The show must go ONLINE
OKC-area builders will attend international show virtually, how else?
Ho me builders aren' t going on their usual middle-of-winter excursion to the International Builders Show, but they'll still be able to learn the latest in home design and construction trends and incorporate them into their houses.
The show, like so much else, went virtual this year. Organizers decided in October that the coronavirus posed risks too great to ignore, and canceled the in-person convention planned for Orlando, Florida. So Design & Construction Week, which includes the International Builders Show and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, will be wholly online Feb. 9-12.
Hundreds of Oklahoma builders and people in related businesses make the annual trek to Orlando, or Las Vegas, or Dallas, or wherever a big enough convention center can be found, for training and to walk hundreds of thousands of square feet of exhibits.
The virtual format might attract even more people, especially considering pandemic-related transformations in housing demand and use such as the work-fromhome phenomenon, a passion for home improvement and remodeling and, in some areas, the flight from big, congested cities. Builders here are “going.”
“If you would have told us last year when we were there that this year there wouldn't be a show in person, and we would do it all virtually, we would have never believed it,” said Dan Reeves, president of Landmark Fine Homes, based in Norman.
The pandemic has t hem prepared, he said.
“Since March, our team has been doing Zoom meetings and virtual appointments, so we are excited to see how IBS is brought to us,” Reeves
said. “Since starting Landmark Fine Homes over 20 years ago, Amy and I have attended every International Builders Show. The weeklong event has allowed us to take classes, as well as speak to builders and vendors on the show floor around the country. The training we received over the years has been priceless.
“To see firsthand the latest in building science and design has allowed us to bring those concepts back to Oklahoma and share with our customers. We are looking forward to the event but also looking forward to the day we can all begin meeting and attending these great conferences in person.”
Pros and cons
The virtual format for product exhibition will have ups and downs, said Mike Means, executive vice president of the Oklahoma Home Builders Association.
“The pro will be able to go at your own pace and be very selective of what you want to see,” he said.
“A big con is that anything online allows one to try and multi task and miss some things. A couple of other cons is missing the interaction with the vendors and maybe stumbling across that one product that catches your eye.”
Means said an “unexpected positive” will be “touching base with folks you might miss if you are wandering around a gigantic showroom. Of course the negative is not being able to socialize in a normal human fashion.”
There probably isn' t any complaining about the online conventions. The National Association of Home Builders, which presents the International Builders Show, and National Kitchen & Bath Association, which presents the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, made the right call in taking Design & Construction Week to the internet, said Steve Shoemaker, president of Norman-based Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods.
With no travel expense, he said, more people from Ideal will be able to participate in the training.
“I've found incredible value in IBS for the last 17 years and always walk away from the show with more knowledge, new connections and stronger creative ideas. I'm excited to share that with more of our Ideal Homes & Neighborhoods team,” Shoemaker said. “That being said, it's not all sunshine and rainbows with an online format.
“Networking with colleagues simply doesn't translate as well online as it does in person, and I often find the conversations in the hallways between sessions are just as, if not more, powerful than the sessions and trade show itself. It' s also not as easy to step away from your normal work day when attending a conference online — not to mention kiddos and pets running around in the background. Distractions arise frequently and online presentations don't always capture your attention as they do in person. For me, at least, learning in person far exceeds the experience to learning online for this type of conference.”
Shoemaker said her and others from Ideal definitely will be seeing new products.
“We're typically utilizing the exhibition space to see products in person that we've already researched,” he said. “With more than $5 million in customers elections last year alone, our one-ofa-kind Design Center is typically where we see buyer trends and gain feedback on buyer preferences. We use this information to work with our partners and take a proactive approach with suppliers to implement new designs, trends and products year round. We rarely wait until IBS to learn about new products, but instead use the opportunity to review new selections we've made throughout the year.”
He added, “Online conferences and trade shows have included a big convenience factor both for easy access to educational opportunities and lower costs to access. It's also the best and only option this year to continue with some normalcy while keeping everyone as safe as possible. However, with the negatives of screen fatigue and difficult networking opportunities, I hope and assume that a year from now we'll be back to meeting in person for many conferences and events. Virtual events will likely continue in some capacity, but there's a shelf life on the move to digital for all events.”