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To Be Or Not To Be There…

Faced with the difficult times we have been going through, many industry members have chosen to look for opportunities to expand their knowledge, rather than turning a blind eye to what is happening a…

Faced with the difficult times we have been going through, many industry members have chosen to look for opportunities to expand their knowledge, rather than turning a blind eye to what is happening all around us. Instead of sticking our heads in the sand, many of us have decided to take the bull by the horns.

We here at Pulp & Paper Canada see this thirst for knowledge from our readers on a daily basis. Industry members are constantly looking for quality information that is pertinent and rich. And for good reason: knowledge is power when one is confronted with new challenges.

One way of staying on top of things is participating at EXFOR 2009 and the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC)’s Annual Meeting. These two events will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Que. from Feb. 3-4.

In this issue, we have published the preliminary program for the technical sessions and business programs that will take place over these two eventful days. Also included is a list of some of the main exhibitors that will be on the floor during the EXFOR 2009 exposition.

The keynote address by past federal minister of international trade and foreign affaires minister, Pierre Pettigrew, should set the tone for the event. Now working for Deloitte & Touche LLP, the former politician will cover bilateral relations between Canada and the United States following the recent Canadian election and Barack Obama’s victory in the American presidential race. Pettigrew will also take on the economic relations between Canada and a number of the planet’s rising economies. This past fall, our magazine ran a special three-part series covering international trends – specifically the pulp and paper industries of Brazil, India and China. This new international reality cannot be ignored, and Canada’s pulp and paper industry can learn a thing or two from looking at how others do business.

A glance at the technical sessions and business programs on the schedule will reveal the diversity of presentations that will be made during the 95th Annual Meeting of PAPTAC.

The business program presenters will take on a host of issues industry members are faced with in this day and age. The session entitled “Managing your business in an economic vortex” on Feb. 3 is particularly timely.

Another business program will take on carbon strategy and will look at the risks and business potential in this area. A third will examine innovation as a business strategy, while another will look at managing energy costs. You can’t get much timelier than that.

As for the technical sessions, one can surely bet that many participants will walk away from the annual meeting with concrete solutions in their heads after taking part in the presentations on process control, bleaching, instrumentation, maintenance, recycling, nanotechnology or biorefinery, to name a few.

Students will also have the opportunity to participate through a poster session and seminars, and one can only applaud PAPIER (the Canadian Pulp and Paper Network for Innovation in Education and Research) for their efforts in this. We know that Canada’s pulp and paper industry will soon need to fill thousands of positions, due in large part to the high number of workers who will be retiring within the next five years. With this in mind, initiatives like PAPIER’s must be enthusiastically encouraged.

Finally, one cannot forget about EXFOR, which celebrated its 50th edition last year. In 2009, this exposition will once again present a unique occasion to learn about the latest technology available on the market and to speak with a number of experts about the different services they offer. The official showguide, with complete information on all the exhibitors, will be available on the floor throughout the event.

With the recent elections, there has been a lot of talk about the importance of citizen participation on voting day and there is a similar logic behind participating at EXFOR 2009 and the 95th Annual Meeting of PAPTAC. In other words, to be or not to be there during this important event in February is a question everyone should seriously consider.