By Matt Sonnhalter, Vision Architect
The first quarter is always a busy time for trade shows and events for the trades and 2023 is no exception. Although I feel this might be the busiest one of my career, with me hitting seven shows over the course of 52 days.
First up this year was World of Concrete and three words would sum up this year’s show…Back To Normal! Yes, finally feels like we are back to pre-pandemic levels…. strong attendance and traffic all three days.
Saw a lot of the same familiar stuff I’ve seen every year at the show:
- Masonry skills competition filled Wednesday morning capped off by the BrickLayer500. Always amazed to see these masonry contractors in action.
2. Outside Silver Lot loaded with product demos.
3. Big ass concrete machinery
But the most interesting thing I ran across at the WOC show was PINKBAR+, a new fiberglas rebar from Owens Corning. I’ve seen a lot of “new product launches” at these shows, but this product really was a “head turner.”
2x stronger and up to 7x lighter than steel rebar, plus it’s rustproof! Even though they have the broader code approvals, the local state and city adoption is going to take time…but this will be a game-changer in the market.
Here’s a quick video of some of the highlights I saw at the show (plus I might have snuck in a few meal images:))
That’s it for now for tradeshow #1 of the 2023 season. Next up…back-to-back shows with IBS in Vegas and AHR in Atlanta.
