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ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT Portable Sanitation Association International News BIWEEKLY EDITION FEBRUARY 17, 2021 Page 5 The PSAI's 50th—The History of Conventions and Trade Shows…continued from page 4 The first edition of The Midwest Pumper, Bob recalls, consisted of "a handful of advertisers, a few classified ads, some makeshift editorial and even a comic." Cole Publishing began to grow and expand into a variety of industry publications with Pumper and PRO Magazine being the two that are the standard trade publications in our industry today. Bob adds, "Several readers in 1979 suggested a Winter Convention where operators and suppliers could benefit from face-to-face interaction, and where new products and services could be exhibited." Bob and Pete ran with the idea and in January 1981 launched "The Liquid Waste Hauler's Equipment & Trade Show" at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Bob estimates there were "a few hundred attendees and a couple dozen exhibitors." In addition, Bob says, "Since we had several Canadian attendees, in 1982 we rebranded the event as "The International Liquid Waste Hauler's Equipment & Trade Show." With the success of both Cole Publishing and this new convention, Pete sold his septic business in 1982 to work full time with Bob in these endeavors. Success brought further growth and expansion. Bob remembers, "In the mid- 1990s, we changed the convention's name yet again to more fully encompass everything that we stood for—The Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International." From the mid-1990s until 2006, the Pumper was located in Nashville and, hence the origin of the Pumper/ Nashville name association. Upon outgrowing the Opryland Convention Center, the show moved in 2007 to a larger venue in Louisville, Kentucky. Growth continued. A few years later, the event was bursting at the seams once again, and in 2012, the Pumper Show moved from Louisville to its current home in Indianapolis. This 564,000 square foot exhibit space in the Indiana Convention Center is usually completely sold out and holds 600 exhibitors. Finally, in 2015, another change was in store when Cole Publishing ultimately sold the Pumper Show to Informa Exhibitions. Since then, this iconic convention has been known as "WWETT—The Water and Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport" show. Photos from the first January 1981 Pumper show in Nashville. As the industry grew, so too did the show. Fact: Attendance at the first Pumper show in 1981 was estimated at a few hundred while recent WWETT shows have routinely topped 10,000 attendees. Continued on page 6