speaker at this event, your responsibilities include:

Review all information provided by the FABTECH conference team regarding your

session.

Log in the FABTECH Cadmium Management System

FABTECH uses the Harvester System to collect forms and presentations. You must login

to the system and complete the tasks listed as soon as possible. The system is set to

send you reminders as deadlines approach if you have not completed each task. We are

confident that this system will streamline this process and will be easy to use.

Be on time for your session and if you share a session with multiple speakers be

respectful of time and make an introduction for the incoming presenter.

Bring your laptop with presentation loaded and ready to go. Embed all videos, as each

venue limits internet services.

Prepare your presentation free of all commercialism. Sales pitches are not accepted in

the educational program and may result in not being accepted for future speaking roles.

Benefits of Volunteering as Session Leader at FABTECH As a volunteer session leader, you will have access to extra benefits including:

A complimentary registration to the conference and show.

Receive a Free CD of all the Conference presentations.

Opportunity to network with high level speakers and attendees.

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Access to attend a session that would be of interest to you and learn about the latest

technology developments.

Role of Volunteer as Session Leader at FABTECH As a committed volunteer session leader at this event, your responsibilities include:

Check packet for roster and evaluations

Take tickets from attendees and check session is correct

Introduce speakers and check podium for introduction sheet

Thank attendees and announce session proceedings can be picked up at Service Counter

(outside conference HQ room) or at Conference HQ

Collect evaluations – put in envelope

Return tickets, roster and evaluations in the envelope to Conference HQ room

Session Details

FABTECH Session Room Sets/Timing Standard room sets include: A projection screen, LCD projector, and wired microphone at

podium. Internet access is not available in meeting rooms. Check packet for roster and

evaluations

You will be provided a packet after check-in at the conference headquarters that

includes: your conference speaker badge, roster of attendees and sessions evaluations.

You will be responsible for bringing a laptop (external speakers if needed) and the most

up-to-date versions of your presentation. If you have video please embed in your

presentation. Also, it’s a good idea to have your presentation loaded on a separate

thumb drive for back-up to be loaded and ready to play if needed.

Session timing: Each session is 2 hours in length with one or more presenters. Speakers may be

assigned 30, 40, 45, 60 or 120 minutes depending on the program and/or topic.

FABTECH Code of Conduct At FABTECH, we assume that most people are intelligent and well-intended, and we're not

inclined to tell people what to do. However, we want every FABTECH conference to be a safe

and productive environment for everyone. We're voicing our strong support of appropriate

behavior by all speakers and session leaders representing FABTECH.

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FABTECH Speaker Tips & Guidelines

The education component is one of the show’s most valuable features and a critical element of

FABTECH. Below are basic guidelines to help create the most beneficial experience for both you

as a speaker and your audience.

1) Involve the Audience

It is key that speakers and moderators involve the audience. You want to engage the audience with questions, comments, and conversation. Get them to participate, volunteer, and laugh and you’ll steal the show.

2) Make It Personal

Encourage personal interaction during sessions. Have speakers break out the audience into focus groups. Let them talk about their personal experience with each other. Everyone has a story and most are eager to tell it.

3) Encourage Learners

Encourage learners to connect their past experiences with their current knowledge-base and activities. Learners are taught ways to bring to their current placement past knowledge, opinions, and experiences.

4.) Effective Presentations

Your audience will appreciate the time you spend planning and developing dynamic and

interesting visuals. They will also better retain the information, especially visual learners. By

following the guidelines in this section, you’ll be able to make your slides look more

professional in no time:

Slides are visual aids that help to communicate your key messages. PowerPoint has

become a mainstay of current presentations, but most people use PowerPoint poorly.

Used correctly, they increase learning, clarify what you are describing and engage the

audience. They allow you to reach both visual and auditory learners.

Slides are meant to enhance your oral presentation, not summarize it or serve as a

transcript. Many people think slides should contain much of the text of their

presentations so people can refer back to them, or use them as handouts. If that’s your

intention, create handouts, which can have more detailed information; slides are not

the right tool.

Slides are supposed to support the live presentation, nothing else. They are a visual

prop, not the focus of the presentation. The focus of the audience should be on you

with only occasional references to the slides for specific, identified purposes.

Composition slides are consistently overfilled. Everyone’s been to a presentation with

slides that cannot be read, packed with graphs or text. These slides are not effective;

they’re distracting. Instead of listening and learning, people are struggling to read.

Slides should be simple. Be sure the text is needed and not just distracting. They should

illustrate. Everyone loves images and visuals. In fact, slides have helped presenters

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reach more people with more information because people learn differently, and many

people are visual learners.

How to Market & Promote Your Participation

FABTECH Branding When referencing FABTECH in any speaking communication, please use all caps (i.e. FABTECH)

FABTECH Speaker Landing Page Event speakers will be provided registration landing pages with a unique URL to share with your

audience. These pages can be customized to include your name and photograph and can easily

be incorporated with your existing event marketing. Share the registration landing page link

with your audience and gain more exposure to your conference session at FABTECH.

Speaker Button FABTECH will provided speakers with a digital “I Am Speaking” button to be used in your email

signature and any other digital media promotions (website, social media etc.)

Speaker Discount Code You will be provided a speaker discount code to share with your intended audience. This is also

available in the Harvester content management site for speakers of FABTECH. Share this with

your customers, contact lists and other colleagues to get conference purchase discounts.

FABTECH Blog Use the FABTECH blog to tell your story! Email marketingservices@fabtechexpo.com for more

information on how to become a guest blogger.

Social Media Strategy Leading up to and during FABTECH 2017, use social media posts to promote your speaking

session, discount codes or announcements, and industry news throughout the event. Follow

@FABTECHexpo on all social platforms and use #FABTECH17 to mark your posts.

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Social media is a powerful tool you can use to help market yourself for FABTECH and gain more

exposure to a wider audience of interested industry professionals. Here are some statistics to

show just how large of an audience is at your fingertips on social media:

Total social network users worldwide in 2016 was 2.34 billion

Over 50 million businesses use Facebook Business Pages

LinkedIn has more than 450 million user profiles

Twitter had 67 million active users in 2016

More than 56% of online adults use more than one social media platform

*Data referenced from statista.com

Travel Information FABTECH 2017 Official Housing Program: http://www.fabtechexpo.com/hotel-travel

Hotel Reservation Reserve your rooms early for the best selection and price. We encourage you to make your

reservations as soon as possible as the FABTECH hotels fill quickly.

onPeak is the only official housing provider associated with FABTECH. Please be aware, any

emails from other sources that are NOT valid FABTECH housing providers. The benefits of

booking through the official housing provider include:

Free shuttle service to and from McCormick Place (see below)

No booking or service fees

Protection from scammers

Immediate confirmations – no waiting or wondering

Customer service to ensure a hassle-free hotel experience

No change or cancellation fees up to 72 hours before the event

Descriptions, photos and maps to help you choose the perfect hotel

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FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to submit my presentation in advance?

Yes, you will be asked to submit to the Harvester Module in the Content Management site. You should also bring your presentation to the conference on a flash drive.

How do I submit an abstract?

The FABTECH Call for Speakers opens in January each year and can be accessed at http://www.fabtechexpo.com/education. To submit an abstract you must provide speaker contact information, biography, photo, and presentation title and presentation abstract description.

How do I know if I am accepted as a speaker?

You will be notified by email of your acceptance or denial at beginning of June approximately.

Where can I pick up my badge? Your badge and your speaker packet will be available in the assigned conference headquarters room.

May I use my own PowerPoint template?

FABTECH prefers the use of the approved branded template provided in the Speaker Tasks.

What can I expect about the room where I will be presenting?

Each session room will be equipped with a podium, wired microphone, projector and screen.

Do I need to register for this event?

NO, as a FABTECH speaker you are provided with a full conference pass and out staff will register you approximately 3-4 weeks before the event.

Can I bring my own laptop? YES, we ask that you bring your own laptop ready to plug into the house venue. Lap tops will NOT be provided.

Can I get a wireless lavalier mic? There are no wireless lavalier mics available for this conference.

Will I have access to the Internet? Our standard AV set DOES NOT include access to the Internet. All videos should be embedded into your presentation.

What about attendee evaluations? Paper evaluations are provided and encouraged to have attendees fill out and leave in the box near the exit of the room. These will be collected by staff. You can request your evaluation after the show.

Will I be able to attend other sessions that I am not speaking at?

Speakers at FABTECH conferences are encouraged to attend educational sessions and the speaker badge allows entrance to other sessions.

Do you pay travel expenses? No, we do not. But speaking at FABTECH is great visibility for you and your company. See benefits of speaking section.

What about food? Coffee and light snacks are provided in the speaker lounge adjacent to the conference headquarters. Other food options are available for purchase through the venue.

Do you expect anything else from me besides showing up to speak?

We want your part of FABTECH to be a phenomenal success. So we expect you to participate in the conference and encourage communication with other session speakers and attendees.

What if I need technical assistance on the day of the conference?

Volunteers and staff will be on hand to assist throughout the day. If you need help prior to your session, contact your Conference Coordinator.

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FABTECH Education Contacts Need help? Have a question? We are ready to assist you. Please see below for specific contact

information.

Content Management System For assistance with the Speaker Content Management System (Cadmium Harvester, Abstracts,

Speaker Changes, Login/Passwords) contact:

Program Coordination: Irene Levangie, SME | ilevangie@sme.org | (800) 733-4763

Education Program Managers For assistance with Conference Programming and Development contact:

Finishing:

Kelly LeCount, CCAI | kelly@goyermgt.com | (859) 356-1030

Forming & Fabricating including Press Brake, Punch Press, Roll Forming and Coil Processing, Management, Structural Steel/Plate, Tube & Pipe:

Ashly Lantz, FMA | ashlyl@fmanet.org | (888) 394-4362 ext. 204

Laser, Cutting, Forming & Fabricating, Lean Principles and Tools, Management, Additive Manufacturing, Automation, Workforce Development:

Ila (Lundgren) Lee, SME | ilee@sme.org | (800) 733-4763

Stamping and Metalforming:

Marianne Sichi, PMA | msichi@pma.org | (216) 901-8800 ext. 150

Welding

Martica Ventura, AWS | mventura@aws.org | (800) 443-9353

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THANK YOU for participating at FABTECH 2017