Exchange 5-Star Sponsors
	*(see note below)

GEAPS Exchange 2006
GEAPS' 77^th annual technical conference and trade show

February 25 - 28
Nashville, Tennessee, USA


Exchange 2006 is now over.

The details below are for informational purposes only. Make plans to come to our next conference, Exchange 2007, Feb. 24-27, 2007, in Grapevine, Texas. More information about Exchange 2007 will be posted when available.


For a few days each year, the focus of the grain-handling industry centers on the GEAPS Exchange. It’s the best show in the industry, where professionals like yourself come to learn, grow, network and, of course, have fun.

We've made some changes to the Exchange schedule this year, as the conference continues to evolve and meet the demands of attendees and delegates who come for the best show in the industry.

The program features an impressive slate of educational sessions, all carefully selected by your peers. With special emphasis on safety, security, regulatory compliance and quality preservation, the range of issues is designed to meet core concerns of GEAPS members—industry professionals looking to keep in touch with all facets of the industry.

In the past, the afternoon-long pre-conference workshop took place on Saturday, before the Exchange really got rolling and everyone arrived. This year, we’ve moved this unique, hands-on workshop to Sunday morning, right before the Expo Hall Grand Opening. Once again, the workshop is included in all delegate registrations, and the topic, “Elevator Equipment Maintenance,” is something anyone in the grain industry should be familiar with. Another change for 2006, the popular Idea Exchange session will be right after the Expo closes on Sunday. And right after you check out some of the newest ideas and innovationyou can head right over to the new Welcome Reception.

There are also some special sessions to be found at the Exchange. This year's General Session is a change from previous years, when we ended the conference with an hour of comedy. Instead, "Live Line Demo" will feature a high-voltage lesson in electrical safety, This popular, charged-up presentation is geared for wide audience, including guests. The Chapter Leader Workshop will focus on ways to boost enthusiam and participation with your local chapter. And there's a session just for students, who have the opportunity to spend some time with an industry professional who can personally show them what the Exchange is all about.

The Expo Hall at the Exchange continues to be a showcase of the newest technology, the latest innovations and the place where industry suppliers come to share their expertise. For the first time since Exchange 2001, the floor plan is sold-out, even our expansion.

Don’t forget those important parts of any Exchange: networking, socializing, meeting old friends and new—having fun. Nashville will feature the end-of-conference events you’ve come to expect, the President’s Banquet and Club GEAPS. And this year we've added a new Welcome Reception on Sunday afternoon. But this year’s unique location will also give you the opportunity to enjoy Music City USA with a night at the Wildhorse, or a show at the Grand Ole Opry. Exchange 2006’s guest program takes full advantage of the region’s culture to provide some unusual and attractive events that focus on music, history and (of course) shopping.

For Complete Details
Download the complete Registration Brochure (PDF-4.2MB).

Or, browse through the sections below:

• Schedule Highlights (PDF)
• Registration
  • Information
  • Registration Form (PDF)
• Expo 2006
• Educational Program
• Pre-Conference Workshop
• Special Sessions
• Optional Events
• Guest Program
• Sponsors
• Hotel Information
  
  

Location: Nashville Convention Center, downtown Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Registration: Registration is over. General registration information can be found here.

Schedule: The conference schedule has changed slightly from past years. Click here to read an In-Grain article about the new, improved Exchange.

Thanks to our generous sponsors! Click here for a list of companies who support the Exchange through the sponsorship program.

(from the Nov. 2005 issue of In-Grain)
There’s The GEAPS Exchange… And Then There’s Music City
If you attend the GEAPS Exchange in Nashville, you’re going to be busy. The program will include more than 20 hours of educational programming, some 270 expo booths, and countless networking opportunities.

But it would be a mistake not to set aside some extra time to enjoy the city. It’s unique, friendly, fun—and pretty nice in late February. Last Feb. 25-28—the dates of the Exchange in 2006—the average high temperature was 54 degrees. On Feb. 26, it was 61.

There are dozens of things to do within easy walking range of the convention center downtown. Leave the car in the garage. You don’t have to go more than a couple of blocks from Exchange headquarters to be in honky-tonk heaven. Along Broadway, dozens of country-music bands fill the stages just about every night of the year. The Broadway tradition: No cover charges.

Right across the street from the convention center is Ryman Auditorium, “the mother church of country music.” You can have breakfast on the stage where Minnie Pearl once performed. And if you don’t particularly care for Minnie, here are some other notable Ryman alumni: Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Tennessee Ernie Ford and Elvis Presley. The building, now renovated, continues to provide music on its historic stage, and will offer performances during the GEAPS Exchange. (See adjacent story).

Nashville is Music City in more than one way. True, it’s full of live music—at the honky-tonks, the cafes, the Ryman, Opryland, the Gaylord Entertainment Center, and on the street corners. But the city is also a national recording-industry center. It’s big business here. Producers, promoters and music-industry execs, are all over the place. Go down Music Row and see where deals are made. Stop at RCA Studio B, where Elvis Presley, Roy Orbeson and the Everly Brothers recorded. Stop by the famous Bluebird café, where Garth Brooks and Faith Hill got their starts, and where songwriters and musicians perform nightly.

The Country Music Hall of Fame, a tribute to stars of the past, is also within walking distance of the convention center. (During the Exchange, the featured exhibit there will be “Banjo Man: The Musical Journey of Earl Scruggs.”)

And then there’s line-dancing… On Saturday, Feb. 25, we’ll be headed over to the Wildhorse Saloon, one of Nashville’s biggest and hottest dance halls.

There’s no point in trying to cover all there is to do and see in the Nashville area, but here are a few suggestions:

Nashville presents a dramatic skyline at night (top). Guitars ready to make music hang at the Gibson guitar factory (below).

Take a stroll up to the Bicentennial Mall, a 19-acre park at the state capitol building downtown
See a “Tribute to the King” (That would be Elvis.)
Take a dinner cruise on the General Jackson riverboat
Visit the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson
Try some “shoppertainment” at Opry Mills
Go to the Grand Ole Opry and the Opryland resort
Visit the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg
Tour the Gibson factory and buy yourself a twangy electric guitar
Take a trolley tour
Check out the Ernest Tubb Record Shop and Midnite Jamboree
Visit the Belle Meade plantation and thoroughbred stud farm

And please, while you’re in Nashville, don’t forget to stop in at the GEAPS Exchange.

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