Welding and Gases Online Today

By investing in capital equipment, Ted Boatman, president and general manager, Alloy Custom Products (Lafayette, IN), will be able to reduce the number of hours required to manufacture and repair cryogenic trailers and pass those savings on to customers. “Sales numbers during 2010 may soften by as much as 20% before sales begin to move in the opposite direction. Like everyone else, we are reducing costs and improving efficiencies in order to maintain margins and reduce our pricing to customers.”

http://www.weldingandgasestoday.org/content/1q10/suppstrat.php

I just returned home from this year’s Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Conference.  This year it was in Orlando, and it was VERY slow compared to the past two years that I have attended.  You can definitely tell that the economy has hit this industry!  It was quite ironic that Fox News announced that GM were cutting 1,600 jobs on the same day that GM sponsored a big luncheon at the conference!  I just thought that was interesting.

The conference took place at Disney World.  It was nothing too exciting, but I did have the opportunity to go to the pool one afternoon.  So, for me, that’s always a highlight.  The conference was held at the Swan and Dolphin Hotel.  I remember staying there as a kid, and I thought it was much more exciting, but I guess going to an Expo Hall doesn’t quite beat Walt Disney World!  

I ate at Todd English’s BlueZoo.  It was amazing!  I highly recommend it!

I had the opportunity to hear Boone Pickens speak… that is always a highlight for me!  This year, I  also met General Wesley Clark.

All in all, I enjoyed being there.  I’m hoping for some big changes next year… if I return!

~Carli

***Photos*** (Left to Right)

My mother and I with General Wesley Clark.

My mother and I with Alloy’s sales engineer, Ryan Moulton, and his family, Sabra and Shay.

Ryan and I in front of a monster truck.  They make it from a Ford 650… I didn’t even know they made those!  Shaq just ordered his… P.Diddy already has two!  It was the biggest SUV I’ve ever seen.  I can’t imagine driving it on the street.  It would be perfect for tailgating!

I just finished up with the Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Conference (www.afvi.org).  My company, Alloy Custom Products, had a booth in the Expo (www.alloycustomproducts.com).  Alloy manufactures cryogenic tanker trailers… for the alternative fuel market, our trailers are used to transport LNG.  I like to refer to Alloy as my ”real job,” since playing with jewelry all day for BlumLux can’t possibly be considered a real job! 

This year, the annual conference was in Las Vegas at the Rio All-Suite Las Vegas Hotel and Casino.  The Rio was ok, but I would have preferred to stay on the strip since there was nothing that I wanted to do in the Rio.  I did however eat at one of the most amazing restaurants!  As an avid fan of Top Chef, I wanted to eat at Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Craftsteak (Rating *****/*****), located inside the MGM Grand.  I highly recommend it!  It was one of my favorite meals ever!  My table had the kobe beef tasting menu.  We had an enormous selection of appetizers, entrees, and desserts!  (I have been to Chef Colicchio’s Craft in New York, and I was not impressed.)

 This conference makes you realize how important it is to do your part on Going Green.  With gas prices continuing to go up, Americans are looking for ways to utilize alternative fuels.  If you’d like to learn more on how you can help… check out www.cleanskies.org.  I was also able to preview a lot of the upcoming new cars… the Chevy Volt is awesome!!!  (It won’t come out until 2010.)

~Carli