A Report to the members of the
National Textile Association and American Flock Association on

TECHTEXTIL NORTH AMERICA Show and Symposium

March 30 – April 1, 2004

Atlanta, Georgia

by Hardy Poole and Barry Ripley

TECHTEXTIL NORTH AMERICA, an international trade fair for technical textiles, was held in Atlanta, Georgia on March 30 – April 1. The National Textile Association and NTA's American Flock Association shared a booth at the show, which was one of approximately 300 exhibitors. Hardy Poole of NTA, Tom Witham of Spectro Coating Corporation, and AFA Executive Director Barry Ripley hosted the booth.

The booth was comprised of posters and other literature describing the activities of both associations. NTA’s Guide to American-made Fabrics 2004 and several samples of flocked fabrics were also displayed. Overall, show traffic was good with only a few light periods.

Activity at the show and in the booth was moderate with some quiet periods, but we were pleased that a number of attendees did stop to discuss flock, flock applications, and potential membership in the associations. Over 100 attendees visited the booth. Follow-up with show attendees that made specific requests, or expressed interest in membership is being made by staff. See the contact report attached for details.

Exhibitors at the show were oriented toward applications such as flame resistance, antimicrobial fabrics and fibers, performance apparel fabrics, engineering fabrics, and the materials, machinery and testing equipment that support these areas.

In addition to exhibitors of technical textile and other engineered products, national and international suppliers of fibers, threads, yarns, chemicals, machinery, testing services and two U.S. Department of Defense agencies made up the majority of show participants.

A symposium on technical textiles was held in conjunction with the three-day show. The symposium included over 60 papers, many which were highly technical in nature. We did not attend the tech sessions but found a number of them would be worthwhile. A listing of the papers and an order form for those who wish to purchase the papers is available from NTA.

A number of supplier members of AFA exhibited but did not feature flock applications as part of their programs. These included Rhodia, Noveon, Milliken, Consolidated Textiles (former), Johnston (former), PGI Difco, Invista.