Dec 1, 2007 12:00 PM

The National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM) heads back to Las Vegas with a new theme for its convention: “Don't Gamble on Your Company's Future: VEGAS '08.”

It's much more than a play on words referencing the gambling capital of the world.

“With the workshops, the focus is on education and meeting with regulators and basically trying to provide information and networking,” NATM assistant director Michelle Brown says.

The convention, set for February 26 through March 1 at the Las Vegas Hilton, features the first of what are expected to be yearly regulatory roundups and roundtable discussions featuring officials from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

This year, FMCSA's Larry Minor will kick off the regulatory roundup on February 28 at 9:45am and serve as moderator. Two NHTSA officials — Mike Cole (lighting compliance and certification) and Tina Morgan (Early Warning Reporting) — also will contribute.

“We're starting to get into more government-relations-type things,” Brown said. “We're trying to get more proactive in government relations by trying to stay in contact with officials. We want them to trust us so that if certain issues are coming up, they will give us a heads-up. We attended the National Marine Manufacturers Association roundup in May in Washington, DC, and it worked out very well. So we're trying to do the same thing to help our members get involved so we have names and faces.”

The convention also will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the NATM's founding.

The membership meeting, held on February 28, generally features breakfast and a quick meeting with the convention committee chairpersons. This time, the NATM is making it more of a production, going over what it has accomplished and featuring the keynote speaker, celebrated former Notre Dame football walk-on Rudy Ruettiger. The Presidents Reception on February 27 will have an ‘80s theme that will carry over to the gala on March 1.

There are a few more changes:

The NATM is switching back to the Tuesday-through-Saturday format.

There will be one full day of the trade show, rather than two half days.

Workshops will be held the day before and the day after the full day of the trade show.

Last year's convention in Orlando, Florida, drew more than 1,400 attendees, including representatives of 197 trailer manufacturing companies. The show featured exhibits by 230 companies — occupying 300 exhibit spaces — up sharply from the 237 spaces that were sold in 2006.

Workshops

“Regulatory Roundtable”

Presenters: Cole, lead safety compliance engineer for NHTSA; Minor, director of the Office of Bus & Truck Standards & Operations for FMCSA; and Morgan, chief of Early Warning Reporting Division for NHTSA.