>> By Joe Tocci, President, Pressure Sensitive Tape Council

Forging a New Path

The Pressure Sensitive Tape Council plans to provide its members with new opportunities to network and continue refining their skills.

Ongoing Expansion (Vertical Exploration)

While the past year has presented us as an organization and our members with unexpected challenges, it hasn’t stopped us from continuing our efforts to grow the global usage of PSA tape products. Following the release of exclusive research study results on PSA tape use in the automotive industry, we introduced new materials to help promote tape’s use in the automotive vertical, specifically among key target audiences.

Since then, we have launched a digital campaign on behalf of our members with the goal of informing these audiences about the key benefits of this type of bonding method over competitors and securing conversions. Automotive vertical education will be introduced at Tape Week 2022, and we will be working on expanding into other verticals this year and next.

Connecting with Our Members

As a way to keep our members engaged and reach new individuals from their companies, we introduced a series of webinars. Hosted by our committees, the webinars feature keynote speakers and presentations on a variety of industry-related topics.

Our first webinar, “The Economic Recovery Continues in 2021,” was held on March 10 with broad member attendance joining in to hear from speaker Robert Dietz, Ph.D., chief economist and senior vice president for economics and housing policy for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Our second webinar, set for May 12, will feature keynote speaker Catherine Putney from economic research and consulting firm ITR Economics.

A Hopeful Reunion

By November, we expect that enough of the general population will be vaccinated to deem it safe to gather in person once again. We are therefore busy planning the details of our Fall Member Business Meeting, which will be held November 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point in Bonita Springs, Fla.

Positioned as the more strategic of the two Member Business Meetings that PSTC holds yearly and building on our most successful Fall Member Business Meeting to date last year, we look forward to meeting with member company representatives for the first time in person since the public health emergency began to review the pandemic’s effects on our business, discuss plans for moving forward, and more. Registration will be opening soon, and further details will be posted on our website.

Making it Stick

A cornerstone of PSTC’s member benefits is its series of unique and powerful educational classes covering all aspects of pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) tape design and manufacture. Traditionally, courses have only been offered in person, but the onset of the pandemic necessitated new ways of delivering our expert education.

Last December, we officially launched the first 10 modules of our new on-demand and online PSTC Tape Academy. Providing an ideal introduction to the industry with less technical content than our other educational offerings, our first course—Fundamentals of PSA Tape—covers a basic overview of all the key technology areas of PSA tape in a virtual classroom setting.

As we work to make Tape Academy the leading venue for PSA tape education, we are eager to add even more courses in the future. We encourage our member companies to direct their employees to these courses to assist them in professional development and upward mobility.

In the last Pressure Sensitive Tape Council (PSTC) “Tape Talk” column and recent ASI Insider video, we discussed a number of topics, including our plans for Tape Week 2021, our adjusted strategy in light of the ongoing public health emergency, and the results of our record-attended Fall Member Business Meeting. Suffice to say, a lot has changed since then.

At the end of January, PSTC leadership made the decision to again postpone our inaugural Tape Week event. This decision was not made lightly.

After taking into consideration our member companies’ travel restrictions, COVID-19 case number projections, and the slower-than-expected rate of vaccination, we made the strategic call to move Tape Week to next year. Although we were looking forward to finally meeting in person, our utmost priority is the health, safety, and overall wellbeing of our leadership, staff, and members, and we responded accordingly.

In the meantime, however, we have some exciting events and activities planned throughout 2021. While nothing can truly replace the benefits of having a large-scale gathering, especially given the nature of our industry, our reformatted plan for the year will give our members new opportunities to network and continue refining their skills.