Penton's 2007 IndustryWeek Best Plants Conference Reports Attendance Gains

NEW YORK (May 21, 2007) — Penton Media’s IndustryWeek®, the award-winning resource for manufacturing operations knowledge, reported today that its recent 5th annual IW Best Plants Conference set new attendance records, nearly tripling paid attendees over last year.  The two-day conference, focused on continuous improvement initiatives, attracted plant managers and other manufacturing decision-makers with an agenda covering strategies and best practices in areas such as lean manufacturing, six sigma programs, employee training and sustaining manufacturing excellence.

The conference program included presentations by 50 speakers, plant tours, educational breakout sessions, as well as numerous networking opportunities, and featured a keynote address by Dr. Shankar Basu, president and CEO of Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc.

“The conference offered a wide variety of topics and choices of tours, a great reception at NCAA Hall of Champions, and brought in some really credible experts who were also very accessible," said Randy Bender, conference attendee and continuous improvement specialist at Woodward Governor.

The next IW Best Plants Conference will take place April 1-3, 2008, at the Midwest Airlines Center in Milwaukee, WI.  For more information on attending the conference or sponsorship opportunities, visit http://www.iwbestplants.com.

IndustryWeek connects decision-makers within manufacturing enterprises to share ideas and tools that inspire action. Its award-winning presentation of trends, news, analysis, research, and peer-to-peer conversation motivates manufacturing leaders to achieve their goals. In print, online, and in person, the IndustryWeek community is the leading resource for manufacturing operations knowledge.  IndustryWeek is available on the Web at www.industryweek.com.

Penton Media, Inc. is the largest independent business-to-business media company in the U.S., serving more than six million business professionals every month. The company's market-leading brands are focused on 30 industries and include 113 trade magazines, 145 Web sites, 150 industry trade shows and conferences, and more than 500 information data products. Headquartered in New York City, the privately held company is owned by MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP, and its co-investors. For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com.