TCT 2017 Birmingham NEC 26-28 september

[curious aardvark]

Going to sticky this till after the show.
Anyone going ?
Anyone having a stand ?

I'll be wandering around as usual - very hard to miss - big ginger beard and A Curious Aardvark, 3dprintboard.com T-shirt :-)

t-shirt-preview.jpg

Seems like every year, more people point at the t-shirt with dawning horror and turn and hurry away in the opposite direction ;-)

Not sure what day we're going yet. but probably 26th or 27th.

Anyone wants to meet up for a chat, let me know beforehand and we can arrange something.
Or just spot me on the day, point and shout: 'that's him - don't let him get away !'
Whatever works ;-)

Other than that, if you're in the uk and Not going - why the hell not ?
Tct is an awesome show - every single aspect of 3d printing is covered: from self build reprap, on up to machines worth millions of pounds.
More filament suppliers and types than you can shake a 3d printed stick at. A whole section for new technologies and startups - always a favourite of mine.

Entry is free - easy to just turn up on the day and get your badge printed. Or sign up beforehand and get a registration code.

One thing about most of the 3d printing world, is that the vast majority of companies are still fairly small. So generally when you chat to someone manning/womaning a stall - it's the company ceo/chief researcher/engineer etc.
Not just some rube hired to man a stall at a show with no knowlege of why they're there or what they are supposed to be selling.
Last year there weren't many booth bunnies (sexist term, I know - but these days they do come in both sexes) a few of the larger companies have them. But for the most part you're actually interacting with the company founders and actual staff.

One thing I will say - bring a backpack of some kind - you'll need serious luggage for all the filament samples :-)
Well you will if you're a scrounging git, like me :-)

[endure]

Can 'ordinary people' go or do you have to be in the industry?

[curious aardvark]

Open to anyone and everyone :-)

[iDig3Dprinting]

It's always good to see what new 3D printing toys people have been building. Larger, established manufacturer stands tend to be rather dull - move to the back of the hall for the interesting stuff.

[curious aardvark]

quite a lot more stalls this year, so should be more of the smaller companies with innovative machines.

You also get a lot of europaen companies making the trip.

Also lots of talks and conference type events. Have to admit, we sat in on a talk the first year we went. But not done so since.
Far more interesting talking to the people on the stands. Don't seem to have time to sit down and listen to someone lecture :-)

[iDig3Dprinting]

As bad as it sounds, we have never made it to a talk. But you never know, there is always a first time. We won't be wearing a t-shirt with an aardvark on it, as tempting as that is (that is not sarcasm by the way).

[endure]

I looked at the registration page but it appears only companies can register. Is that right?

[Davo]

Birmingham, Alabama is only a short drive from Atlanta!

[curious aardvark]

I looked at the registration page but it appears only companies can register. Is that right?

I refer you to my previous answer.
Anyone can go. Which bit of that is unclear ?
OOps - you have to be over 16 - but apart from that ANYONE !
https://rapidnews.circdata-solutions...publish/TCT17/

If you don't have a company - leave it blank or make one up.
Or simply turn up on the day.

I used to go to a lot of the food industry trade show some years back. Just make a company up - foodl shows are really great for freebies !
Couple of years we had to leave early on account we literally couldn't carry any nore stuff !

I made the visitor comments list :-)

Great show, only place in the UK to see every aspect of the additive manufacturing sector under one roof.
Alexander Johnson, Owner, Alexander Johnson Computer Services

Who's this Alex Johnson bloke ? Great guy, know him well lol

Given that the city of Birmingham was a city before europaens landed in america - I don't feel the need to qualify where it is :-)

[endure]

I was asking about registering rather than attending. Anyway I've now registered with my new company