To all new attendees to the ANNA conference:
It is very important to stress that it is very much up to each single attendee to get the best out of the ANNA conference. You can just sit in the audience and listen to the presentations and pick up what you find interesting for your company. This is the passive approach.
An active approach could be the following: Before you leave for the ANNA conference you and your co-workers in the NA and AN plants will make a list of problems/issues of any kind in your NA and AN production. You will then during the discussions of the presentations or discussions with other attendees during breaks, dinners or contacts to exhibitors try to find answers to your listed problems.
The ANNA conference is famous for its open, friendly and informal atmosphere ( dress code : casual ), so you will have no problems in approaching other attendees. You will be impressed by the amount of information you can collect and its value for your company. And even better, you have now started to build an international network, which might be able to help your company in case of technical difficulties in the future. With this in hand you can prepare a report from the ANNA conference to your management which justifies your participation and makes it a natural thing that you will join the ANNA conference next year.
As an attendee in the ANNA conference you can get access to the plant surveys covering NA, AN solution and AN granulation plants. If you are giving your plant data, you will automatically receive the plant data from all the companies which have joined. With the surveys in hand it is easy to find companies applying the same technologies like yourself. The contact person for surveys is: Frank Wolf at Frank.Wolf@kochind.com
There are a few rules for the discussions with other attendees in the ANNA conference:
- Do not touch areas which might affect directly the competition between companies. Limit yourself to technical issues. - Do not just expect to receive. To receive, also be prepared to give.
- Do not be afraid of contacting others due to language problems.
We are all having language difficulties, but communication is still possible.
With these many words, I have tried to concentrate my own experiences from many ANNA conferences hoping that you all will benefit from them.
Best regards, Leif K. Rasmussen,
Member of the ANNA group for almost 25 years and member of the ANNA executive since 2001.
August 2013