Want to attend a trade show but don’t have money to travel?
Do you wish trade shows were after work hours?
Wouldn’t it be great if the trade show came to you?
And if it was free?
And if there were plenty of educational sessions to attend?
And if you won awesome prizes just for going?
And if you could eat and drink for free, too?

Dream no more. Pella delivers all of this, and more. The Pro Expo presented by Pella is a traveling trade show that will hit 30 major cities in 15 weeks this year. The shows take place at major sporting venues in each city from 3pm to 8pm on Tuesdays or Thursdays depending on the city. Check the website for details.

Last week, the first two Pro Expos took place in Denver and Salt Lake City. Residential Design & Build magazine and its sister publication Qualified Remodeler are media partners for these events, and will be manning a booth with editors at every one of them. Next stops this week are San Diego on Tue., Feb. 9 and then Phoenix on Thu., Feb 11.

Sign up to attend for free by visiting TheProExpo.com.

Oh. One more thing. Pella is giving away a flat screen TV in each city. Here’s a shot of the Salt Lake City winner.

While stationed at my magazine’s booth in Salt Lake City, I met with many architects, builders and remodelers. I asked almost every one of them, “How’s business?” The majority of responses were “It’s getting better” or “Things are picking up.” That was great to hear. I suspect I will hear more of this over the next three and a half months as I travel to 14 more of the Pro Expos.

Two inspectors came to my booth and I asked them to tell me something I don’t know. One of them said, “Lots of people pulling permits these days.” Again, great news.

Come say hello to me, or my colleague Patrick O’Toole from Qualified Remodeler magazine, when the show comes to your town. We’d like to meet you.

Were you at the Salt Lake City or Denver Pro Expos? What did you think? Let me know. Or, scroll up to the first paragraph of this blog entry, look to the right and click where you see, “Leave a comment” or “Post or view comments.”

You can’t spend six days at the International Builders Show and not learn a few things about the housing market. And when the show is in Las Vegas, you’re bound to pick up a few tidbits unrelated to home building. Here’s a list of what I learned at the show in January:

• The NAHB says the worst is behind us in the housing market, and they have the stats to prove it.
• Manufacturers’ booths were filled with home builders looking to buy product – for projects going on right now.
• Builders are signing contracts with clients and breaking ground in many parts of the country.
• Manufacturers aren’t letting the recession stop them from introducing innovative new products.
• The NAHB, like many of us, is dealing with revenue shortfalls as best they can.
• In general, everyone I encountered feels 2010 will be better than 2009, no doubt.
• The design/build process continues to grow in acceptance.
• The shrimp appetizer at Koi in Planet Hollywood is the best shrimp I ever had in my life.
• The rooms at the Aria hotel in City Center are fully automated, and very cool, according to a few people who stayed there.
• City Center is overwhelmingly massive.
• A little bit of rain wreaks havoc on Las Vegas traffic.
• I should not allow myself to gamble. Ever.
• Cabs in Las Vegas stick you with a $3 fee for the convenience of paying with a credit card. Thieves.
• Carrot Top is not a good-looking man.

Were you at the Builders Show? What did you learn? Let me know. Or, scroll up to the first paragraph of this blog entry, look to the right and click where you see, “Leave a comment” or “Post or view comments.”

Here’s some good economic news directly from the mouth of David Crowe, chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders. Crowe made remarks about the economy last week in a room filled with more dozens of people representing leading manufacturers in the housing industry.

During Crowe’s presentation, he mentioned the following reasons to feel good about the housing market and the economy in general:

- The recession ended in Q3 of 2009
- Job losses are tapering off
- Q3 of 2009 showed positive employment
- Interests are remaining low
- Housing starts bottomed out in 2009
- Home prices are stabilizing
- Ratio of home price to household income is back to sustainable level
- 50% of foreclosures are in only six states (problem is largely localized)
- 70% of foreclosures are in only 11 states
- Supply of unsold homes is down to roughly seven months from a peak of roughly 12

Crowe acknowledged that banks must begin lending again for a recovery to gain traction, and that worsening employment numbers also would hurt a recovery. But overall, he said, the worst is behind us and the general economic trend is up.

Do you see upward movement in your area? Let me know. Or, scroll up to the first paragraph of this blog entry, look to the right and click where you see, “Leave a comment” or “Post or view comments.”

Yesterday I was reviewing the results of a recent online survey we conducted. One question we asked you was if your business maintains a website. Would you be surprised to know that 30% of you don’t have a company web site? I was surprised.

In addition to that question, we also asked you to comment on your Internet usage. Again, many responses included comments like these: “We don’t use the Internet” or “The Internet is a waste of time and money.”

Really?

On one hand, I understand the incredible power of word-of-mouth marketing. Many of you I’ve interviewed over the years tell me you don’t do any marketing because all of your business is by referral (but all of you I interviewed at least have a web site). That’s a powerful endorsement of the way you do business, and congratulations to all of you who operate this way.

On the other hand, how can you not have a company web site in 2010? Even the people referred to you by current or past clients need a place where they can review your past projects, and learn about your approach to design and construction. Yes, you’ll cover that in your initial face-to-face meeting with them, but they’ll still want to investigate you a bit before meeting you.

Maybe I’m looking at this from a glass-is-half-empty perspective. Maybe 70% website saturation is an improvement from this time last year, and the year before that. In this case, it’s good to see so many of you on board.

But if this is as good as it gets, I’m a little disappointed, and perplexed.

What do you think is going on here? Let me know. Or, scroll up to the first paragraph of this blog entry, look to the right and click where you see, “Leave a comment” or “Post or view comments.”