The International Builders Show (IBS) was held at The Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida last week. We had the opportunity to attend and it did not disappoint. With over 80,000 people in attendance and 2 million square feet of exhibit space this year's event drew one of the largest crowds in the history of the show. IBS features the latest and greatest from product manufacturers, technology, sales and marketing trends and networking opportunities. The opening ceremony was kicked off by Terry Bradshaw and the excitement from the crowd was contagious. We sent our Director of Marketing straight to classes to get up to speed on brand awareness in competitive markets and trends to reach our target market through social platforms. Two classes that stood out were "Advanced Houzz Tools" and "Why Housing is Long Overdue for Disruption". The first day ended with a warming happy hour by IBS host The National Association for Home Builders.
There were over 1500 exhibitors at the Orange County Convention Center and we tried to make a point to see every one. It took us nearly two days to try and see every booth. We enjoyed talking with industry professionals and getting their take on the housing market. Most booths we visited featured new product lines and almost everyone is incorporating a smart home feature into at least one of their products. Water was a major theme too. We noticed large crowds in various booths pertaining to filtration systems. Some personal highlights were the Thermador booth, Kohler, NEST, Houzz, and Delta. The Kholer booth was over the top. Their new products and technology had us excited to get back to Nashville and see how we can incorporate their new products into our homes. And don't put it past us to figure out a way to get our hands on one of the Dolce & Gabbana/SMEG refrigerators!
What is a trip to Orlando without visiting Universal Studios? We decided to do a little "team building" at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was a great way to decompress from the show while having some fun.
A big thank you to The National Association of Home Builders for such a great show. Our calendars are marked for Las Vegas next year!
