Good Reviews From Organizers of 2003 SAE World Congress

DETROIT, March 11 -- "A resounding success" is how SAE staff organizers refer to the SAE 2003 World Congress, which concluded last week in Detroit, MI. The annual conference and exhibit for automotive engineers and managers unveiled several new additions to the event that, coupled with its historically strong base of technical offerings, have many veterans of the meeting singing its praises.

SAE Director of Automotive Business Dave Amati noted the overall mood of the week was very upbeat. "The feedback that we have received from the exhibitors has been resoundingly positive! The exhibit traffic not only increased this year, but the overall classification of attendees tended to be a higher-level of corporate representative than in previous years."

Initial figures indicate total attendance was up 3-4% from last year, in spite of a continued tough economy and some of Detroit's worst winter weather in recent memory. More important to organizers than the quantity of attendees, extensive research conducted in the registration area indicated that quality of the audience was more to the liking of the SAE World Congress exhibitors.

Preliminary figures indicate that half of the attendees worked in product research/development jobs, and approximately one quarter worked at an OEM site. SAE attributes the latter increase to the new OEM technology exhibits and hosting of on-site executive meetings by DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors. Both of these qualitative numbers were significantly higher than last year's.

"We are very enthusiastic about the success of this year's event," stated Amati. "SAE has worked very hard during the past year to listen the needs of OEM's and suppliers and to make the kinds of progressive changes that will add value for the automotive community. I strongly believe the 2003 Congress has demonstrated that this work has paid off!"

The SAE Technology Theater, a new exhibit-based automotive business forum that was one of the principal additions to this year's event, soared past pre-event expectations. The enclosed 400-seat area was frequently filled to standing-room-only capacity as participants gathered to catch a first-hand view of business perspectives from automotive industry leaders.

One not-so-obvious measure of success for the event: SAE Professional Development Courses, many of which were conducted at locations outside Cobo Center, attracted 500 participants, nearly double the number from last year.

International attendance, defined as arriving from outside the U.S. and Canada, tracked consistently with recent years at approximately 18% of the total.

"Fortunately, international tensions did not seem to significantly discourage participation," added Amati. "The conflict in date with the Geneva Auto Show may have had a minor effect on our overall attendance, however, we are pleased that Geneva's press days and our event will not overlap in 2004."

The 2004 SAE World Congress is slated for March 8-11, 2004, at Cobo Center in Detroit, Michigan. Additional information regarding the event is available at www.sae.org.