JLC Live SoCal Show Defies Building Slump

LONG BEACH, Calif.—The residential home building market may be taking a beating at the moment, but apparently that wasn't such a bad thing for attendees and exhibitors at Hanley Wood Exhibitions' JLC (Journal of Light Construction) Live Southern California, held May 13-16 in Long Beach, Calif.

Hanley Wood Associate Director Lindsay Roberts said overall attendance and exhibitor numbers were tracking slightly lower compared with last year, when there were 2,700 attendees and a 22,000 square foot showfloor, but exact numbers for the recent show would not be released until they were verified.

Even with the predictable small dips, Kristen Hajduk, JLC Live's associate show manager, said the upside to the downturn in the economy was that building contractors who may have skipped the show in the past had some extra time in their schedules, and exhibitors benefited from more focused attendees.

“Some people are here because they have time to be here,” Hajduk added.

Attendee Chris Stanley, an electrician with Anderson and Howard Electric, said it was his first time at JLC Live, and he was impressed by the opportunities to learn new skills – there were conference sessions, as well as 12 demonstration clinics on the showfloor – and an array of new products he hadn't seen before.

Still, he added, “The only reason I am here is because the industry is down and I have the time.”

Most attendees and exhibitors polled at the show who had been to the event in previous years said they didn't notice any difference in numbers of people or booths. And, if anyone was missing, the exhibitors didn't seem to mind.

Peter Fleming, western regional sales manager for Berry Plastics, a weatherization product, said of the show, “It's going great so far. I'm staying fairly busy.”

Fleming's company exhibits at three of the four regional JLC Live shows – Southern California, New England and Pacific Northwest – but passes on the Midwest.

When Fleming was considering whether it was worth it for his Franklin, Mass.-based company to make the trip to Long Beach, he said it was actually because of the tough economy that he took the chance.

“We wanted to reach out to people who were still busy and looking for products,” Fleming added. Work may have slowed down for attendees at the show, but their mere presence meant they were still in business and interested in what was going on in the market.

“This year's show seemed to weed out the riff-raff,” Fleming said. “There aren't tire kickers here just filling time looking at brochures. This year (the attendees) are more focused.”

Nancy Bevacco, a manufacturers' representative for Ontario, Canada-based GRK Fasteners, said she was worried before the show about the attendee turn-out. “I'm surprised that, with the way the economy ... the way it is, (the show's) still busy,” Bevacco said. “I haven't had a five-minute break in our booth. A lot of people have been stopping by and asking questions about the products.”

For some exhibitors, having a new product that helped streamline and save money during the building process was a big draw for attendees. Mike Klein, marketing and media coordinator of MiTek Industries, which is in the building components industry, said the company exhibited at the show in 2007 and had a so-so experience, but this year it brought new products to show off. “Traffic in our booth is double,” Klein said. “Last year (the attendees) didn't care.”

Gary Gannon, MiTek's specialty products managers, added, “When the economy is slow, people are looking for a more efficient and a better way of doing things, so they are interested in products like ours.”

Hajduk and Roberts said they were relieved that exhibitors seemed to be so satisfied. Both added that it took more work than in previous years to get the exhibitors to the show.

“It's been a struggle to get exhibitors in,” Roberts said. “We got a lot more 'nos' this year. We've had to work a lot harder to get (them).”

She added that the dollar-ratio spend on the show for things such as sponsorships also was slightly lower.

“We're hoping the industry picks up as soon as possible,” Roberts said. “We would like to grow the show, instead of stay status quo. There is huge potential.”