03/05/2026
This is a bit tardy, but I wanted to share my experience at the IBS/NAHB/NKBA show in Orlando a couple weeks ago. It is a very large show that fills the Orange County CC. I recommend this event to most anybody in the industry, even though there are a bunch of redundancies on the show floor. For example, I saw many kitchen plumbing fixture booths and many overhead door booths and many outdoor kitchen booths…..you get the idea. But I was able to narrow down to regional suppliers and fill in some product voids, have multiple conversations on the specific items I am currently looking at, and in the end completely run out of the time needed in the event. The classes were many and informativ, but I only had time for a few. The weather got an “A”. I walked to the CC and back one day because the weather was good and the ground transportation around the center got a “D”. Orlando around the center gets a “B” because it is completely busy with tourist stuff and there are lots of restaurants, but all of the service I experienced in multiple restaurants was not friendly or efficient. I get a “C” because I did come in early for an extra class - but was not smart enough to fly out a day later and get a few more hours of the event. I am now in the process of fielding all the follow-up sales calls from the tradeshow floor.
