Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1520956
86 PCB007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2024 Dan Feinberg: In the 1990s, the United States was still the most important location for printed circuit board manufacturing. We were the leaders. e most important and largest industry trade show at that time was NEPCON; there was NEPCON West and NEPCON East. e shows became prohibitively expensive, especially when it came to hosting hospitality. e two companies that did the biggest hos- pitality suites were my good friend Jim Hick- man, who was running DuPont's Riston divi- sion, and myself, who was running Dynachem. Our costs on those hospitality suites were out- rageous, literally hundreds of dollars a minute. Gene Weiner: You are skipping an important part. In about 1993, if you were a voting mem- IPC APEX EXPO Retrospective: The Founders Look Back Interview by Marcy LaRont I-CONNECT007 IPC APEX EXPO 2024 will soon feel like a distant memory, and by all accounts, it was a good show with an impressive display of techni- cal knowledge. During the show, I visited with industry icons and IPC Hall of Fame recipi- ents Dan Feinberg and Gene Weiner, who were among the original visionaries and founders of what became APEX EXPO. ese individuals took me on a funny and engaging historic jour- ney and a glimpse into how we arrived today. I witnessed their tremendous pride in being a part of an industry they helped to build—one that is still grounded in vision and optimism. Marcy LaRont: I am here with two original stakeholders in what became IPC APEX EXPO. How and why did all of this begin?