WHA Attends The International Builder’s Show

If you love crowds, this was the place for you!  With more than 50,000 attendees plus numerous representatives from every building product and component that you can imagine, this year’s installment at the massive Las Vegas Convention Center was clearly a hit and an indication of the health of the Housing Industry.

The show kicked off with a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, an all-drum band, a welcome from the Lt. Governor, and some hilarious thoughts by Jay Leno.  From there, I participated in a Crowd Sourcing experiment.  In the Design Studio, they had a large white board with general topics.  People could add comments of areas of discussion or presentations that they would like to learn more about and others could add their names as potential speakers.  A jury narrowed the selection to seven and I ended up in two presentations (Infill Development Considerations and Floor Plan Trends).  Over lunch, I quickly put together my programs and then presented back in the Design Studio.  It was fun to create and present in such an impromptu fashion!

Later that evening was The Nationals, the awards put on by the National Association of Home Builders’ Sales and Marketing Council where WHA won three awards, including a Gold for Riverstone, an on-the-boards master-planned community in Central California, as well as Silver Awards for the Danville Hotel complex and for Ambassador Gardens in Pasadena.  The gala was held at Caesar’s Palace in the grand ballroom.

The next day, back at it attending seminars and visiting product booths.  I visited the New American Home, a show house about 40 minutes away overlooking the Las Vegas Valley.  It was a long ordeal, about 4.5 hours in all, but the home was well-designed, showcasing all the latest products, and featuring an inviting play of indoor/outdoor relationships.

That evening was the Best in American Living Awards at the Tropicana.  We were entertained by Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin before garnering four more awards.  Ambassador Gardens picked up a Platinum as Best Multi-family Development up to 5 Stories, Jefferson Square Apartments won Gold for Best Infill Community, and two Silvers for Avignon in Brea and Crawford at Greenwood in Tustin.

Lots of new products:  one of the most interesting was a Vacuum Elevator something like the old school pneumatic tube that they used to have at banks or old department stores.  They had a demonstration model that you could ride – it felt a little like something George Jetson would have! (Check out a short clip here.)