12th National Industrial Fastener Show/West was held in on 2-4 November 2008 at Mandalay Bay Convention center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

It was no surprise that most of the talks were centered around the big recession and its effects on the economy. While many trade pundits are hopeful and predicting a U-Turn in the economic climate by the mid of 2009, but the situation is very fluid. With the daily dose of news about the spread of this recession to newer horizons and economy, the lookout is very dicy.

But one thing was remarkable in this otherwise successful Industrial Fastener Show. There was a considerable drop in the key numbers. Just take a look at the following numbers.

Number of Fastener Exhibitors: Decreased from 684 in 2007 to only 633 in 2008.

Total Registrations of Fastener Distributors: Decreased from 1577 in 2007 to 1373 in 2008.

Total Registrations: Decreased from 5620 in 2007 to 4913 in 2008.

Let’s see how it goes in 2009. What do you think ? Will 2007 still remain better than even 2009?