Meyer: Come to our own ‘Rubber Week in Akron'

For my column this week, I'm taking off my editorial hat and coming at you with a sales and marketing pitch. That's because Rubber News has big plans coming up for the week of May 8, when not one but two of our conferences will be staged here in Akron.

Our events, conferences and sales teams—along with some help from our editorial staff—have been putting the finishing touches on our Healthcare Elastomers Conference and Rubber in Automotive events. And I want to nudge you—OK, urge you—to come to town to take in either one or both of the conferences.

The Healthcare Elastomers Conference is up first, taking the spotlight on May 8 and 9, with a top-notch group of presenters you won't want to miss.

The event will start with a keynote address by Linda Muroski, president of Trelleborg's global healthcare and medical business, who will talk on the need to be more agile to navigate today's medical sector. We're particularly proud to have Muroski on the agenda, as Rubber News named her our Rubber Industry Executive of the Year for 2022.

The rest of the lineup has a mix of technical presentations along with others that take a broader look at topics and issues that will help you do your job better.

I'm familiar with a good number of the speakers, but there are others I haven't met who I'm looking forward to seeing, including Amalendu Sarkar, vice president of materials technology with Cirtec Medical, which recently bought a Q Holdings medical-related business.

And when the medical conference signs off, Rubber in Automotive picks up May 10-11 with an equally compelling lineup of speakers.

Headlining are two keynoters I definitely won't miss. Karen Schwartz, vice president of B2B marketing for Michelin North America, will speak May 10 on "The Challenges and Opportunities of Hydrogen Technology and the Role of Rubber."

And Josh Goossens, Tenneco's materials engineering manager, will start off the May 11 proceedings with a talk on "The Promise of Virtual Product Development and the Paradigm Shift in Automotive."

To find out more about these shows, visit rubbernews.com/events.

I look forward to seeing you at our own "Rubber Week in Akron."

Meyer is editor of Rubber News. Reach him at [email protected] and connect with him on LinkedIn.