trade show

Season Opener
The 5th Annual World of Hurricane Protection opened to record numbers of visitors and exhibitors.

by Howard Shingle

It may turn out to be the calm before what is expected to be a stormy season, but it sure didn’t seem that way. The 5th Annual World of Hurricane Protection Conference & Trade Show, held May 10 and 11 at the Tampa Convention Center, Tampa, FL, was actually a flurry of activities.

Produced by Hurricane Protection magazine, this year’s show welcomed 1,200-plus visitors and 83 exhibitors, the biggest event yet solely for the hurricane protection industry. A seminar schedule of 10 sessions led by eight well-known industry experts accompanied the trade show, business sessions and networking events that all were part of this year’s World of Hurricane Protection. In short, this year’s show really had it all.

IT WAS ALL THERE
Keynote speaker Kristin Beall, (see HP, Spring 2007, page 12) got the conference started off on a high note. Beall, a third generation licensed building contractor in Florida, called on builders and dealers to find the passion and the purpose of their businesses. She explained that for her it was the concept of building safe, affordable housing. Her storm safe homes are built to meet the Fortified . . . for safer living requirements set by the Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) and feature a safe room. Built with style and comfort, her homes remain affordable. “The products are out there—the codes require them—it may be a challenge to keep the cost down,” she said.

Following Beall’s keynote, Kerri Caldwell, Hurricane Protection publisher, and Bill Feeley, International Hurricane Protection Association president, opened the trade show floor. This year’s record number of exhibitors showcased hurricane protection and storm safe products in a wide range of categories. In plentiful supply were the latest in Florida Building Code and Miami-Dade Country approved hurricane shutters offered as accordions, panels, rolling shutters, Colonial and Bahamas and as clear panels—as well as shutter components. Also notable were many offerings of soft-sided, or flexible fabric, panels and impact- and weather-resistant windows.

Alongside were some of the newest screening and netting products engineered to resist the impact of flying debris during a hurricane and, in some cases, to greatly reduce the speed and effects of hurricane-force winds.

Many accessory products also were highlighted this year. They included installation hardware, essential to the performance of hurricane protection products and the safety they provide. For roll-up shutters, as well as awnings, motors and control systems were displayed. Also demonstrated were software packages designed to make sales, estimating, ordering and bookkeeping easier and error-free.

Water abatement systems were offered as an exterior-applied building product and as devises to keep storm water from entering homes. There even was a water storage system homeowners can use in bathtubs to retain potable drinking water in the aftermath of a storm.

As with previous shows, activities began the day before the conference opened its doors with the IHPA golf tournament at Tampa’s Westchase Golf Club. More than 90 golfers joined in to make it a successful outing, thanks also to the scramble’s sponsors (see page 14). Awards were presented to the winning team and for the men’s and women’s longest drives and closest to the pin.

That evening, at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel, the host hotel for this year’s conference, Hurricane Protection magazine held a reception for the 83 exhibiting companies and associations who sold-out the convention center’s show floor. The waterside reception was complete with steel drum music, hors d’oeuvres and refreshments and made for an excellent opportunity for the industry’s top suppliers to mingle and network.

SEMINARS, NETWORKING
The exhibit hall was just the starting point for many attending the conference. A curriculum of 10 seminars was presented, several offering Continuing Education Learning Units. The topics covered obtaining Miami-Dade Country product approval (NOA), sales and installation of impact products, the Florida Residential Code and a Gulf Coast code update, looking beyond windows for storm protection, the FLASH Blueprint for Safety Program and business issues including workers compensation programs.

The seminars began on Thursday afternoon with four sessions, then ran all day Friday with three sessions from 9 to 11 and three from 1 to 3 p.m.

The IHPA held a special general meeting in conjunction with the conference. Doing this was a great opportunity to introduce potential new members to the benefits of joining the association—and several attending the show did so. The association also used this platform to present its second Industry Achievement Award. This year, the IHPA board presented the award to Hurricane Protection magazine publisher Kerri Caldwell.

The meeting was followed be a well-attended IHPA networking reception held at the convention center.

Plans are underway for the 6th Annual World of Hurricane Protection conference to be held in spring 2008.