Registration

Do I need to register?
This is our most frequently asked question. Yes, you need to register. Online registration is available here. You can register onsite at the Stephens Convention Center in Hall B beginning Tuesday, September 25 at 6:45 AM.

How do I get my badge?
Your badge is available in Hall B at the Stephens Convention Center. You can pick up badges from 6:45 AM – 5 PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

What does my registration include?
This depends on the registration level you selected. (Check the confirmation emailed to you.) Full Convention VIP includes exhibit floor, general sessions and workshops (Wed and TH), 1 seminar (Tues), breakfast & lunch (Wed and TH), supplier-sponsored reception (Wed), gala & awards dinner (TH).  Annual Meeting & Workshops includes exhibit floor, breakfast & lunch (Wed), supplier-sponsored reception (Wed), breakfast & lunch (TH), gala & awards dinner (TH). Exhibits Only includes the exhibit floor (Wed and TH). Spouse/Guest includes exhibit floor, breakfast (Wed, TH), supplier-sponsored reception (Wed), gala & awards dinner (TH). Retired includes exhibit floor, gala & awards dinner (TH).

Can I change my registration?
Yes, click here and enter your confirmation number.

Schedule

When are the exhibits open?
The exhibit hall is open Wednesday 1:30 – 6:30 PM and Thursday Noon – 5 PM.

What’s the rest of the schedule?
The schedule is available here. The online schedule will be updated to include room numbers. The schedule will also be available in the show guide which is given to each registrant and there will be a schedule behind your name badge.

Is the meeting at the Hotel or the Convention Center?
Most of the meeting is held at the Convention Center.

All tours depart from the Hilton Rosemont Lobby. Tuesday’s Board reception, Thursday’s gala, and Friday’s Board meeting will also be held at the Hilton. There are some Tuesday evening social events (details below) held outside of the Convention Center.

Everything else is at the Convention Center.

Are there breaks between sessions or will I be running everywhere?
It’s very unlikely you will need to run. There are thirty-minute networking breaks in the middle of the general sessions (9:10 AM Wednesday and 8:45 AM Thursday) and before the workshops (10:40 AM Wednesday and Thursday).

These networking breaks will include refreshments. You can call them coffee breaks but we call them networking breaks.

What’s the difference between the general session and workshops?
The general session is the only rotomolding programming from 8 AM – 10:40 AM. All Annual Meeting and Full Convention registrants will attend this session.

Multiple workshops run at at the same time (11:10 – 11:55 AM) Wednesday and Thursday. Annual Meeting and Full Convention registrants choose one out of seven or eight to attend each day.

Can I still sign up for a tour?
Probably. We can accommodate additional guests for Monday’s Harley Davidson steel toe tour, probably for Tuesday’s Architectural boat tour, and for the Cubs v Reds game at Wrigley on Friday. The Rotomolding plant tour is sold out and the Morton Arboretum is surprisingly strict about ticket purchase deadlines.

What’s happening on Tuesday night?
We have two free social events:
››› Human Resources Happy Hour
Tuesday, September 26, 6:30pm – 7:30pm at the Hilton Bar
Join Karen Moser (our HR teleconference moderator) and other HR professionals to network and discuss the issues that are keeping rotomolders up at night. The first round of drinks is on ARM!
››› Young Members “Committee Meeting”
Tuesday, September 26, 7:00pm at Bub City
Network and discuss how young members can influence the rotomolding community while enjoying appetizers, drinks and live band karaoke. Anyone born during or after the Carter administration is encouraged to attend. (All others are encouraged to buy a round.) Bring your significant other!

The Exhibit Hall

Who is exhibiting?
You can review a list of our exhibitors here.

What can I do on the show floor in addition to meeting with exhibitors?
You can vote on the Product Competition by the ARM booth, play ping-pong or bags or a number of other games at the Entertainment Zone, attend presentations on the show floor Wednesday and Thursday, and grab a boxed lunch on Thursday.

Where is the Product Competition?
Along Row 600 near the ARM Booth and Presentation Theater. This year you will vote on your phone or on a tablet at the ARM Booth.

What if all this walking around makes me thirsty?
There will be cash bars on the floor for the entire afternoon. There’s a Starbucks in the convention center, just outside our Halls. At 5:30 PM on Wednesday, we’ll conduct a one-hour reception (with passed appetizers and open bar) in the Exhibit Hall.

When is exhibitor setup?
Monday 12:30pm-4:30pm, Tuesday 8:00am-4:30pm, and Wednesday 8:00am-11:00am. Most questions about exhibiting are covered in the Exhibitor Service Manual.

What is suitcasing?
Suitcasing is an unprincipled business practice in which  companies who are not exhibiting gain access to an event by obtaining event credentials (attendee badge, expo-only badge etc.) and then solicit business in the aisles or other public spaces used for the conference. Please note that while all meeting attendees are invited to the exhibit floor, any attendee who is observed to be soliciting business in the aisles or other public spaces, or any company’s booth will be asked to leave immediately.

Travel

Can I get a hotel room?
As of September 20, Aloft has rooms available again for our guests. Contact Director of Sales Kerri Oots directly. (By the way, Kerri has personally helped put our most-procrastinating guests in hotel rooms for three Rotoplases in a row!)

We also have a block of budget rooms available at the Comfort Inn O’Hare Convention Centre at a rate of $99.99 + tax. The hotel is located 2.5 miles from the Convention Center. They are offering complimentary shuttle service is included to/from Rotoplas. Call 847-635-1300 and mention ROTOPLAS or email.

If you still need help, we recommend you use this link which sorts hotels in Rosemont by their distance from the Convention Center. As of this writing, they show rooms available at the Embassy Suites and the Hyatt Regency O’Hare which are as close as our host hotels. Room prices decrease the farther you get from the Convention Center.
Lyft and Uber are highly available in Rosemont.

Do you have a coupon I can use for Uber?
If you’ve never used Uber before use the code cfyk8 for $5 off your first four rides.

Does my hotel offer a shuttle to/from the airport?
Hilton Rosemont: Yes. The shuttle picks up at O’Hare at the Shuttle Bus center at Door #3. The shuttle departs every 20-25 minutes from 3:25 AM until 1:15 AM. International travelers should call the hotel for pick-up: 847-678-4488.
Aloft: Yes. It departs every thirty minutes between 5 AM and Midnight. (Arriving outside of that time? Click here and scroll down for more information.) The hotel shuttle is a large white van or bus, with a blue Aloft logo outside Door #3.
Crowne Plaza: Yes. It departs every thirty minutes from Door 2 of the Shuttle Bus Center. International travelers must call (847)-671-6350. Details.

Where is the Shuttle Bus Center a.k.a Bus/Shuttle Center?
Domestic travelers: Upon exiting your plane, follow the overhead signs to the Shuttle Bus Center. This will direct you through baggage claim. The Bus/Shuttle Center can be reached by foot, and is centrally located between all 3 Terminals.
International travelers: Please call your hotel. Or use Uber or Lyft.

What else?

What should I wear?
The meeting is business casual. Some people will wear blue jeans. Dress up a bit for Thursday night’s gala dinner and — if you’re up for it — wear something that fits the 1920s Chicago Mobsters theme.

Is there free Wifi?
Yes, the Convention Center offers free Wifi. Connect your device to the Wi-Fi signal BOINGO HOTSPOT. Once connected, launch your web browser. A Boingo splash page will appear. Click link to connect to “Complimentary WiFi” and follow instructions to get online. If you are having any issues, please call Boingo Support at 1-800-880-4117. You must have your device with you so the representative can help you directly.

What if I need help at the show?
Our registration staff will be able to answer many questions and can contact ARM staff for help. ARM staff will be wearing bright orange shirts so you can find us easily. (We are wearing ugly shirts for your convenience.) If there’s an emergency, contact security.

Are there translation services?
Simultaneous Spanish translation will be offered during the General Sessions (8 AM – 10:40 AM) on Wednesday and Thursday.

What can I buy at the ARM Booth/Presentation Theater?
A variety of ARM books, some rare rotomolding text books, the In-Mold DVD, t-shirts, cycling jerseys, and posters. Stop by and we’ll give you a surprise freebie.

What should I do if I arrive Sunday night but don’t have any plans for Monday?
Find the ARM show staff in the Hilton lobby from 7:00 – 8:30 AM on Monday. We’ll be seeing off our Monday morning tours and will be happy to feed you donuts and coffee while we share recommendations for your day in Chicago. (We bought extra donuts just for you. So please stop by and say hello.)

I’ve got some free time. What should I do?
Nearby Dining and Entertainment: MB Financial Park is right behind your hotel but you probably need to walk through a parking garage to find it. The site features eight restaurants/bars, a comedy club, movie theater, and indoor sky-diving.
Shopping: The Fashion Outlets of Chicago is a multi-story mall that’s one big block away from the meeting. Approximately a 10-15 minute walk.
Get to the city: Take the Blue Line Rosemont station (a ten-minute walk from the meeting) to Chicago. Thirty minutes to hipster neighborhood Logan Square. One hour to downtown.
Art: The Chicago Architecture Biennial at the Chicago Cultural Center. (Free.) The Cultural Center is a short walk to the Art Institute of Chicago.
Local Junk Food: Your best close Deep Dish pizza option is Lou Malnati’s.  Gene and Judes (since 1946) is an authentic hotdog stand open late. Paradise Pup was featured on Diners Drive-In and Dives.

I have a question you didn’t answer!
Ask your question here and we’ll add it to the blog post.

Dr. Nick Henwood

ARM Technical Director, Nick Henwood, is drafting a publication for the ARM Education Committee on rotomoldable polymers other than PE, PP, and PVC. Early drafts of each chapter will be published here every two weeks.

Our legal counsel notes: Dr. Henwood speaks for himself and not for ARM as a whole. We encourage feedback on this project but comments should be on technical matters raised. Dr. Henwood’s responses are solely his responsibility and not ARM’s.

In the world of commodity plastics, it’s hard to ignore styrenics.  These plastics form a family of relatively low cost polymers and rival polyolefins (ie polyethylene and polypropylene) in the volume consumed in processes like injection molding.

The patriarch of the styrenics family is polystyrene (aka GPPS – general purpose polystyrene) which is a rigid, hard, transparent homopolymer.  Despite these useful properties, it is too brittle for some applications, so a product called HIPS (high impact polystyrene) is also available.  This is a copolymer of styrene and butadiene; the inclusion of butadiene should increase the impact strength by a factor of about three, albeit from a relatively low base figure.

If you make a copolymer of styrene and acrylonitrile, you get a material with significantly higher heat resistance, called SAN (styrene acrylonitrile).  Impact-wise, SAN sits somewhere between GPPS and HIPS.

We rotomold lots and lots of polyethylene (PE), plus increasing amounts of polypropylene (PP), so why can’t we rotomold styrenics? Continue reading →

ARM is proud to announce that Celal Beysel, Chairman and Owner of Floteks, will be inducted into the Rotational Molding Hall of Fame at the 2017 ARM Annual Meeting on September 28 in Rosemont, IL.

Beysel, a member of ARM since 1991, has consistently demonstrated his willingness to share what he knows with rotomolders around the world. He has presented at rotomolding conferences in the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Dubai, France, Germany, India, and South Africa. He has opened the doors to his plant in Bursa, Turkey to dozens of rotational molders. In his commitment to trying new things in rotomolding, he has developed an R&D department with no ties to the daily business activities of his company.

In addition to being honored at the Annual Meeting, Mr. Beysel will once again share what he knows with his fellow rotomolders by presenting a workshop on How Disruptive Projects Can Create a Competitive Edge in Rotomolding

ARM is proud to announce that registration is now open for Rotoplas, the largest rotomolding meeting in the world. You can learn about the schedule or click here to register immediately.

These four tips will make registration a breeze:

• Use your company’s street address number and zip code to identify yourself as a member. If need be, search the ARM membership database to see which address we have on file. If it won’t accept your address, contact staff.
• Pick the workshops you plan to attend. But know that you can change your mind at the show and attend whichever you like.
• Register yourself, then your spouse. After you register yourself, you will have the option to add another registrant. At that time, you may add co-workers, spouses, etc.
• The tours are very limited and only open to those who also register for the Annual Meeting or Full Convention. We expect the Harley-Davidson tours to sell out quickly. The rotomolding plant tour is only open to attendees from outside North America.

Conchita Miranda

After more than forty years, rotational molding is still not as well-known of a process compared to other manufacturing processes. As a result of this, when we try to make a change to our process we find that it can be difficult because there is less information widely available. These changes can end up being difficult, slow, and costly.

I believe that there is one thing – more than anything else – that gives us what we need to make these changes and improve our process: face-to-face meetings. When I think back on the Rotoplas shows I have attended, there has been a lot of value for me and my company from what we have learned by having personal meetings with our suppliers other molders.

The opportunity to meet many of your suppliers (and for suppliers to meet many of their customers) under one roof saves hundreds of travel hours and tens of thousands of travel dollars. Attending Rotoplas is the most efficient and effective way for our industry to do business.

Each of these meetings helps us make changes to our process, reduce scrap, and improve employee efficiency. Every single meeting can lead to great reductions in expense or growth in sales.

You can learn more about Rotoplas by visiting www.rotoplas.org. Registration will be open next week.  You will find that there are more opportunities to learn from rotomolders like Centro, Seljan Company,  and more during general sessions. There are industry experts speaking from North America and all around the world quality and design, content for experienced managers and newcomers to rotomolding.

Make your plans now to attend Rotoplas. No one in the rotomolding industry can afford to wait for 2020. I know the great value of attending Rotoplas and I believe that you cannot let it pass you by.

Conchita Miranda is the President of ARM and the Director General of Operadora MPK.

The ARM Blog is written by a variety of leaders in the rotational molding industry. We encourage you to share your input in the comment section. If you’re interested in writing a post for the blog, email ARM staff at info@rotomolding.org.

As you train your rotomolding team, your scrap rate will decrease. This is why ARM provides online education free to our members.

ARM has recently added Troubleshooting Your Rotomolding Operation from a Shop Floor Perspective and Improving Rotational Molded Insert Performance to our webinar library. Other great training titles for your shop floor include: Burner Maintenance, Safety in Rotomolding & OSHA Compliance, Solve Cosmetic Part Problems, and Understanding the Molding Cycle. 

The webinar library now includes 25 titles available free to members on demand.

Log in to the Members’ Section of www.rotomolding.org and then click Webinars for complete access.  Click Presentations and Papers to review our new 80+ page document of example work instructions from rotomolders and to search thousands of papers presented at ARM conferences. Click Classic Training Videos to access ARM videos from the 1990s and 2000s, which all feature Spanish subtitles.

Not a member? Join for access to these benefits and more.

Paul Reilly

This article by Paul Reilly is a follow up to his presentations for ARM in 2016. As a result of his high marks from attendees at the 2016 Executive Forum, ARM invited Paul to present a seminar at the Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

In an airport, I saw a trash receptacle that made me think twice before throwing away my trash. Rather than labeling the garbage container with the word “trash,” they used the more compelling word, “landfill.” Changing one simple word reminded me of the impact of the decision.

Buyers don’t care what your product does. Buyers care about the impact of your product. Too many salespeople sell the buyer on what their product does. Too many salespeople pitch features and technical attributes, but they don’t pitch the impact. Salespeople fail to realize that these attributes are a means to a greater end.

What your product does is called the utility. Buyers are less interested in utility and more focused on the impact of your product. The impact of your product is how it affects the buyer.

Buyer’s don’t buy your product for what it does, they buy the outcome. The impact of your solution is what compels a buyer to buy. To understand the impact of your solution, ask yourself a simple question, “What does the buyer stand to gain when they experience our value-added solution?”

Paul Reilly is the founder and president of Reilly Sales Training. He began his training career by joining Tom Reilly Training. Reilly Sales Training offers a complete range of training programs, consulting services, and training assessments. Reilly Sales Training is a St. Louis-based, privately owned company that specializes in training sales professionals, sales managers, and service professionals. Reilly Sales Training offers public seminars, in-house sales training programs, consulting services, and hiring and training assessments.