Innovation Proves Successful at PCBC 2010
By Michael Castillo
A re-imagining of the exhibit floor, coupled with expanded educational sessions and programs designed to provide participants with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate through the current marketplace and beyond, helped contribute to what show organizers described as a successful PCBC 2010.
While still battered by a tumultuous housing market, more than 9,500 housing industry professionals gathered for PCBC 2010, slightly less than the 11,000 that assembled the previous year, but a solid turnout for these times.
“Given the fact that housing construction dropped nearly 50 percent in 2009, we’re extremely pleased with our attendance,” said Linda Baysari, CBIA’s Senior Vice President of Conventions and Meetings. “The quality of the traffic was up, the mood at the show was much more upbeat, and we’ve had a lot of positive feedback on the new programs and features that were developed for 2010.”
The show was the culmination of a 16-month effort to bring excitement and innovation to the show floor while also supplying educational content that provided insight and knowledge into the current state – and the future – of the housing industry, Baysari said.
One popular addition to the show floor was the Green Standards Pavilion, an area designed specifically to educate attendees on California’s new mandatory residential green building standards going into effect in January. The Pavilion featured handouts and checklists describing the requirements for each section of the new code, and also featured educational sessions led by some of the top energy efficiency and code experts in the state.
“There were people who came up to the area that didn’t even know about the new mandatory green standards, and they thanked us for putting that section together,” said Silvio Ferrari, CBIA’s Technical Analyst and the person in charge of staffing the pavilion throughout most of the show. “We had a full crowd for each of the sessions that were scheduled, and we received nothing but positive feedback from the participants.”
Ferrari said business cards and contact information had to be obtained from additional participants at the two green building code seminars put on by the California Homebuilding Foundation because attendance far exceeded expectations. The seminar materials had to be mailed to the additional participants following the show.
The Exhibitorium, which featured three themed days on energy retrofitting, the science behind the building, and the smart energy series, also proved to be popular, according to PCBC Director of Education Cara Watson.
“Most of the sessions in the Exhibitorium were well attended, and there was one session that was standing-room only,” said Watson. “We had to request more chairs to accommodate the influx of additional audience members.”
At the center of the exhibit floor, the Town Square was bustling with activity and featured live radio tapings where exhibitors were interviewed about their latest and greatest product offerings. The Town Square also served as the starting point for curator-led product tours, which Watson said were a big hit.
“All of the curator-led tours were fully booked, and there were some that were overbooked,” said Watson. “We had a tremendous response on the tours, and that’s definitely something we’ll be talking about bringing back for next year.”
Also featured in and around the Town Square was the PCBC Block Party which took place Wednesday afternoon during the last hour that the exhibit floor was open. Block Party sponsors provided light hors d’oeuvres, while PCBC provided the beverages. More than 1,000 people came together for the festivities while mingling with other attendees and exhibitors.
“We saw lots of upbeat people walking around and having a good time while mingling with everyone, so it turned out to be a great success,” said Baysari.
The HybridCore Home, the complete concept house featured on the exhibit floor, was also a big draw, said Ann Bivens, PCBC’s Exhibits Director. She noted that the HybridCore folks contacted her shortly after the show began to let her know that their goals for the run of the show were met within the first few hours that the exhibit floor was open.
“While we knew we were facing an uphill battle with the state of the housing industry, we decided to focus on bringing an added value to the show floor and providing a different kind of trade show experience for our attendees, exhibitors and the media,” said Baysari.
In addition to successes on the new show floor, PCBC’s family of conferences and educational sessions also enjoyed strong attendance. The PCBC Executive Conference boasted strong numbers, while PCBC’s two specialty conferences, the Multifamily Trends Conference and the new Capital Markets Forum, pulled in roughly 400 and 300 participants, respectively.
The invitation-only Leader-to-Leader Forum brought in more than 80 CEOs and senior executives from major homebuilders and developers, a 33 percent increase from 2009.
The Opening Lunch with Michael Lewis sold out, and a pre-conference social media workshop was full of participants on Tuesday. The new PCBC Sales Superstars was also well attended, boasting 150 participants.
“Based on the reception and mood at the show, and from continuously positive feedback from participants, PCBC turned out to be a great success. We couldn’t be happier with the way all of our new programs and features turned out,” said Baysari. “We’re already contemplating how to improve upon the added features and bring even more innovation to next year’s show.”
PCBC 2011 is scheduled for June 22-24 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center.
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Michael Castillo is the communications manager for CBIA and PCBC. Contact him at mcastillo@cbia.org.
Photos by Dawn Stranne.
