Informa Exhibitions reports significant attendee growth at The International Surface Event (TISE): Surfaces, StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas, TileExpo—a signal to the industry that positive growth is in store for 2016-2017, according to show organizers.
Total attendance was up an incredible 10% over the 2015 event. Attendees represented all segments of the industry, including distributors, buying groups, retailers, designers, architects, installers, fabricators and more, with an overall presence from around the globe. The new Ignite conference program also showed significant growth with standing room only in many sessions.
TISE was held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. Attendees found a wide collection of products, services and technologies available in the exhibit hall, and exhibitors were pleased with excellent traffic during the show. In addition to the popular show floor features, the Trends Hub, Cage, International Pavilions and others, TISE launched the Installation Showcase. According to organizers, this show feature was a huge success for attendees, receiving live demonstrations on dueling stages that presented the latest techniques and tricks for installing carpet, flooring and tile.
“The Informa team did a great job of tackling the challenges of the migration to having everything and everyone on one floor,” said Scott Humphrey, president and CEO, World Floor Covering Association (WFCA). “WFCA was extremely pleased by the activity at our booth and the buzz throughout the entire convention hall. This was our most productive show since the industry downturn in 2006-2007. As one who has been in the industry my entire life, I have to say that it was great having practically all of the industry under one roof. We can’t wait for 2017.”
With nearly 700 exhibiting companies, the show floor was comprised of over 400,000 net square-feet of exhibit space, show floor features, education and training space. The combined facility space surpassed nearly a million square feet for TISE attendees to peruse. Of the 700 exhibiting companies, 178 were first-time exhibitors, offering new products and services to the industry. Making a splash return onto the show floor were brands such as the Mohawk Industries, Gerflor, Karndean and Armstrong, just to name a few. It was clear the exhibitors spent a lot of time and energy ensuring an incredible exhibit hall experience for the attendees with beautifully designed booth displays and in-booth events and features.
Many unique moments were available while walking the TISE exhibit floor; a few stand outs were: Mannington’s 100 Year Centennial Celebration complete with historical imagery in their booth of their company growth over the decades; QuickStep’s acrobatic dancers suspended from the 30 foot rafters and celebrity appearances by Fix It & Finish It’s Antonio Sabato Jr. and DIY design team; Mohawk Industries mascot dogs “Fetch” (IVC) and “ Pergo“ (Pergo); cutting-edge stone mapping and cutting demonstrations by BACA Systems Kuka Robo Saw Jet, catching a magic show in the Traxx booth and even capturing a stuffed Panda Bear from the American Biltrite display. The inspiring and engaging show floor did not go unnoticed by the attendees as the show maintained a high level of attendance on the show floor across all three days of the event with the feedback being incredibly positive.
“The overwhelmingly positive vibe surrounding thousands of attendees at Surfaces speaks volumes about what the show had to offer,” said David Duncan, senior vice president, Mohawk. “Surfaces took on a life of its own packed full of energy and excitement with new products, impressive booths, creative marketing campaigns and a host of innovative industry resources. It’s an amazing time to be a part of the flooring industry. We look forward to the same great experience next year as well as the invaluable opportunity to visit one-on-one with our retailers at another successful Surfaces’ event in 2017.”
Standing room only was found in many sessions in the new IGNITE educational conference which featured over 55 new classes, 100 speakers, 282 obtainable CEUs, all of which were developed with the support of a special industry advisory panel. This educational program truly ignited the minds of the industry with a participation increase of 7% over 2015.
"The Ignite program was incredible, raising the bar and expectations of attendees on the information they can and will receive through the program. It is our goal to be an unparalleled resource for industry education that is unique and game-changing for industry professionals,” said Jennifer Hughes, TISE's education manager.
TISE 2017 is scheduled to be held Jan.18 to 20 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The educational conference will be held Jan.17 to 20.
For more information, visit informa.com.
