The American Machine Tool Distributors Assn. will hold its 80th annual convention April 10–13, at the La Quinta Resort & Country Club in La Quinta, Calif. Its theme is reflective of the overall condition and attitude of the industry: "Recovery 2005: Technological and Tactical Transitions."

Greg Gray, author and a consultant with Renaissance Unlimited, will deliver the meeting's keynote address on "Creating Customers for Life—Beyond Satisfaction."

Many of the scheduled speakers will address the "transition" state-of-mind that the meeting's theme emphasizes. Among the speakers and their topics are:

"The U.S. Market: A Builder's Perspective"—Brian Papke, president, Mazak Corp.; "Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and the Supply Channel"—Sujata Miilick, senior policy analyst, Office of Technology Policy, U.S. Department of Commerce; "Future Market Demands in Micro Machining"—John Bowden, vice president and general manager, Remmele Engineering, Inc.

A series of roundtable discussions will be held on the meeting's second day. Speakers and their themes include: "High Frequency Tooling Technology"—Dave Barton, president and co-founder of BlueSwarf, Inc.; "Property & Casualty Insurance Marketplace Tips"—Doug Austin, CPCU, account executive, Sentry Insurance; "Using Public Data to Increase Market Share"—David Schwartz, director of sales at Equipment Data Associates.

At the end of the meeting, a changing of the guard will take place as AMTDA's president Clark Smith, of Smith Machinery Co., passes the gavel to James Addy, president of Addy Machinery Co.

For more information, visit www.amtda.org.