2012 Annual Meeting Covered by Pittsburgh Tribune Review | AIChE

2012 Annual Meeting Covered by Pittsburgh Tribune Review

October 29, 2012

Craig Davis of VisitPittsburgh along with AIChE Meetings Director Jeff Wood and Marketing Director Tim McCreight were quoted in a story about the Annual Meeting's economic impact on the city of Pittsburgh, despite storm Sandy pushing through the area. Here's a bit of the story below:

The world’s premier conference for chemical engineers could generate $8.5 million in spending, according to VisitPittsburgh, despite a wet and windy welcome.

“If it comes in at that, it will be one of our biggest conferences of the year,” said Craig Davis, CEO of the tourism bureau.

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ annual meeting began Sunday and continues through Friday. Organizers expect it to draw more than 6,000 people to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. More might have come had Hurricane Sandy not hit.

“The storm is impacting us,” said Jeffrey Wood, meetings director for the New York City-based organization, which has more than 40,000 members in 90 countries. “Some people can’t get here.”

Airlines canceled nearly 10,000 flights and Amtrak scrapped East Coast service on Monday because of the hurricane.

Jeff Wood and Tim McCreight went on to say:

“I’d like to think Pittsburgh had a part in it, because it now has a great reputation,” said Wood, who organized 15 of the group’s annual meetings and said he would not have considered Pittsburgh until visiting several years ago. “I was very impressed with it. I took it back and said we’re coming here.”

The institute last met in Pittsburgh about 100 years ago, about the time the group was founded in 1908, Wood said.

The city has earned a reputation as an energy center — a draw for chemical engineers, said the group’s marketing director, Tim McCreight.

Read more: http://triblive.com/home/2858226-74/engineers-chemical-pittsburgh-85-ene...
Follow us: @triblive on Twitter | triblive on Facebook