A single gear, by itself, doesn’t do much good. No matter how brilliant its design or how superb its quality, it has to mesh with another gear to achieve anything useful. The transfer of torque, the change of direction and the increase or reduction of rotational speed only occur when two or more gears come together.

The same is true of you.

As a member of the gear industry—whether you’re a machinist, engineer, salesperson or CEO—you’re just like that single gear. In order to achieve success, you have to engage.

Our organization (both the publication staff and the AGMA at large) produces a lot of information, between the magazines, newsletters, blogs, social media pages, and so on, and we organize a lot of events—everything from specific gear-related education to management-level webinars and in-person events. We publish standards and information sheets, and we convene the technical minds of the gear industry at conferences like the Fall Technical Meeting (coming in October to Rosemont, IL).

It’s easy for a newcomer (or even an old timer) to be intimidated and to feel like an outsider at first. But don’t just stand on the sidelines and watch. All those other gear experts are actually a pretty welcoming bunch, generous in their information sharing and interested in helping lift the industry as a whole through collaboration.

“Wallflower, Wallflower, won’t you dance with me?”

—Bob Dylan (Lyrics from “Wallflower”)

The gear industry is calling you to step out onto the dance floor. So don’t be shy: Come join, participate and get involved.

It’s easy to get started. In fact, Gear Technology has prepared a “Start Here” page on our website (geartechnology.com/start-here). The page provides a broad overview of all the ways you can engage with the gear industry, along with a list of handy links to help you stay informed, stay connected, learn, conduct business and even contribute your time, knowledge and experience.

Even if you’ve been in the industry for a while, I think you might be surprised by the vast amount of information and opportunities that are available to you, as well as the variety of ways you can access them. Sure, we’d love for you to stay connected via our magazines, websites, videos, social media and more. But we also hope you’ll find and explore how AGMA brings our community together both online and face-to-face.

So please stop by the “Start Here” page to explore how you can engage.