Annual International Builders Show:
This year Sandy and I attended the 75th Annual International Builders Show and the Kitchen and Bath Show in Las Vegas. This weeklong event starts off with the National Association of Home Builder committee and caucus meetings. This year had 3 days of exhibits with over 1,500 exhibitors. Companies from all over the world came to showcase their products to builders, architects, designers, and homeowners in attendance. There are always new products that help professionals design and build better homes and make them more efficient and profitable.
Sunday morning I attended a Housing Industry Council meeting. The Council looks at sales and marketing strategies, buyer motivations, lifestyle and design trends, multigenerational communities, technology, universal design, and aging. This helps builders implement these ideas and strategies.
On Monday, the day started with the Single-Family Committee Meeting which included an economic forecast from NAHB housing economists, a discussion on the softwood lumber tariffs, and costs of government regulation on housing and disaster recovery plans. The day ended with a nice reception with NAHB Gold Key members at Planet Hollywood.
As the Annual International Builders Show continued into Tuesday morning, I got off to a great start with Dana Carvey as the keynote speaker for the Opening Ceremony. After a quick lunch, Sandy and I spent about 3 hours walking the show floor looking at new and tried and true products of all kinds and talking with industry professionals. You can see some of the products here on our Facebook page.
Wednesday started with an early “Meeting of the Members” This was a part business meeting for NAHB members and a presentation by Randi Zuckerberg. This is the Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg’s sister. Randi talked about the early days of The Facebook working for free with her brother trying to get the company off the ground.
After another afternoon of walking the floor meeting with vendors and looking at new products, we were off to the North Carolina Home Builders Association reception with about 300 North Carolina members and NAHB senior officers. Each year NCHBA holds a reception for the North Carolina membership to meet other members around the state and to spend some time getting to know the Senior Officers and staff at NAHB.
Thursday opened with presentations by economists, NAHB Senior Leadership, and installation ceremonies for our Senior officers. The keynote speaker for the meeting was Ben Carson, Secretary of HUD. Dr. Carson outlined some of the initiatives that the Trump Administration is doing to help the inner cities. He also talked about housing in general including the regulatory costs associated building and how that impacts first time and future homebuyers.
We ended the week with snow! Such a fun week with our NAHB and NCHBA family.