Booth previews from exhibitors showing products and services for the gear industry.

We talked with a number of major companies in the midst of their planning and strategizing for IMTS 2012, with the thought of determining just how much things have in fact changed for exhibitors regarding the trade show experience.

Here's what Dennis was thinking...

The carnival that is IMTS has come and gone. The aisles have been swept, and all the banners have been taken down. The fanfare of what some call the greatest machine tool show on earth has faded away.

Listen carefully these days and you'll hear a faint rumbling among the economic masses. It's probably nothing to worry about. It'll most likely go away. It's only the naysayers and skeptics who predict that the end is near. They've been doing to far almost all eight years of our current economic boom, and they've been wrong so far.

In 1927 the first precursor of IMTS was held in Cleveland. Back then, lasers, robots and computer controls were just science fiction. At IMTS 98 they will fill nearly every last corner of the recently expended McCormick Place.

IMTS Show Coverage for 1998.

Just back from IMTS and once again, I'm struck by the enormous vitality and strength of the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy. It has made a phoenix-like rise from the grave dug for it by pundits in the '80s and has come back more robust and competitive than ever.

The International Manufacturing Technology Show provided one of the biggest ever marketplaces for buying and selling gear-making equipment, with 121601 attenders, making it the largest IMTS ever. The show took place September 4-11 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.

The gear lover's guide to "da show," plus native dishes, language lessons, amazing factoids and other bits about our kind of town.