The Material Handling Industry of America is a winner. The Material Handling Institute is a winner. And the Materials Handling and Management Society is a winner. In fact, it's a three-way tie.

It wasn't a race really; it just turned out that way. And any MHMS member who attended ProMat in Chicago in February would have to agree with the outcome.

It was a record ProMat trade show that, in terms of the number of exhibitors, the amount of exhibit space, and the overall record attendance, certainly put MHIA in the winner's circle.

The Material Handling Institute shared in the glory with several records broken for the educational conference that it cosponsors, which accompanies the trade show. A standing room only Executive Symposium on the opening day certainly had to be the star of the conference. In addition, the Material Handling Institute bookstore sold nearly every professional book and training guide that it brought to ProMat.

MHMS, as a division of the Material Handling Institute, won in a variety of ways. The society had two booths at ProMat. The ASRS/AGVS Users Council of MHMS had its own booth where it solicited new council members and promoted its annual conference that will be held in June of this year (go to www.asrs.org for more details). The main MHMS booth shared space with MHIA and the Institute and came away a winner by signing up a number of new members as well as processing a number of membership renewals.

ProMat also served as a venue for an MHMS general membership meeting. While no attendance records were set at this meeting, both the Toronto and Los Angeles chapters had decent representation.

But the real winners had to be the individual MHMS members who elected to attend ProMat for the purpose of staying on top of the technical developments in their profession and networking with their peers. Because MHMS was a cosponsor of the ProMat conference, members enjoyed a registration discount. Its value, for those who took advantage of it, could easily have exceeded the annual cost of membership in MHMS.

When it comes to the issue of membership, in MHMS or any professional organization for that matter, you often hear the question, "What's the benefit?"

If the opportunity to participate in a winning happening such as ProMat and its associated activities isn't a strong, measurable benefit, then I guess I don't know what is. And don't forget, coming up in June is the ASRS/AGVS Users Council annual conference.

The winning opportunities keep on coming. It's members that make these wins happen and it's members that benefit!