INDIANAPOLIS — The annual Midwest Fuel and Convenience Trade Show, M-PACT, will celebrate its 20th year during this year’s event to take place April 19-21 in Indianapolis. The exhibit hall will feature new products, services and technologies to meet the needs of today’s diverse fuel and convenience supply chain, according to organizers.
The M-PACT Show is a collaboration of four petroleum-marketer and convenience-store state associations: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio.
“It is a yearlong effort, one that requires close coordination with all four partner states,” said Brian Clark, executive director of the Kentucky Petroleum Marketers Association. “We’re regularly meeting throughout the year to plan, research, respond to feedback from participant and exhibitor surveys, and to make sure the show represents the latest topics and presents the best opportunities for participants.”
This year’s event will include some changes and new events for its 20th year. The M-PACT Open will launch the week of networking at Topgolf on April 18. Attendees can also plan to join all four state associations the following evening for a Kickoff Celebration April 19 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom to celebrate 20 years of M-PACT. This is a ticketed event, which replaces the original Welcome Reception, with live music from Rod Tuffcurls and The Bench Press.
The general session is included in the attendee fee this year with keynote speaker Robyn Benincasa, a CNN Hero, Adventure Racing champion and best-selling author. In addition, the M-PACT hosts will give out the first ever M-PACT Awards.
Following the general session, the tradeshow floor will open its doors at 10:30 a.m. April 20. Brand meetings will be held at a new time from 3:30-5:30 p.m. There will be a 20th anniversary toast at 3 p.m. opening day at the M-PACT Host booth for all the tradeshow floor participants.
The education sessions will return this year with an additional track: Innovation. M-PACT will feature five industry-focused education tracks: C-Store Managers, Equipment & Environmental, Innovation, Retail and Wholesale. All sessions will take place the morning of April 21.
“The education, the networking, the speakers that we have, the different kinds of engagement that vendors can get on the show floor with their customers, that doesn’t really exist anywhere else, certainly not in the Midwest,” said Josh Sharp, chief executive officer of the Illinois Fuel and Retail Association.
M-PACT will also celebrate its anniversary with a $20,000 drawing at 2:45 p.m. April 21. The official rules of the giveaway specify that only M-PACT 2022 eligible attendees who register for the tradeshow by 11 a.m. Thursday, April 21, will be entered in the drawing. An eligible attendee registrant must be one of the following: own, operate or be employed by a retail convenience store; or own, operate or be employed by a truck stop; or own operate or be employed by a petroleum marketer/distributor, or transport company. The drawing will take place at booth No. 1117 in Exhibit Hall A-E at the Indianapolis Convention Center.
“This year’s $20k giveaway is about celebration and saying thank you to all of the attendees who have supported this tradeshow for the past two decades,” Sharp said. “We wouldn’t be where we are today … without their generous support.”
Click here for more details on the show.
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