[00:00:00] Daniel McKinnon: What’s important is serendipity, like have a schedule, but also set aside some time to just walk around. It is just so important because I think trade shows are really also not just, you know, business, business, business, business, but there’s the sight, the sound, the smell, the feel. There’s some kind of magic about a trade show where if you’re just kind of walking around.

[00:00:18] Daniel McKinnon: Something good will happen. 

[00:00:22] Voiceover: Welcome to Supply Chain Now the number one voice of supply chain. Join us as we share critical news, key insights, and real supply chain leadership from across the globe. One conversation at a time. 

[00:00:34] Scott W. Luton: Hey. Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton with you here on Supply Chain Now.

[00:00:39] Scott W. Luton: Welcome to today’s show, folks. We welcome back to the show, an old friend and an industry leader in the global supply chain, trade show industry. Hey, you could say this space has evolved tremendously in recent years, right? Just like global supply chain itself. However. Some leading organizations have managed to consistently provide the best opportunities for supply chain professionals to learn, gather, market intel, network, and enjoy the camaraderie of their global colleagues.

[00:01:08] Scott W. Luton: And today we’ll gain the perspective of, of an executive leader from an organization that arguably does all that as good as anyone else in the market. So folks, stick around for a great conversation that will offer up some great insights on one of the, a couple of leading. Uh, events out across the global supply chain, trade show space.

[00:01:28] Scott W. Luton: So I wanna welcome in. A wonderful guest joining me here today. Daniel McKinnon brings almost 35 years of exhibitions industry leadership to the table. No, he won’t look like it. You gotta take my word for it. In 2024, he was named Chief Exhibitions Officer with MHI, which is the organization behind both ProMat and MODEX.

[00:01:48] Scott W. Luton: Both of these venerable events draw tens of thousands of industry professionals and both are ranked. Among the top 25 US trade shows by both trade show, news Network and trade show executive. Now, MODEX, of course, has been based in our home market of Atlanta for years, I think since 2012. And the event here in 2026, it might draw close to 40,010 Ds.

[00:02:12] Scott W. Luton: How about that? You’re gonna enjoy Daniel’s perspective here today, so I wanna welcome in my friend Daniel McKinnon, Chief Exhibitions Officer with MHI. Daniel, how you doing today? 

[00:02:22] Daniel McKinnon: I am doing fantastic. I’m very excited to be here and speaking with you about one of my favorite topics, supply chain and trade shows.

[00:02:31] Scott W. Luton: Well, same. We have, uh, enjoyed both collaborating with you over the years and. Watching you and the MHI team continue to serve global industry. Uh, I mentioned all those things that, that are great opportunities for folks both at ProMat and MODEX, but when we’ll probably touch on this, there’s also terrific opportunities plugging in the MHI year round in between those events.

[00:02:54] Scott W. Luton: So appreciate the great service y’all do to industry. But before we talk about all that, Daniel, I want to explore one thing. When you’re not moving mountains in the industry space, one thing you love to do. That is the game of golf. Now, Danny, we’re talking pre-show. In the little bit of time you have on the weekends, you spend a good chunk of time chasing a white ball around the golf course, huh?

[00:03:16] Daniel McKinnon: I do. I, I love it and I hate it. At the same time, I cannot get better. I’m like a 20 handicap, but I, I enjoy being outside. I enjoy, you know, having a couple of beers with my friends. It’s just something that I’ve really grown to appreciate. The aesthetics of the golf course and the, the mental health benefits to me, even though sometimes I, I, I get really frustrated by, but yeah, I, I absolutely love it.

[00:03:41] Scott W. Luton: Outstanding. So big gains, mentally, big gains, physically being outside, getting fresh air, enjoying fellowship with your friends. Let me ask you this, and gosh, of 20 handicaps, that’s three times as good as me. What’s been one of your favorite personal golf highlights over the years? 

[00:03:57] Daniel McKinnon: A lot because I’m lucky that I get to play some amazing, amazing courses through work.

[00:04:03] Daniel McKinnon: And, and then also, you know, on, on holiday with my family and friends, I make a point of trying to play these spectacular PGA courses. But I think one recent one is, and I’m not a member, but uh, I was playing East Lake and we had the full cultural layout. We did the breakfast and in the locker room. And I was playing with a couple of Atlanta big wigs.

[00:04:27] Daniel McKinnon: I was so nervous. I was so nervous. I got out there on the first hole. And just striked it down the middle, put it right on the green. Everybody else is off. Everybody else is off both sides, you know? And these are, these, these are, these are players. I missed my putt, but I poured the first hole and they’re all just going crazy about it.

[00:04:47] Daniel McKinnon: ’cause it’s not an easy course. Yeah, it, it was all downhill from there. Um, but, uh, I wound up shooting like a 1 0 5, but. I’ll never forget that. I’ll never forget the look on their faces. 

[00:04:58] Scott W. Luton: Right. Right. 

[00:04:59] Daniel McKinnon: And me just acting all nonchalant. Yep. Hit hard, bump me down for a four. But they don’t play golf won’t, I guess, really understand that.

[00:05:06] Daniel McKinnon: But it was a, it was a thrill. It was like riding a rollercoaster the first time you go down the hill and you start going back up and it’s, it’s, it was a thrill. 

[00:05:14] Scott W. Luton: I love it. I love it. East Lake is historically, yeah. I mean, it’s a, it’s a big name across the, uh, the golf course landscape and hey, to par that even that first toll even no matter how the rest of your, your round went, no doubt a highlight, you’ll forever remember.

[00:05:29] Scott W. Luton: Alright, one last question along these lines, because I, I was, uh, doing some homework for our interview, uh, today, and I knew we kind of overlapped with our journeys here in Georgia and South Carolina, and, and I didn’t notice. That you are an alum. Presbyterian, the might, the home of the mighty blue hose Daniel, is that 

[00:05:49] Daniel McKinnon: right?

[00:05:49] Daniel McKinnon: The rose, the blue hose. The Harvard or the South, they call Harvard the Presbyterian of the North. 

[00:05:54] Scott W. Luton: Uh, 

[00:05:54] Daniel McKinnon: it was, it was a great experience. Yeah, it’s, it’s a wonderful place and I am an alumni. I’m a blue hose. 

[00:06:00] Scott W. Luton: Outstanding. Presbyterian, uh, college in, uh, my homestead of South, South Carolina. So I want to get into, as we start getting into the story of MODEX, what’s new for this year as it’s coming up, uh, April 13th through the 16th, 2026.

[00:06:15] Scott W. Luton: So folks, write that down. It’s free to attend. Write that down. Um, and again, it, they’re gonna welcome close to 40,000 attendees this year. But let’s talk about the organization behind MODEX, MHI. So tell us first, Daniel, about your role as Chief Exhibitions Officer at MHI. 

[00:06:32] Daniel McKinnon: So, uh, MHI is a, uh, nonprofit trade association in the supply chain space.

[00:06:39] Daniel McKinnon: It really focuses on intralogistics, uh, inside of the distribution center inside the warehouse. We do have members that are three pls and people that are offering, you know, they’re, that are offering other or the types of supply chain services, but we really focus on the tremendous proliferation of the distribution center around the world.

[00:07:00] Daniel McKinnon: It’s a North American based trade show, but we now have, uh, members all over. You know, some of the, the most important topics that we address other than market access through our trade shows are standards. We offer standards across the, the various industry group committees that are part of our association and in safety and workforce are, are very important for us.

[00:07:21] Daniel McKinnon: You know, knowledge of the industry and us trying to encourage anyone how amazing and dignified this industry is. One of the core missions for us right now is to try to train and develop workforce into this industry. Not just inside the distribution center, but across all supply chain, and that’s working with trade schools as well as universities.

[00:07:47] Daniel McKinnon: It’s not all engineers. It’s qualified labor. That’s really important for us. Standards are very important for us. And then talking about how important the industry is to federal, local, uh, municipal. It is a, a critical driver of economic development and that is very important for us to, to make sure everybody’s aware of that.

[00:08:07] Daniel McKinnon: We do not do public policy. We do not do any lobbying in Washington. We are a trade association. And not involved in politics. 

[00:08:15] Scott W. Luton: Okay? We need more supply chain leaders up in DC is my hunch. So maybe that’s an opportunity down down the road. Alright, so if I heard you correctly, I appreciate you sharing about MH i’s mission industry scope.

[00:08:27] Scott W. Luton: I love some of those big themes. I heard about safety. Workforce standards, economic development. Now, your role as CEO, chief Exhibitions Officer, I’d probably take that you play a big role in developing programming and a lot of your industry relationships. Is that right? 

[00:08:45] Daniel McKinnon: That’s correct. I mean, when we build out these massive exhibitions, the thing that we take most into consideration is our members.

[00:08:54] Daniel McKinnon: Our members are manufacturers and software developers and three pls, but mostly manufacturers of equipment that go into the distribution center. And you’re talking now, I mean it used to be, and it still is, a lot of racks, pallets and forklifts and conveyor belts. But now you see a lot of robots and automated guided vehicles and a lot of automation.

[00:09:15] Daniel McKinnon: Uh, as a matter of fact, that’s really been kind of the core growth in the. In the industry right now as far as MHI is concerned is that automation, that robotics, that efficiency and a part of that is a result of workforce challenges. I mean, if you can’t find a welder, you can find a robot. 

[00:09:32] Scott W. Luton: So true. And I’ll tell you folks, you kind of heard Daniel describe what, uh, some things you’re gonna see at MODEX and ProMat.

[00:09:40] Scott W. Luton: And if you love, if you really love supply chain, if you really love manufacturing, automation, innovation, you name it, it’s like MODEX is like the circus. It’s like a big supply chain circus. It’s amazing to see what you see. Each year at MODEX and ProMat. Daniel, you’ve already spoken to this, but I wanna ask you outright.

[00:10:00] Scott W. Luton: Uh, when I think of the y, you know, the YMHI, the YM uh, MODEX matters to the global supply chain ecosystem. When I think of the, you know, the standard safety workforce, economic development, the exchange of, um, market intel and innovation and, and ideas, how would you answer that? Why does it matter? Why does it matter?

[00:10:21] Scott W. Luton: Daniel? 

[00:10:22] Daniel McKinnon: One of the primary reasons is the scale of MODEX provides an opportunity, you know, once a year MODEX and ProMat at MODEX in Atlanta for four days. You’re able to see so much technology, so many solution providers. Not only that, the the knowledge component, the education component is vast. If you look at the keynote speakers we have, those are kind of inspirational speakers, but we have over 200 sessions on the show floor that deal directly with solutions with providing solutions to challenges that are faced by those people in the supply chain industry.

[00:10:57] Daniel McKinnon: They are not sales pitches. We are, we regulate it. They are sponsored, but they are not sales pitches. We require that they have a practitioner that is discussing a solution that, uh, perhaps their product or service helped with. We do not want sales pitches. People would just, wouldn’t go to ’em. But those are packed.

[00:11:14] Daniel McKinnon: Those are 200 sessions, over four days are packed with the attendees. You can’t do that. It, you know, it would take you a year to do that more than a year. In addition, over 1100 exhibiting companies, mostly manufacturers of equipment for the distribution center. But if you think about the actual size of the show, it’s some of those companies like Raymond are taking, you know, 8,000 square feet of exhibit space.

[00:11:40] Daniel McKinnon: I don’t know who’s familiar with the Georgia World Congress Center, but, uh, where the, the largest event, uh, in Atlanta. The Atlanta Business Chronicle said we were the largest, uh, live event. And if you look at the George World Conference, we are wall to wall, every meeting room, every square foot of the exhibit floor, all the ballrooms.

[00:11:57] Daniel McKinnon: We take all of it. And in addition, around the city with over 50,000, you know, hotel nights, room nights. You know, all the hotels, all the primary hotels around the city are filled with supply chain professionals that are there to network, to see new products, to learn about technologies and trends. I think the scale is probably the most important thing of bringing everybody together once a year for this event.

[00:12:21] Daniel McKinnon: Just gives, you know, a platform to multiple different organizations to engage with each other and talk about mutual issues, concerns, and solutions. 

[00:12:30] Scott W. Luton: That’s right. And folks, uh, you may be thinking out there, some of our wonderfully intelligent audience members that here in the digital era, is there a less lesser emphasis of in-person trade shows?

[00:12:42] Scott W. Luton: I would argue it’s just the opposite, despite the fact that we can do a lot of homework with all the data that our fingertips. I heard someone speaking about this other day. The speed and scale of some things that Daniel’s talking about. When you walk the floor of a facility the size of the Georgia World Congress Center at a MODEX, and your eye is taking in new things, new innovations, you’re having conversations with people.

[00:13:06] Scott W. Luton: What’s happening, at least in my experience, over 20 years of doing trade shows and person trade shows, is things get placed on your radar. That are, have been in your blind spot, and then you leave the show after all the conversations and the learnings, then you can dive deeper on your due diligence and see if a, b, c solution or relationship can benefit your business.

[00:13:26] Scott W. Luton: So, 

[00:13:27] Daniel McKinnon: hundred percent. Scott. I have some, some, uh, research on that and obviously it, it, I say obviously it was done by a third party, not by us. Of course, it would be self-serving if we did it. But a third party, and this is very contemporary, uh, information that the trust levels that people used to have in government and media and, and you’re not media.

[00:13:47] Daniel McKinnon: I think you’re, you’re new age media, but that used to be the top, you know, government, media, those were the top rated trust. I trust this. I trust to get my information from this. Those are at the bottom. Now also because of ai, digital information, websites, all that, nobody can trust that I might not be me.

[00:14:04] Daniel McKinnon: Me, I’m really not this handsome. This is AI Daniel. But you wouldn’t know that you, you would have no idea. Well, you could probably figure it out. Face-to-face, live events are the most trustworthy resource, and this includes the younger generation. In fact, the younger generation trust live events more than boomers.

[00:14:21] Daniel McKinnon: So I think that if you want to really engage with somebody or an organization. Live events is by far the best way to do it, because that’s what you can trust. If you’re looking at somebody in the eye, if you’re shaking their hand, you know they’re not ai and hopefully you can tell they’re not BSing you.

[00:14:39] Scott W. Luton: That’s right. So come on folks. Uh, we’re gonna invite you a couple times through this interview here, but come on to Atlanta. You’re gonna love MODEX April 13th through the 16th at the Georgia World Congress Center and bring your walking shoes. You’re gonna need them because of all the opportunities and exhibits and programming and, and people.

[00:14:57] Scott W. Luton: Best part. So Daniel, let’s talk about how MODEX has evolved over time. Uh, as I mentioned on the front end, I think you’ve been in Atlanta since 2012. You’ve got kind of several veins of speakers, but celebrities and and leaders, entertainers, Shaquille O’Neal, Peyton and Archie Manning, Nick Saban, and then some have been at MODEX.

[00:15:17] Scott W. Luton: And then you got lots of real industry leaders. Are speaking from supply chain leadership, manufacturing, leadership, track records, and we’ve got some wonderful ones this year. But how, how would you answer the question? How MODEX has evolved over time? 

[00:15:33] Daniel McKinnon: I think that we have evolved as the industry has evolved.

[00:15:37] Daniel McKinnon: In 2012, it was a, it was a good size show, 400 exhibitors. I think we had, you know, 15,000, you know, attendees and that, those, that’s an estimate, but it’s grown exponentially. And the real growth catalyst, I believe, I don’t think it’s because of the pandemic, but when people started expecting their delivery overnight.

[00:15:59] Daniel McKinnon: Like the e-commerce boon, which continues to get something reliably through a warehouse to get it to the warehouse, to get it through the warehouse, to get it to the door, to get to the final destination, the last mile. The technology involved in upgrading the efficiencies of the warehouse. Our trade shows have gone through the roof because of that.

[00:16:17] Daniel McKinnon: Also, you know, one other, more contemporary, a more, more recent issue is, you know, China has dominated so much of what we do for so long. And maybe this isn’t new, but maybe it’s just really caught on that the whole reshoring and, and look, we need to look to, and I, I hope that we’ll be all be friends again, but we need to look to Mexico and Canada and to our own selves and to North Dakota and to Maine and to California.

[00:16:41] Daniel McKinnon: You know, we have the resources to create this great infrastructure, supply chain infrastructure, and I think that’s also helped our show grow. In fact, many European and Asian companies, Chinese included, the Chinese are are banging down the door. They’re building here. Atlanta has benefited from international corporate headquarters for supply chains and even manufacturing facilities along the 85 corridor have really benefited the Port of Savannah.

[00:17:10] Daniel McKinnon: It has been a huge catalyst. This region is booming. People want their stuff. They want it on time. They want it reliably. They want it safely. It’s an employer. It’s fantastic. I’ve mentioned economic development, but more than that, you know, when you talk about food and materials and medicine, why aren’t we bringing it here and putting it in distribution here and getting it to your door in Decatur, Georgia overnight or within a week instead of having to wait and unreliable and all of that.

[00:17:40] Daniel McKinnon: So I think that’s been a huge part of the growth of MODEX. In addition, I think if you look, and it doesn’t matter who, who’s in office, and I think state and municipal matters a lot more than federal, but uh, our economy continues to grow and excel and we’ve had hiccups here and there. But since 2012, my goodness, I think your average American is, I would like to say, and I hope, and I would like to believe is doing better and, and doing well and taking care of their family.

[00:18:06] Daniel McKinnon: And we want consumer goods. We want medicine, we want food, and we want it safely, reliably, and quickly. That has been the biggest boom for MODEX. 

[00:18:15] Scott W. Luton: Well, and what’s in our, and I appreciate you mentioning not only how MODEX has evolved and continue to grow, but some of the regional and really global themes.

[00:18:23] Scott W. Luton: But what is truly inarguable is supply chain leaders, industry leaders. Continue to reinvent how we get business done. Yeah. And you know, that information, those insights, those ideas, those case studies come from many, many different sources. But again, don’t take it from me and not even Daniel. Go do your homework.

[00:18:44] Scott W. Luton: One of best channels for finding new ways, proven ways of finding more success and these incredibly disruptive times is through great. Resources like MODEX. So let’s talk about Daniel. What’s different about this year’s MODEX, MODEX 2026 coming up in April here in Atlanta? What sticks out to you? 

[00:19:05] Daniel McKinnon: I talk about face-to-face being important, but we use technology to help enable our attendees and our exhibitors to engage with each other.

[00:19:11] Daniel McKinnon: We have systems through to our, through our mobile app and, and through what we call my show planner, which really facilitate not only the education of the attendee. But also the, the scheduling, it’s just gotten so sophisticated. Now everybody’s using ai and we do use AI for this as well, but we use it on, on, on a practical sense so that we can determine who’s meeting with who.

[00:19:33] Daniel McKinnon: Our exhibitors are really not interested in talking to people that are trying to sell them something they’re interested in talking to, to Amazon and Target and Walmart and Fortune 500 companies, and Johnson and Johnson, and people that want to move things through their warehouse, that’s who they wanna talk to.

[00:19:47] Daniel McKinnon: This facilitates that tremendously. This helps really get the right person in front of the, the, the right exhibitor. In addition, I, I think that, uh, and you talked about how industry leaders need to do things differently, the education that’s available that this platform provides. Is significant. I think I mentioned the keynotes.

[00:20:05] Daniel McKinnon: They’re, they’re, they’re more inspirational, like Richard McPhail, CFO for Home Depot. I wanna listen to that. I, I really would, even if I wasn’t involved in this business, I would wanna listen to that. Over the past couple of of years, we have been talking about AI a lot and selling this now is a, he’s somebody that can really talk about it in practical terms, in technology, in practical terms.

[00:20:23] Daniel McKinnon: Dale Earnhardt’s. Cool. That’ll be fun and interesting and a good way to get your Wednesday morning started. But then I think most relevant, and this is where I, I I really wanted to go because we talked about, um, you talked about how these industry leaders need to adapt and change. Well, every year, MHI comes out with our annual industry report.

[00:20:41] Daniel McKinnon: And it is top trends and innovations that are coming forward into the industry that we identify several different trends. We, uh, work with Deloitte and several academic groups, uh, institutions, including the amazing Georgia Tech. We identify these trends for the supply chain industry, and then we present them.

[00:21:02] Daniel McKinnon: This is when it’s launched and this is available. To any of our members. And if somebody wants a copy, I’ll send them a copy. I don’t have the one for this year yet, but it’s, it’s, it’s coming. So it identifies it, and then they talk about it in a panel session with some experts, including somebody from Deloitte, including our CEO, John Paxton.

[00:21:18] Daniel McKinnon: And that really kind of opens people’s eyes. We go about doing this with, with our economist who’s a, you know, he’s Bloomberg, he’s like number one Bloomberg ranked economist. He’s fantastic. We had all assumed that, you know, AI was gonna be the top trend. Ai, ai, ai, that’s all you hear about these days.

[00:21:33] Daniel McKinnon: What’s not workforce was the top trend. So that’s the number one thing that people are trying to address right now. Um, we all thought that sustainability was really important. Well, that fell outta the top 10. Sustainability is not as important as it once was. There’s just several interesting topics that they discuss during this session.

[00:21:49] Daniel McKinnon: It’s on Wednesday. Then I mentioned are the 200 solutions sessions that are on the show theater. It’s education. There’s a women in supply chain with some significant leaders, and then there’s a student day again, to address the workforce issue. We really embrace not just the engineer at the university, we really embrace the technical schools, the training schools.

[00:22:10] Daniel McKinnon: We need qualified labor in this business and, and that’s how we’re trying to help support that. 

[00:22:15] Scott W. Luton: So true. Uh, the workforce piece, we constantly hear about, you know, if you. Talk to any business leader out there, supply chain leader for that matter. And even a broader sense, workforce is top of mind and we’re seeing challenges at all.

[00:22:30] Scott W. Luton: You think of, um, the wide spectrum of valuable human workers, right? From folks that come from colleges, folks that, you know, come right outta high school. We need in all things in between. We need all of them at all various, uh, experience levels and expertise levels, 

[00:22:45] Daniel McKinnon: and I don’t understand it. I hear, you know, unemployment went up and, and new jobs created.

[00:22:49] Daniel McKinnon: Well, Toyota, who I mentioned earlier, who’s Toyota Material Handling, who’s a member, and then the CEOs on our board, they have thousands of open positions across the country. Thousands. If you want a job, a high paying job with great benefits, you can get one. So we, we just need to communicate that to people.

[00:23:06] Scott W. Luton: And that’s the, uh, I hate to be, I hate to sound like a simpleton here, but awareness is still, it’s a timeless challenge and we’ve got to continue to innovate the ways we communicate to all generations too, no matter where they are in their journey. And I love that y’all have a student day. ’cause you know, that might sound like a website that some people, but still.

[00:23:26] Scott W. Luton: The fact that you’re investing in a student day and Oh yeah. Providing those, those engagement opportunities and awareness creation opportunities. It’s really important. 

[00:23:34] Daniel McKinnon: I was just gonna say, there’s hundreds of students that come to that and dozens of universities, 

[00:23:38] Scott W. Luton: folks, that’s a great hiring, you know?

[00:23:40] Scott W. Luton: Yeah. Yeah. That’s a great, uh, talent pipeline building opportunities. Hundred 

[00:23:43] Daniel McKinnon: percent. 

[00:23:44] Scott W. Luton: Alright, so Daniel mentioned a couple speakers this year, 2026, um, and I wanted to add a couple, and by the way, I hope Dale Earnhardt with all the talk of velocity. In industry and global supply chain. I hope he really has baked that into his theme in his keynote.

[00:23:59] Scott W. Luton: We’ll see. But Annette Danek, I might get this wrong folks, but Annette Danek, Akey Chief Supply Chain Officer with Barnes and Noble. She’s speaking my dear friend and the dynamo, Dr. Stephanie Thomas from the University of Arkansas is speaking on a great panel that’s entitled, rewiring the Future, A Supply Chain Playbook for Innovation.

[00:24:19] Scott W. Luton: Check that out. There’s, there’s a million reasons to go. 

[00:24:22] Daniel McKinnon: We have an industry night where we have, you know, our members, but, but everybody’s welcome. We always have an mc and comedian, and they’re, they’re usually pretty good. We’ve had Colin Jost and, um, we had, oh God, who’s the Tennessee kid? He’s the, he’s.

[00:24:34] Daniel McKinnon: They’re always clean. Well, Colin wasn’t completely clean, but the guy that’s real popular now that he never cusses and he always, his wife’s always harassing him and he made, just made a new movie. Oh gosh. What I can’t think of now this year is Jim Gaffigan, who I think is hilarious. Uh, so. Join us on Wednesday night.

[00:24:50] Daniel McKinnon: If you wanna hear Jim Gaffigan, uh, make fun of supply chain, 

[00:24:54] Scott W. Luton: you and the rest of the world. Jim Gaffigan, I think makes everybody laugh. Uh, Nate Bartzi, 

[00:25:00] Daniel McKinnon: that’s exactly, yes. 

[00:25:01] Scott W. Luton: Okay. 

[00:25:01] Daniel McKinnon: He, he was great. He was two years ago or four years ago, but, um, we had Colin Joes two years ago and Colin Joes. Slayed with the, with the supply chain jokes.

[00:25:11] Daniel McKinnon: It’s funny how it’s not funny, but it’s funny how someone can talk about a, a warehouse and make it sound, you know, entertaining. 

[00:25:20] Scott W. Luton: Well, Daniel, you know, it is. But the thing is, all those folks kind of from outside industry. They make us laugh, but they also depend on everything. Global supply chain does every a hundred percent, every single hour.

[00:25:32] Scott W. Luton: But regardless, hey, we gotta have a sense of humor, especially in some of the challenging times we’re, we’re living and leading through, and Jim Gaffigan. He’s a home run addition to the programming. I don’t know. He was, he spoke, entertained a couple years ago, I think, right? 

[00:25:46] Daniel McKinnon: Yeah. Several years. Yeah, several years ago.

[00:25:48] Daniel McKinnon: He’s bigger now. He’s more expensive now, but that’s okay. 

[00:25:51] Scott W. Luton: Okay. 

[00:25:51] Daniel McKinnon: We, we believe those investments into the keynotes and the, we, we, those are legitimate and we’re a not-for-profit. So it’s not like we’re gonna bank it. We’re gonna spend it on trying to make the experience for our attendees and our members better.

[00:26:04] Scott W. Luton: Yep. Fellowship’s important. Alright, so. Growth in exhibitors attendance and the diversity of solutions. Uh, you know, you, you mentioned earlier some rough estimates of what the event in 2012 was. I think you said roughly again, folks, 400 exhibitors and roughly 15,000 attendees. What does that look like?

[00:26:24] Scott W. Luton: What does that growth look like this year, Daniel? 

[00:26:26] Daniel McKinnon: So we were only in one hall. We were just in the sea hall and not the full sea hall in 2012. Now we’re the, like I said, I think I mentioned earlier, we are the full facility every square inch of that Georgia World Congress Center. Plus the, you know, Signia Hotel, the Omni Hotel, all the surrounding areas is MODEX and we’re completely sold out of exhibit space, but we, uh, we’ll have a little over 1100 exhibiting companies, and that’s just the exhibitors that represents about 630,000 net square feet.

[00:26:55] Daniel McKinnon: And that does include all the additional stuff we have on the, the show floor, like the theaters and the lounges. So that’s significant. And then we do expect around 40,000 attendees to show up, and it’s a world class event. Also on the show floor, in addition to the exhibitors, you’ll see several experiential activations.

[00:27:13] Daniel McKinnon: And what that is are just kind of fancy lounges. And one of the biggest complaints we get is that the attendees have nowhere to sit down or to have a decent meal. Nobody wants to eat, you know, the rubber pizzas, you know, all the time. So we have created spaces throughout the show floor. For our attendees to have a moment of repose, to have a good meal.

[00:27:32] Daniel McKinnon: I’m not just saying that I’m, you know, Chick-fil-A I think is good, but it’s Chick-fil-A and it’s, it’s other solid and cooked meals and healthy options. But we have something called the Peachtree Social. Looks like a really cool kind of, uh, a mixture of a southern bar restaurant and like a Dave and Buster’s.

[00:27:49] Daniel McKinnon: It’s not like all Dave and Buster Up, but it’s uh, we’ve got like a golf simulator and a foosball tables. You know, stuff like that. And then we also have, um, the Backyard, which is in Sea Hall, which is a more upscale lounge, but we have puppy petting. Four days is a long time to be walking around a trade show floor.

[00:28:07] Daniel McKinnon: So we need to have some opportunities for a recharging, a reevaluation of what the next steps are. Meeting with your team, we do have some happy hours that go on. We have a startup pavilion. We do kind of a, I don’t wanna violate any intellectual property, but we do kind of a Shark tank type of competition, and we give a cash prize to the best startup.

[00:28:27] Daniel McKinnon: We have a happy hour that we, we launch and go into, that’s on Tuesday afternoon at four o’clock, and that’s in all a, there’s a lot of that going on all over the show floor. And the best way to figure it all out is to use the, the, my show planner to schedule everything and you’ll, you’ll see all the different options.

[00:28:42] Daniel McKinnon: It’s endless. 

[00:28:43] Scott W. Luton: You shared a lot. There were two things, stick out, a couple things, but two, I wanna comment on number one. That Southern restaurant, all that southern food fair, I’m gonna be there and I’m gonna judge the collard greens. I’m gonna judge the cornbread and, you know, 

[00:28:57] Daniel McKinnon: peach ice cream, 

[00:28:58] Scott W. Luton: peach ice cream.

[00:28:59] Scott W. Luton: But also, uh, Amanda calls ’em. Butter beans. I call ’em lima beans. Oh man. Some Tabasco we’re, I’m gonna judge all that 

[00:29:07] Daniel McKinnon: on top of that. 

[00:29:08] Scott W. Luton: That’s right. 

[00:29:09] Daniel McKinnon: Gotta go full 

[00:29:10] Scott W. Luton: self. Uh, and then secondly, I gotta keep it real here. Daniel. I struggle with event apps. I don’t know if you do. I can get overwhelmed. I look forward to checking out the, um, current evolution of the app for MODEX and see if it can make life easier.

[00:29:26] Daniel McKinnon: You are not the only one. The last ProMat, I think we had just over 50% usage. And I, I cannot understand that because the app is, we, it’s the same provider, it’s the same platform we use. They’re called Map Your Show. They’re fantastic. But they do our website. It’s the same thing. There’s no difference, but it’s mobile ready, it’s, it’s easier to use.

[00:29:44] Daniel McKinnon: And it has things like Wayfinders, like if you wanna say, how do I get to the Premier Club lounge? Oh, you know, it maps it out for you. You know, what’s the next keynote? Oh, it’s this at this time. You can set up your schedule on it. You can do so much with it. But, you know, I get it. I, I don’t, I don’t like sitting there doing this, you know, I, I’m a hard copy guy.

[00:30:04] Daniel McKinnon: You look at me on the show side, I’m carrying around like a big old, you know, notebook and I got all the papers in it. You know, everybody’s laughing at me. Grandpa’s got his papers with him. Wow. 

[00:30:16] Scott W. Luton: Alright, and folks, if you do see Daniel McKinnon on the show floor, make sure you introduce yourself and I bet no one, Daniel, I bet he will look to be getting some feedback from you.

[00:30:27] Scott W. Luton: Yes, he is, uh, well known for soliciting feedback from exhibitors, attending whoever he meets as he’s walking and managing a really big trade show floor. 

[00:30:37] Daniel McKinnon: And if you see me at Rath Burns or Bones, or at the Lobster Bar or at Hal’s. Then let me buy you a martini or Ooh. Or a non-alcoholic beverage, whichever you prefer, and say hi to me.

[00:30:48] Scott W. Luton: Okay. Love it. You’re gonna have folks tracking you down, geo tracking you via the app. 

[00:30:54] Daniel McKinnon: That’s a little scary. My creepy. That’s, that’s all right. 

[00:30:57] Scott W. Luton: All right, so let’s get into some practical advice for folks, and I wanna tackle this from a couple different perspectives. Uh, Daniel, when you think of. And I hate to call it like an ideal profile ’cause I know you got a wide range of folks that come out and get value, but who do you think stands the most to get value from attending MODEX?

[00:31:17] Daniel McKinnon: So that’s a great question. I think it’s a diverse crowd. I hate to use specific brands, but like our biggest attendee groups are from Amazon, target, Walmart, big Fortune, 500 companies, uh, manufacturers that have big warehouses and they’re trying to get things around the world, around the country. That’s the number one attendee category.

[00:31:37] Daniel McKinnon: We have executive programs. But the people come to buy solutions. People come to buy. This is a commercial show. This is a market access trade show. So the people that do have these distribution centers all over the, the country, even even three pls that have distribution centers everywhere. They need to, you know, to upgrade.

[00:31:55] Daniel McKinnon: They need to make it more efficient. They need to automate, they need to, to buy new forklifts or racking conveyors, all those products that go into the distribution center. People that are specifying, you know, your warehouse operations manager or some of the names I just mentioned, your supply chain officer, your COO, the people that really want to see what’s new or have a specific.

[00:32:21] Daniel McKinnon: Solution requirement in mind, they go there. A lot of it’s preset appointments. A lot of the boots now from the larger exhibitors are kind of, you’ll see an up a, a, a second level and they’re kind of walled off and they’ve got a hospitality area up there and that’s where they bring their pre-app appointments up there to talk terms and conditions and negotiations and schedules and timelines.

[00:32:42] Daniel McKinnon: We provide the exhibitors, um, with lead retrieval opportunities, so everybody’s got a badge and, uh, we, we verify the, the information on there. Every exhibitor is able to either set a pre-appointment or onsite able to identify the attendee and engage directly with them. We do welcome everybody, but what we do discourage.

[00:33:03] Daniel McKinnon: Is people selling their products and services to the exhibitors on site, and it’s, it’s prohibited. We sort of look the other way because these exhibitors are, they’re big boys and girls and they can, they can say no thank you. We’re not trying to push anybody away, and it’s just as important for somebody that’s selling their freight services to be educated as it is for one of the customers.

[00:33:27] Daniel McKinnon: The most significant category, I would say are people that are specifying or managing or trying to identify solutions within the distribution center. That’s the key category for us. There’s a lot of that. By the way, people don’t know of this. They’re unaware, but when you fly into like Dallas-Fort Worth or you fly into Atlanta and you look down Atlanta, you see a lot of trees.

[00:33:50] Daniel McKinnon: But most big airports, you just see warehouse stretching miles. Miles. Have you ever been down to Savannah near the port? Just warehouse, after warehouse, after warehouse. There’s thousands of them. And those warehouses, they’re not empty. They’re moving materials around and, and so that’s what this show is for.

[00:34:08] Scott W. Luton: Yep. Lots of cargo in the bellies of those, uh, passenger planes. Yes, the busiest airports around the world. So let’s do this, Daniel. Let’s paint a picture. You’ve got the captive audience. Of a slew of first time attendees at MODEX 2026, right? Maybe they’re, um, they’re mid bite through their, uh, delicious lunch or maybe they’re on the way home after a tough day of work and they’re listening to the podcast in the car, looking for tips from industry leaders and they’re curious about advice for attending MODEX for the first time.

[00:34:41] Scott W. Luton: What would be your, been there, done that advice be Daniel. 

[00:34:45] Daniel McKinnon: The obvious thing is the comfortable shoes because it’s so large. But the not obvious thing is you need to make the time because this is good for your career. It, you may not be going there to buy something specifically, but the amount of knowledge that you can capture while you are at MODEX is really undefinable.

[00:35:05] Daniel McKinnon: It’s just gigantic And networking the same way your, your professional development. You know, if you want to see people meet people, hear people in the industry, see what the next trends are, and understand what the next trends are, you’ve got to make time to do this. It doesn’t cost anything. It’s free of charge.

[00:35:20] Daniel McKinnon: You just have to be qualified to get in. You know, we, we make sure that the people are coming in are, are in our business. And then once you have committed to go, once you have registered. Schedules are so important. It’s too big not to schedule. There’s so many shows around this great country of ours that are either in supply chain or touch supply chain.

[00:35:37] Daniel McKinnon: You can walk around ’em in, in a half a day or less. This is not that. And I will say we don’t focus as much on education as some other conferences. I mean, we’re not a conference. We are a trade show. You’re gonna get education. But what’s more important than education is the on show floor demonstrations of equipment.

[00:35:54] Daniel McKinnon: You will see equipment. On the show floor, you’ll see fully automated, automated guided vehicles, mobile robots. You will see full automated conveyor systems and picking systems, achieving and picking systems. You’ll see these in operating functioning from companies around the world, and that in itself is just a fascinating experience and at the same time, extraordinarily helpful to anybody that’s in this business for their career and just for their general knowledge.

[00:36:23] Scott W. Luton: Here’s some other advice, uh, for first time attendees, especially if you’re outside of the great city of Atlanta. You better book now Book Hotel now? Yes. Book, book plane ticket now and a show this big first off, Daniel knows the distinctions between the conference and trade show much better than me. But when I think of industry events like MODEX, you see a wide range of fees.

[00:36:46] Scott W. Luton: Some fees are like $5,000 to attend. To be able to attend an event like MODEX for free, especially the size and the scope and the scale, not number one, especially if you’re earlier in your journey. It’s a great learning opportunity, great networking, great market intel gathering, but plan your days. You need to download the map, look at the exhibitors, look at all the programming, and you’ve gotta target, because if you don’t, you’re gonna meander and you’re gonna miss so much of what you’re really.

[00:37:14] Scott W. Luton: Most interested in learning about, and it’s just the, the sheer size of it. So plan ahead, travel wise, your day, your working days, plan ahead, what you wanna see, who you wanna talk to, who you wanna hear from. And that’s gonna help you get the most out of your MODEX experience. So 

[00:37:30] Daniel McKinnon: it’s easy to get to Atlanta because of our airport, our great, our great Atlanta airport.

[00:37:34] Daniel McKinnon: But go to our website to get your hotel room. It’s discounted and it’s part of our block. And we run shuttles all the way around the city, all the way up to Buckhead, through Midtown, we run shuttles that will bring you drop, pick you up, bring you to the, the facility, and then drop you back off. And they’re running on a loop.

[00:37:49] Daniel McKinnon: So, um, book your hotel room through our website. Just about every hotel in Atlanta is part of this lock. So 

[00:37:55] Scott W. Luton: outstanding and wear those hokas can be lots of walking or whatever your, uh, specialty athletic shoe of choice is. Alright, so, uh, what’s one great tip for returning attendees? Daniel, and they may be watching us or listening to us, and they’ve been to MODEX five times and all of us, sometimes when we’ve done something once or five times or 10 times.

[00:38:20] Scott W. Luton: You know, we tend to assume we know it all, but what’s one thing to challenge that assumption for, for returning MODEX attendees? Daniel, 

[00:38:27] Daniel McKinnon: the main thing I would say is this. We try to improve it every year. If you can see that, use it. We try to improve it every year. We do improve it every year. It’s becoming more user friendly.

[00:38:38] Daniel McKinnon: You’re able to use, you know, to, to schedule and, and there, and there’s so many things on it that will help your journey through MODEX. But I think most attendees that are, that are returning and are loyal attendees and have experienced and, and, and know how to best take advantage of this opportunity, this platform, they preset appointments.

[00:38:54] Daniel McKinnon: They make appointments before they get to the show. A lot of them do it on Thursday, Thursday’s a little bit slower, so a lot of them make their appointments on Thursday so they’re not fighting through the, you know, like a fish swimming upstream through the crowd. Make your appointments. Use the mobile app to take advantage of, you know, these exhibitors are busy, so if you preset these appointments, then you have a much better chance of having, you know, a more exclusive opportunity to understand what their solutions are.

[00:39:22] Scott W. Luton: Yes. I’ll add one there and we can couch this in my next question to you as we start to wrap here. Common mistakes to avoid. A couple of them folks. I’m trying to get better at this. You know, we did, I think 13 events, conferences, shows last year. And most of those, unfortunately, I was in registration line to get my badge the morning of the first day.

[00:39:44] Scott W. Luton: I’m trying to avoid that all year long in 2026 and getting there the day before and the kind of the pre-show session, avoid the lines, get to badge, and that makes day one, official day one. So much easier. So don’t do that. Get your badge ahead of time. And secondly, if you wanna bring your kids out, right?

[00:40:04] Scott W. Luton: Awareness piece, it’s really important. 16 years old is the requirement to get in Daniel, is that right? 

[00:40:10] Daniel McKinnon: That’s correct. For many reasons. It’s uh, there’s crazy stuff going on on that show floor. A lot of danger for younger kids. 

[00:40:17] Scott W. Luton: Right. But, and I bring that up because my oldest. He’s 16 now and I wanna bring Brantley out so she can kind of have that first incredible experience at MODEX.

[00:40:28] Scott W. Luton: So anyway, if you’ve got younger kids and you think kinda like, I’m thinking you gotta be 16, so I’d hate for you to get down there with all the best of intentions. And of course that’s an important safety rule. 

[00:40:39] Daniel McKinnon: One thing you said about getting your badge, also we have many registration areas, um, around the city.

[00:40:44] Daniel McKinnon: In some of the hotels, you can pick up your badge and then there’s three locations on site that you can pick up your badge in each hall. Pre-register. Don’t go on site and register, pre-register and you should be able to go right through a line. 

[00:40:55] Scott W. Luton: Oh man, that makes life a lot easier. Daniel, before I ask how folks can connect with you and MODEX and MHI, the whole family, any other common mistake to avoid you wanna share with folks out there?

[00:41:08] Daniel McKinnon: I talked a lot about the, you know, make a schedule plan it. But also what’s important is serendipity. Like have a schedule, but also set aside some time to just walk around. You will see something, you will run into somebody. You will find some unique technology or opportunity or product or service that you never thought existed, that you never thought you would’ve ever seen in your entire life.

[00:41:30] Daniel McKinnon: So take a moment to just. Lally gag around the show floor and check it out without having a schedule. And I hate that I’ve reinforced or, or I emphasize so much having a schedule because that serendipity is just so important because I think trade shows are really also not just, you know, business, business, business, business, but there’s the sight, the sound, the smell, the feel.

[00:41:53] Daniel McKinnon: There’s some kind of magic about a trade show where if you’re just kind of walking around, something good will happen. 

[00:41:59] Scott W. Luton: Daniel, I do it a lot because we’re kind of talking out both sides of our mouth, but sometimes you got to, right? Yeah, and I love how you put it. Plan your day. Folks, I’m bad about it.

[00:42:09] Scott W. Luton: Sometimes I’m bad about meandering the whole time outside of the interviews we do. But plan your day. Look at the who’s exhibiting. Look who’s speaking. Take your top three every day, right? Plan it. But to Daniel’s point and the other side of our mouth, meandering. Lollygagging creating our own luck. I’m a big believer that some of the best things has happened in my life is from the serendipity quotient.

[00:42:34] Scott W. Luton: So definitely, uh, efficient meandering, we’ll call it Daniel. So do both folks? Yes, do both. So Daniel, almost 40,000 people coming to Atlanta, uh, from MODEX 2026. And then I wanna say at ProMat last year, we were there for a day or two. Y’all have close to 50,000, if I’m not mistaken, Daniel. 

[00:42:52] Daniel McKinnon: That’s correct. The ProMat show is a little bit, it’s older, it’s a little bit bigger.

[00:42:56] Daniel McKinnon: The Chicago land area brings a lot of manufacturing interest into McCormick Center and look, Atlanta’s my home. I love it more than anywhere else. I mean, I, I’m including Paris and London and 

[00:43:08] Scott W. Luton: wow. 

[00:43:08] Daniel McKinnon: SEO man is the greatest city in the world. But Chicago’s facility is a little bit bigger. It’s not, I don’t wanna say it’s better, but it’s just a little bit bigger.

[00:43:16] Daniel McKinnon: So, ProMat’s a little bit bigger, but MODEX has some unique characteristics. First of all, it’s in, it’s in, you know, you see a lot more southern hospitality and also it’s laid out in a really nice format where it’s a lot of walking, but it’s, it’s efficient walking. 

[00:43:30] Scott W. Luton: Right. That’s right. Uh, so folks, mark your calendar first.

[00:43:33] Scott W. Luton: MODEX again, April 13th through the 16th, 2026 Georgia World Congress Center. Close to 40,000 should be the biggest MODEX ever, if I’m not mistaken. 

[00:43:43] Daniel McKinnon: Yes, it will be. 

[00:43:44] Scott W. Luton: And then ProMat, which has also been on quite a run here. Yes. Uh, April 19th through the 21st, 2027 in Chicago. Daniel and I wanna say, what’s the center, 

[00:43:56] Daniel McKinnon: McCormick Place?

[00:43:57] Daniel McKinnon: It’s the center in Chicago. It’s the largest in the country, although it’s Las Vegas is going through a little bit of a. Reno and so Las Vegas and Chicago compete with each other as the, uh, the largest, in fact, Atlanta’s the fourth largest. But who cares about that except for trade show nerds like me. Um, one, one interesting about ProMat though is we’re going to a three day show, four days asking our exhibitors to be.

[00:44:20] Daniel McKinnon: So engaged for four days. We, we have determined based on our, you know, outreach and our research that, uh, three days is sufficient. It’s a lot to do in three days, and that’s when you really need to plan is when it goes to three days. But, 

[00:44:31] Scott W. Luton: well, I look forward to learning more about that change. I enjoyed prom mat last year.

[00:44:35] Scott W. Luton: Uh, I did, I missed. MODEX the last time y’all were in town. I can’t wait to get back. We’re gonna be there. This is gonna be our biggest presence. The Supply Chain Now team at MODEX in years. Folks, we’re gonna be part of Podcast Row. I think we’re calling it. Our friends from, uh, Kevin and the New Warehouse will be there.

[00:44:51] Scott W. Luton: Many, many others. Come say hello if you see us, but I wanna reconfirm those dates again. Again. April 13th through the 16th from MODEX in Atlanta, and then ProMat in 2027. April 19th through the 21st. Mark your calendar. And Daniel, if folks wanna learn more about any of the programming that MHI offers and if folks wanna connect with you, what would be your, be your advice there.

[00:45:14] Daniel McKinnon: I think that if you want information on MODEX, the best way to do it is www.MODEXshow.com and uh, mhi.org is where you can find just boundless amounts of information on the logistics material handling supply chain industry. I’m talking just reams and reams of it membership information if that’s interested, but there’s also a lot of.

[00:45:41] Daniel McKinnon: Value add data and information on there that that doesn’t cost anything. So we’re a non-for-profit. We want to grow the, we wanna grow the business through the association and through our friends and colleagues and members. We offer those platforms to do so. And you can actually get in touch with me through the MODEX show.com website.

[00:46:00] Daniel McKinnon: It’s deanmckinnon@mhi.org is my email address. 

[00:46:03] Scott W. Luton: That’s bold. That is bold. Folks, we’ve been talking to our long time friend, wonderful guest, one of the leadership team members responsible for some of the most popular and populated industry events, global supply chain trade show. Events around Daniel McKinnon, chief Exhibitions Officer with MHI.

[00:46:24] Scott W. Luton: And by the way, Daniel old Jim Gaffigan might, it might, it might behoove him to bring you up and let you do 10 minutes or so as part of his overall segment. I’ve enjoyed your sense of humor here today. 

[00:46:34] Daniel McKinnon: I’m bringing him up to do 10 minutes. 

[00:46:38] Scott W. Luton: Well, Daniel, always a pleasure. We’re gonna see you in Atlanta, uh, your hometown, and we look forward to a very successful show.

[00:46:45] Scott W. Luton: Thanks for being here. 

[00:46:46] Daniel McKinnon: Thank you very much. Enjoyed it. 

[00:46:48] Scott W. Luton: You bet. Uh, all right folks, to our beloved SCN Global fam, hope you enjoyed this conversation. I love diving a little deeper sometimes into some of the most venerable trade shows around that impact our industry and give you the opportunities not only as we’re talking to have a planned valuable experience, but have also an unplanned.

[00:47:09] Scott W. Luton: Valuable experience you got both here. You can tune in and learn more about MODEX 2026 at modexshow.com, and we hope to see you in Atlanta in April. And again, come stop by and say hello. As we’re conducting interviews, I think three straight days I there on podcast row. So with all that said, folks hope to see you at MODEX, but more importantly, take one thing you heard here from Daniel.

[00:47:35] Scott W. Luton: Take action with it. Do something with it. Whether you’re planning MODEX or planning something much bigger and broader, something in your, in your organization, this is a terrific opportunity to bring the team out and help them connect with industry leaders and innovations familiar around the globe.

[00:47:50] Scott W. Luton: MODEX show.com. More importantly, folks, on behalf of the whole team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton challenge, you do good, give forward, be the change that’s needed. We’ll see you next time, right back here. On Supply Chain Now. Thanks everybody. 

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