You missed out if you didn’t attend the 35^th Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport (WWETT) Show in Indianapolis last week.

The event drew 9,474 attendees (up 10.4 percent from the 8,583 attendees that came in 2014) from 4,196 companies – up from last year’s total of 3,766. The Indiana Convention Center was packed with a record number 597 exhibitors.

The show has taken on a more international feel, with exhibitors from 14 countries and attendees from 52, including every continent except Antarctica.

The name change this year reflects opening the show up to more people and more technology, which benefits all attendees. From pumping and installing, to trenchless excavating and gas and oil applications, the WWETT Show represents the entire industry of people who maintain water infrastructure, treat and dispose of wastewater, and keep our water and the environment clean and healthy.

And while all that is serious business, the WWETT Show aims to treat you to a little fun as well. The Industry Appreciation Party was a great time as always, this year with the added excitement of giving away the tricked-out Chevrolet truck that had been on display during the week.

Drawn from a pool of 12 finalists, 10 of whom appeared onstage at the party, Max Silva, of Warren Environmental in Carver, Massachusetts, won the top prize. Silva opted to take the cash option of $35,000 to help pay off student loans.

The other finalists were Steve Brown (Franklin Fibre – Lamitex Corp. in Wilmington, Delaware), Shannon Hicks (City of Webster in Webster, Texas), Jeanne Kubacki (Atlantic Drain Service Company in Roslindale, Massachusetts), Dave Walker (Alloy Specialties in Ransom, Illinois), Gary Burris (C.N.Wood Co. in Woburn, Massachusetts), Ashley Manes (OMSI Transmissions in Twinsburg, Ohio), Rich Sogge (Security Sanitation in Traverse City, Michigan), Michael Miranda (Liquid Waste Industries in Dallas, Georgia), Dennis Fanara (Gold Seal Plumbing in Spokane Valley, Massachusetts), Wesley Wooten (Lewis Farms & Liquid Waste in Currie, North Carolina) and JJ Lang (TOPP Industries in Rochester, Indiana).

There’s always next year

I hope even more of you will make the trip next year. A change in the show schedule might make it easier to attend.

The 2016 WWETT Show makes a shift from the Monday through Thursday schedule to Wednesday through Saturday. The show will kick off with Education Day on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016 and the exhibits will be open Thursday, Feb. 18 through Saturday, Feb. 20, in the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. Mark your calendar!