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Expect another large tradeshow with many new exhibitors at the 146th NGAUS General Conference & Exhibition, Aug. 23-26, in Detroit.
Nearly 40% of this year’s more than 320 exhibitors are new, according to Chris Price, the chief strategy officer with Tradeshow Logic, the Marietta, Georgia, company that manages the NGAUS tradeshow.
All the new exhibitors are there by design, Price said. Association officials and Tradeshow Logic want to offer attendees "a new and exciting tradeshow every year," he explained.
NGAUS's tradeshow is unique among military-association tradeshows, most of which have companies that only sell to one service.
The association's exhibition attracts companies with products and services for the Army, Air Force and domestic-response markets, reflecting the National Guard’s wide array of missions.
Conflict Kinetics is among the new exhibitors. The marksmanship training company from Reston, Virginia, is bringing a large shooting simulator to Detroit.
Golfers will be able to try out their swing at the golf simulator Parsons Xtreme Golf will set up on the tradeshow floor. PXG is planning daily competitions and will give away a set of new golf clubs to an attendee.
PXG is owned by Bob Parsons, America’s most successful veteran entrepreneur. Parsons will speak at the conference and host a book-signing of his first literary work, Fire in the Hole! The Untold Story of My Traumatic Life and Explosive Success.
Bringing PXG to Detroit is part of NGAUS' effort to include more health and leisure exhibitors at the tradeshow.
Parsons' book-signing is one of two planned for the exhibition.
Joe McCormack, another conference speaker, will sign Brief: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less. The book was on the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s January reading list.
Other exhibitors are also bringing simulators to provide attendees with hands-on experiences on the tradeshow floor.
For example, TacMed Solutions from Anderson, South Carolina, plans to bring human and K-9 patient simulators.
Several other companies are also bringing simulators, including XR Training, which focuses on extended-reality training simulations; CymStar, another company that uses simulations and technology to aid in training exercises; and Serious Simulators, which provides simulation technology for use in combat exercises.
The NGAUS booth will again be near the middle of the exhibition floor. This booth is where attendees can speak with the association's staff and purchase the 2024 National Guard Educational Foundation's holiday ornament.
NGAUS will also host the Minuteman Speaker Series on the tradeshow floor. It will feature briefs on equipment modernization from the association's task force chairs. Retired Maj. Gen. Francis M. McGinn, the association's new president, will also talk about his first year in office and answer questions.
The tradeshow opens with a ribbon-cutting at 10 a.m. Aug. 24. A complimentary brunch on the tradeshow floor follows.
A map of the tradeshow floor is available here.
Exhibitor listings are also be included in the conference program and the NGAUS/AFBA Conference App.
Space is still available. An exhibitor prospectus can be found here.
— By John Goheen
