The South’s largest regional building industry trade exposition and educational event, the Southeast Building Conference and its co-location partner, GreenTrends, will be July 30-August 2 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando.
Now in its 30th year, the SEBC is presented by the Florida Home Builders Association. GreenTrends is the annual trade show and conference of the Florida Green Building Coalition.
Information and a registration form on the conference are available at the show’s official web site at www.sebcshow.com,including hotel accommodations available at the Rosen Centre, the headquarters hotel, the Rosen Plaza, and the Peabody.
This year’s theme is “Knowledge Is Power” and represents the need for good education during a challenging time.
There will be 17 courses leading to professional designations and 48 seminars that include construction, green building, remodeling, multi-family, 50-plus, marketing, management, design, and merchandising, as well as specialized training on such subjects as construction law, jobsite safety, risk management, and customer service.
Three seminars will be presented on multifamily topics – design, state-of-the-industry, and condo and apartment marketing—and two on the 50-plus market focusing on sales and design. Other seminar topics include cash flow, fall protection, contracts, top-grading your staff, professional sales presentations and succession planning.
Florida contractors can get all 14 hours of required continuing education at the convention including eight general credit hours and the 1-hour requirements for mitigation, rules and law, business practices, jobsite safety, workers compensation, and advanced building code. The schedule allows registrants to obtain their total requirement in two days.
Over 1,000 exhibits of industry products and services will be on display. Show hours are Thursday,from noon-5 p.m.; Friday, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; and Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
The opening concert will feature Charlie Daniels and his band on Thursday from 6-8 p.m. at the Convention Center’s Chapin Theatre. The Aurora Awards for design excellence will be presented Saturday evening and honor builders, designers and merchandisers from a 12-state southern region.
Special educational programs target two areas vital to the future of the industry: the economic outlook and the growing influence of Latinos in both management and labor.
Stewart Title Company Chief Economist Dr. Ted Jones and economist Bradley Hunter of Florida-based MetroStudy will lead an economic panel presentation on Thursday at 3 p.m.
Ricardo Gonzalez of Bilingual America highlights the annual Leaders Advantage program on the subject of “Success with Hispanics” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday. Gonzalez will also cover Hispanic communications and legal issues during a two-hour seminar on Friday.
Green building will be featured. In addition to two courses, including the two-day course “Green Building for Building Professionals,” general seminars cover green interior design, green marketing, green building quality and certification, landscaping for water efficiency, understanding green products and green remodeling.
Remodelers can attend courses that lead to the Certified Graduate Remodeler (CGR) and Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) designations as well as two seminars led by Victoria Downing of Remodelers Advantage, Inc. in Laurel, Md.
Downing will present “Dare to Compare with Your Remodeling Peers” and also moderate “Lessons from the Big Fish: How Large-Volume Remodelers Found Their Edge.” Both are on Friday.
The “Big Fish” seminar panelists are Ciro Giammona, Harrell Remodeling Inc., Mountain View, Calif.; Scott Whitlock, Hubert Whitlock Builders Inc., Charlotte; and Daniel J. Weidmann, Weidmann & Associates Inc., Roswell, Ga..
Also for remodelers, Michael Strong of Strong Brothers in Houston, presents “Ten Steps to Green Remodeling” on Friday. Strong is a former Texas Remodeler of the Year and a leading remodeling educator. The Remodelors Night Out networking session is set for Friday evening.
Professionals in sales and marketing have several opportunities.
In addition to courses that lead to the designations of Member, Institute of Residential Marketing (MIRM), Certified Sales Professional (CSP), and Master Certified Sales Professional (MCSP) designations, there will be the annual Sales Rally, which this year features John Palumbo of Jacksonville’s Sterling Group, and Meredith Oliver of Orlando’s Oliver Communications on Friday. There also will be a presentation titled “Designing and Selling Through One-of-a-Kind Urgency” with architect Quincy Johnson of Boca Raton and sales veterans Bill Webb of Amelia Island and Mark Jones of Celebration, Fla.
Speakers at the design and merchandising seminars include architects Don Evans of The Evans Group, Orlando; Deryl Patterson of Bloodgood, Buster and Sharp, Jacksonville; and Brandon Davis of Looney, Risks, Kiss in Memphis; and merchandisers Marc Thee of Marc Michaels, Winter Park; Rita Williams of Merchandising Plus, Jacksonville; and Kay Green of Kay Green Design, Orlando.
Associate members will have seminars by Beverly Koehn of San Antonio, Tex., who will present two, two-hour seminars on Friday. Another associate seminar is on Saturday and will be led by by Robert Kanjian of Building Solutions, West Palm Beach.