Builders' Show Attendance Drops

It's not often that a show manager says he or she is “pleased” with an 11-percent drop in attendance, but sometimes it's all about perspective.

“Our pre-registration had us down by 15 percent,” said Wayne Stetson, senior staff vice president of the Natl. Assn. of Home Builders. The Intl. Builders' Show, which the NAHB owns and operates, took place Feb. 13-16 at Orlando's Orange Country Convention Center.

According to the NAHB, final attendance for the largest show serving the depressed housing market was 92,098, an 11-percent drop from last year's 103,921 (both numbers include exhibitor personnel.) The 2006 version of the Builders' Show was No. 10 on the 2007 TSW 200.

“Frankly, we thought we would be 20 percent down,” Stetson said. “It didn't really happen the way we thought, so we're pleased.”

The current economic slump, fueled by the subprime mortgage crisis and its impact on the housing market, he added, was just one factor in the attendance dip. Another might have just been Orlando-itis.

This was the fourth year in a row the Builders' Show has been held at the OCCC and, he said, people may have just gotten tired of visiting there. The 2009 show is scheduled Jan. 20-23 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Another 2007 TSW 200 show, Hanley Wood's World of Concrete (No. 18 on the list), was also hit by the troubled housing market. Attendance at the show, held Jan. 22-25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, was down 7.5 percent from last year.

Like Stetson, Tom Cindric, WOC's show manager, realized things could have been worse. “We are very pleased with the support exhibitors and attendees have shown to us, when things in the commercial and residential construction communities have been affected by the current economy,” he said.

Nadine Steinhard, marketing coordinator for Formica Corp., which specializes in laminates, said over the first three days of the Builders' Show, she had 700 fewer leads than last year. “I definitely did see a drop in foot traffic,” she added.

Steinhard pointed to the economy as the obvious reason why people might have stayed away, but agreed that four years in one place could have been too many for the show. “People use (Orlando) as a vacation spot with their families, and they may have been here already,” she added.

Other exhibitors were happy with their results, even if there were fewer people roaming the showfloor.

Leesport, Pa.-based Wind-Lock Corp., which makes weatherization products, had skipped the show for a few years, but decided to come back this year, according to Carter Benjamin, executive vice president of sales and marketing.

“We were introducing a new product, and it was well-received,” Benjamin said. Even better, he added, despite the smaller crowds in the aisles, he snagged a lot of qualified leads. “People were interested, and they wanted immediate follow-up,” Benjamin said. “I would have liked to have had more leads, but the ones we had were pretty qualified.”

Eagle Mountain, based in Canandaigua, N.Y., had never exhibited at the show before and had nothing to compare it with. With a trendy new product to show off – geo-thermal, solar and radiant alternative energies – the company's director, Mark Tolbert, said the show was a “really positive experience.”

He said his 10'x20' booth saw a constant flow of people. “We had a great show,” Tolbert added. “Our feet are tired.”

Stetson said he had no predictions about the future housing market, but he was optimistic about the Builders' Show.

“Many more exhibitors were coming in after the show and putting deposits down for next year than at past shows,” he said. “It's a very positive sign … that we'll have a good one in Las Vegas.”