IDEA O1 EXHIBITORS SHOULD SPREAD THE WORD
You don't have to be a Freudenberg or a PGI to get your name in print. There are plenty of opportunities to make sure the rest of the nonwovens industry knows you will be exhibiting at IDEA 01. Here's a few tips:

1. Reach out to the trade magazines. Whether it is the industry-leading Nonwovens Industry (www.nonwovens-industry.com) that specifically caters to the business, or one of the related publications in general textiles, paper, filtration or geotextiles, get in touch with the magazines you read. Tell them what you are doing at IDEA 01 and send them a press release, with a picture. These are generally their biggest issues of the year and they need stories to run, especially about IDEA 01, but make sure you are talking about something truly newsworthy. Deadlines are usually right around February 1, though, so hurry.

2. Place your press releases in the Press Room of the IDEA01 show.

3. The TODAY'S IDEA show daily newspaper will be published all three days of IDEA 01. It will highlight the most important and interesting new products and news each day of the show. If you have a press release, send it to mjacobsen@inda.org or mail it to Michael Jacobsen, INDA Publications, 22 Paterson Avenue, Midland Park, NJ 07432 USA or fax to 201-612-6677. Of course, advertising opportunities are also available in the TODAY'S IDEA.

4. Send a mailer to your key customers. You can pretty much count on your entire customer base attending IDEA, so let them know via direct mail what you will be highlighting and invite them to stop by. To order brochures call Gladys at 919-233-1210 ext. 123.

ATTENDING THE SHOW? HERE ARE SOME TIPS
More than 7,000 nonwovens executives from around the world will be descending on Miami Beach in March, not for the nightlife and the South Beach scene (although that certainly may be part of the allure), but for IDEA 01, March 27-29. If you are one of them - and you certainly should be - there are a few things you need to do NOW.

1. Make a hotel reservation. Even before you register, find someplace to stay. Late March is the tail end of peak season in Miami, and hotels near the Convention Center will soon be full. INDA can provide you with a list of convention hotels in different price ranges, please visit us at http://www.inda.org/events/idea01/hotel.html.

2. Register with INDA. You can download order from form and view conference brochure at http://www.inda.org/events/idea01/geninfo.html.

3. Check out who is exhibiting at http://www.inda.org/events/idea01/exhibit.html . Then contact them to set up appointments. With only three days to talk to your share of the more than 300 exhibitors, you are going to need a plan.

4. Read the trade magazines. The February and March issues of the industry trade magazines will be focusing on IDEA 01. The editors know what is important and what is a waste of your time, and they will run articles on the former and ignore the latter. Let them be your guide.

IINAUGURAL IDEA 01 ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

One of the highlights of IDEA 01 will be the presentation of the inaugural IDEA 01 Achievement Awards, co-sponsored by INDA and Nonwovens Industry. These awards, which will be presented at a special ceremony during the opening keynote session on March 27, will recognize companies in six different categories for their contributions to the nonwovens industry in the past three years since the last IDEA Show in Baltimore.

The finalists for the IDEA 01 Achievement Awards are being announced this month and Small Business e-Report readers are among the first to find out. Of particular interest to you will be the IDEA 01 Entrepreneur Achievement Award nominees:

IDEA 01 Fibers and Raw Materials Achievement Award Finalists

• Eastman Chemical, Eastar Bio Copolyester.
• Fiber Innovation Technology, Bicomponent and Specialty Polymer Staple fibers.
• 3M, Nextel Flame Stopping Dot Paper.

IDEA 01 Equipment Achievement Award Finalists

• Dilo, Hyperpunch Needlelooms.
• KT Industries, Stac-Pac.
• Rieter-Perfojet, AirLace 2000.

IDEA 01 Roll Goods Achievement Award Finalists

• Freudenberg, Evolon fabric.
• Kimberly-Clark, Intrepid Pleat Filter Material.
• PTI, Inc., K-Flex Ballistic Protection Material.

IDEA 01 Short-Life End Product Achievement Award Finalists

• Clopay Plastic Products, Breathable Laminates.
• Kimberly-Clark, Huggies Little Swimmers.
• Procter & Gamble, Swiffer lightweight sweeper system.

IDEA 01 Long-Life End Product Achievement Award Finalists

• All Felt/Hollinee, Electrostat electrostatically charged filtration media.
• Colbond, Enkagrid soil reinforcement products.
• Western Nonwovens, PolarGuard continuous filament thermal insulation.

IDEA 01 Entrepreneur Achievement Award Finalists

• Jentex. Jentex is a manufacturer of meltblown nonwovens for medical and filtration markets with an annual capacity of more than 1.5 million pounds.
• Mogul Spunbond-Meltblown Nonwovens and Composites. Mogul now operates three production lines, with a fourth high-capacity line slated to come on-stream in 2001. The first spunbond producer in Turkey expects revenue for 2000 to reach $10 million.
• VersaCore. With facilities both in the U.S. and The Netherlands, VersaCore is a privately held company specializing in a one-step process for automatically converting two-dimensional roll goods into 3D structures using proprietary processes and machinery.

SMALL BUSINESS QUIZ: HOW'S THE COMPETITION?
With IDEA 01 slated to bring together all of the nonwovens industry, including your competitors, now is a good time to answer this question: My competition is:

a. dumb
b. smart
c. cunning
d. everywhere
e. a constant threat

The "correct" answer is "e, a constant threat," primarily because that's the best way to look at the people who are trying to take the bread off of your table. Feeling that your competition is "d, everywhere" is a right outlook on business life as well, because they probably are. It is incredibly wrong to answer "a," because even if they are dumb it is a mistake to underestimate anybody.

SMALL COMPANY FOCUS: UNIMIN INDIA
This month's small business report focuses on Unimin India Limited, Mumbai, India. Founded in 1994, this nonwoven roll goods supplier - which hails itself as the first producer of polypropylene spunbond in India - produces a range of products that includes disposable apparel, mattress protectors, pillow covers and home gardening products. Chairman and managing director JBS Bakshi sheds some light on Unimin's success as a small player within the market.

Key Factors: According to Mr. Bakshi, the keys to Unimin's success include the utilization of India's niche as a low labor cost supplier within the garment industry by making disposable apparel for the world market. "Unimin has successfully positioned itself for an aggressive market share of the markets proximate to the location of its plant, such as the Middle East, the Saarc Region (Srilanka, Pakistan, Bangla Desh), with such logistics giving it a competitive cost edge," Mr. Bakshi explained. "Unimin is also successful in exploiting the growing trend of users in Europe and the U.S. to develop new sourcing for their needs from Asia as a longer term strategy."

Facing Challenges: "The main challenge is from the growing international trend of mergers and acquisitions that result in dominant international corporate players in the field," Mr. Bakshi stated. "Unimin believes its strength is in being very niche oriented and therefore we feel very confident in facing even the most threatening and strong competitive challenges."

Advice For Others: "Do not try to think big, as you will not succeed," Mr. Bakshi said. "Think 'niche' and dream 'niche' all the time. Never forget that even the best niche has a short life of workability no matter how great an idea it is. The reservoir of innovative niches is an endless one and the creativity of human individual endeavor can stand up to the strongest pressures of a large organization."

THAT'S ALL, FOLKS
Happy New Year. We'll see you next on February 15. Keep making those IDEA plans, and don't hesitate to contact INDA if you need some help or advice. We would love to hear from you, whether you have a thought you want to share with the hundreds of INDA members reading this newsletter, or if you want to tell others how you are a small company existing in a big world. Just email us at mjacobsen@inda.org and we'll pass it along.

See you next time. Enjoy.

Michael Jacobsen
Editor
INDA Small Business e-Report