Attendees Focus on Business at PCBC
By Bill Burnett
PCBC 2009 proved to be an intimate, rather serious affair – a place where attendees were more interested in doing business than in doing cocktails and dinner.
But show officials said that was expected given the sharp downturn in the homebuilding industry during the past three years, but added that given the feedback from attendees and exhibitors alike, PCBC’s 50th Anniversary edition has to be considered a success.
The final attendance numbers, both from attendees and exhibitors, was sharply down from last year. 
“We project attendance will be somewhere in the 13,000s,” said Linda Baysari, Senior Vice President of Meetings and Conventions for the California Building Industry Association, which sponsors the conference each year. Last year’s attendance was 19,995.
Last year, 600 exhibitors leased booths; this year the total was 350. And, while the show has used all three of Moscone Center’s convention halls in the past, this year PCBC fit snugly into just the South Hall.
“It’s an accurate reflection of the industry,” said Baysari, who ran PCBC for the 16th time. “When you think about housing starts being off 82 percent, it’s not surprising to see that impact the show. If anything, in the worst market that anyone has experienced, it’s surprising that so many would show up. It certainly shows the resiliency of the industry.”
CBIA President and CEO Robert Rivinius, who is finishing his 30th year at the helm of the Association, said that while PCBC is smaller for obvious reasons, he saw a lot of positive energy at the Moscone Center.
“I think people have a sense that we’ve bottomed out. We won’t come roaring back, but we are entering a time of recovery. The folks that are here are the survivors. And they feel pretty good about that,” he said.
Both Rivinius and Baysari said that while size matters to some degree, PCBC is more importantly a place to network and to toss around ideas.
“Remember the Wednesday night cocktail circuit?” Rivinius said. “How many parties were there – 30, 40? This year there might have been five or six. But they were full and fun. It’s just that there’s more of a sense of business this year both with the exhibitors and attendees.”
Baysari often gauges a show’s success by the comments coming from the exhibit floor.
“I’ve been very pleased with what I’m hearing,” she said. “This core group (of builders) that remains is sending their leaders, their founders. These are people who are going to lead us out of this. There are people on the floor that are saying, ‘Show me product. I’m ready to buy.’
“For me, this isn’t an issue of how large PCBC is, as long as the leaders in the industry are participating, it can be a one-hall show. My challenge is to keep the representation there. It’s not about size; it’s making sure we have all the right exhibitors represented.”
A number of big-name companies were no-shows this year, most notably, Kohler, Viking and Sub-Zero/Wolf.
“It’s their loss. They’re missing out on a good market. Their competitors are here,” Rivinius said, citing such long-time exhibitors as General Electric, Whirlpool and Pella Windows.
He also pointed out that many Western builders forego the huge national show in January and do all their research at PCBC. “But, we’re going to work on getting them back. They’re important to the show and to the industry.”
Rivinius said recovery is coming, but it’s not going to be fast.
“I’m getting good vibes from around the state. There’s a lot of enthusiasm. Next year I want to say 2009 is the year we bottomed out.”
Bill Burnett can be reached at wburnett@comcast.net.