Posted April 7, 2014

 

I’ve come down off the mountain – but not off the high of being among longtime textile friends again. For three days last week, I traveled to Asheville, N.C., (elevation 2,165 feet) to cover the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) International Conference. And I’m still in the clouds.

 

Being among this group of industry professionals only reaffirms my long-held belief that textile folks are the best in the world. And after four years of being away from the industry, I learned you can “go home” again, despite Asheville native Thomas Wolfe’s declaration to the contrary. (Perhaps as it relates to these chemists/colorists, perhaps you could say I “dyed” and went to heaven?” Ahem … sorry.)

 

This association’s leaders and many of their members energetically welcomed me back into the fold. AATCC’s Executive Vice President Jack Daniels and his staff were particularly gracious and such a delight to work with. With a smile, they always made sure I had what I needed.

 

AATCC, as you probably know, is a unique textile organization. It’s a non-profit. It’s technical. It’s diverse. And it is more closely aligned with students than any other industry association. All of this makes for a vibrant, growing association of thousands of members from more than 60 countries.

 

During the group’s Awards Luncheon, AATCC President Dr. Peter Hauser of N.C. State University presented a thorough rundown of the association’s accomplishments during the past year. And they were quite impressive. (Read the conference review here.) This group is involved in enough activities to make your head swim. To me its student involvement, in particular, is a crucial function of AATCC as the industry tries to attract the younger generation and keep them engaged. (I certainly did my small part to reach these young ’uns by tweeting several times during the conference at #a2ic14.)

 

Dr. Hauser noted that this conference attracted its largest attendance in years, and he was particularly pleased that a good number of them were first-timers. This potent turnout of around 240 people provides further testament to the fact the U.S. textile industry is gaining new life, he pointed out, an opinion with which I wholeheartedly agree.

 

The industry certainly has new life, new hope, new possibilities. And since I resisted the urge to shout that from the mountaintop, I’ll just continue to use this platform to communicate the newfound mantra: “U.S. TEXTILES IS ALIVE AND KICKING!”

 

Hallellujah, y’all.