I’ve asked a number of people about
their plans for this year’s event that begins on June 8, 2009, at the Las Vegas
Convention Center and received a mixed bag of responses. Here’s a sampling
broken into three groups1) I don’t want to go…and besides, I
don’t need to.
* I’m not interested in the conference
program or products and services exposition.
*
My company or jurisdiction has
chopped my travel budget to the quick.
*
My company or jurisdiction is not in
the market for any new products or services at this time.
*
Las Vegas is a terrible
place.
2) I really should go, but I’m caught
between a rock and a hard spot.
* My company or jurisdiction has pared
my travel budget to the bone.
* Even though I feel we need to see
what’s out there, my company or jurisdiction is not in the market for any new
products or services until the economy improves.
* There’s always next
year.
3) Regardless of the negatives, I
need to be there.
* Waste keeps
coming.
* Even though my travel budget has been
cut to the quick, I need to go to keep my finger on the
pulse.
* We need to see what’s out there, even
though we’re not in the market for any new products or services until the
economy improves.
*
We’ve put off purchases for too long,
and now we have no choice.
*
The blood is running in the streets,
so now’s the best time for us to cut some good deals.
*
I’ve been to the last 22 Waste Expos,
so I can’t quit now.
*
Las Vegas is a wonderful
place.
No doubt you can add a comment or two
to the list, but it really boils down to where your rawest nerves lie. For those
on either end of the spectrum, the lines have already been drawn, but for those
confronting that rock and hard spot, there’s still a decision to be
made.
If, for instance, you’re faced with
changes to your wastestream for which your present equipment is ill suited, the
value of assessing replacement options could well outweigh the savings of
staying home. It like other concerns in this category involves
judgment.
Another judgment call involves how
you deal with the prospect of decreasing waste receipts in the face of static or
even rising costs. Here you need to decide whether there’s enough value in
face-to-face discussions with others in the same boat, to justify the expense of
getting there.
Once upon a time, the idea of having
fun was enough of a reason to go, but today that’s no longer enough. Still, in
the final analysis, it’s the “being there” and rubbing elbows with your peers
that trumps all the other arguments for going to Waste Expo.