Before the "RAOTM" was organized, we used to do this sort of thing will an event we called Spring Training, with a baseball theme. We borrowed so many demos and Automation Fair booklets that eventually they funded the formal events, with their own hardware and presentations and agendas, and made them into miniature Automation Fair style events.
I enjoyed the heck out of working these events. I got to work with the newest hardware, spend some time with the factory guys who I was usually just haranguing on the phone, and sit down for lunch with people who I usually didn't see without hard-hats and safety glasses.
These are sponsored by the Sales department, so don't be surprised when some of the events are not much more than a PowerPoint presentation, and when the hands-on sessions sometimes just walk you through a basic function of the product. These aren't meant to substitute for real classroom training.
Bring a fresh stack of business cards. Part of the benefit to rubbing elbows with people from other industries (and sometimes competitors) is that it's a big world but a small industry.
