From January 20th to the 23rd was the annual International Builder's Show in Las Vegas, Neveda. I was fortuneate enough to attend this event from the 20th to the 22nd. It truly was an amazing show with over 1.5 million square feet of exibition space spread out over 3 
massive exhibit halls. Just about every facet of the building and design industry was represented, with firms from all over the country and around the world. I was able to use this event to network, and share my photo rendering skills with a whole new market that went way beyond the typical home shows here in Phoenix. In a dying economy, any business should take any opportunity to get in front of potential new clients in anyway possible. This convention was different from local shows simply because those who had booths were not above talking to people like me that simply went from booth to booth talking to exhibitors. In the case of smaller shows, most exhibitors want nothing to do with you if you are trying to sell something to them. For some reason, they look at you as a 
"freeloader" because you dont have a booth, as opposed to viewing it as a marketing and network opportunity. That was not the case Las Vegas - everyone was happy to take time to speak to you, and view your product for its merit, regardless if you had a booth or not. I would highly recommend this event to anyone in the building and design trade as there is much to see, and it really is a great networking opportunity. The next show is tentatively set for January 19 - 22, 2010 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
massive exhibit halls. Just about every facet of the building and design industry was represented, with firms from all over the country and around the world. I was able to use this event to network, and share my photo rendering skills with a whole new market that went way beyond the typical home shows here in Phoenix. In a dying economy, any business should take any opportunity to get in front of potential new clients in anyway possible. This convention was different from local shows simply because those who had booths were not above talking to people like me that simply went from booth to booth talking to exhibitors. In the case of smaller shows, most exhibitors want nothing to do with you if you are trying to sell something to them. For some reason, they look at you as a 
"freeloader" because you dont have a booth, as opposed to viewing it as a marketing and network opportunity. That was not the case Las Vegas - everyone was happy to take time to speak to you, and view your product for its merit, regardless if you had a booth or not. I would highly recommend this event to anyone in the building and design trade as there is much to see, and it really is a great networking opportunity. The next show is tentatively set for January 19 - 22, 2010 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.Here are some links for additional information:
IBS Page (2009): http://www.buildersshow.com/Home/Page.aspx?pageID=2
Hope to see you there next year!
