Concrete Countertop Industry Conference 2008

2008-09-11T21:00:00.002-04:00

I bet you think I dropped off the face of the Earth. I'm here, I just took a vacation after CCIC, and then when I got back there was a bunch of work piled up after being away so long.

Photos are now available! I'm waiting on video from the film crew that was there with Dave Cronk.

There were so many fun times that aren't captured in the photos. A lot of networking went on. It was so cool to see concrete countertop makers from all over the country talking with each other. All of you folks who missed it, plan on February in Orlando!

There won't be so much of my planning involved in CCIC 2009, since it's now co-located with SFDE, so I'll be on here less frequently. But I'll keep you posted when something exciting happens. Until then, happy concrete countertop making.

2008-08-24T00:02:00.010-04:00

WHEW! It's done. Overall a successful show. Everyone enjoyed the exhibits and the seminars and the networking that went on. We ended up with over 250 attendees, less than I had hoped for, but a good showing considering what's happened with the economy since I planned this thing a year ago.

Yesterday was so hectic, I didn't have a chance to post. The day started with Jeff's sealer seminar, then exhibits from 9 to 2, and other seminars and the new Concrete Countertop Design Expo mixed in. There was also a raffle prize drawing with a LOT of generous prizes from the exhibitors - prizes valued at a couple hundred to even a thousand dollars! I was running around dealing with so much stuff and was so exhausted that I didn't even make it through dinner. I just crashed.

Today was much lower key. We had some roundtable discussions in the morning, then some really good show & tell sessions. The projects that Chris, Mark, Christopher and Ian showed were nothing short of amazing. Then Bent Mikkelsen of Concrete Decor magazine presented his concrete countertop design competition awards. He made some really good points about quality and professionalism, and how displaying this level of work in publications such as Concrete Decor magazine is a way to show everyone what they can and should aspire to.

After that, it was just a little more breakdown, and then relaxation time! Later in the afternoon, Dana Andrews of Buckets of Stone had a few people over to his house for a cookout. He has a beautiful house in an absolutely charming neighborhood of Sacramento. Thanks Dana and Lisa for your wonderful hospitality!

Next Jeff and I are off for a week of much-needed vacation. When I get back I'll post more photos, send out thank you notes, etc. Plus the professional film crew is going to get me snippets of video - he filmed several of the exhibitors doing demos and other cool stuff.

And, now it's time to let the big news out - next year the Concrete Countertop Industry Conference will be co-located with the Surface Fabrication & Design Expo, which is produced by Cygnus Expositions. The show will be February 19 -21 in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center. I am so excited about this, because there is so much that the various types of countertop makers can learn from each other and because this is an indication of the legitimization of concrete as a countertop surface. We all know it's legit, but finally other groups are started to recognize that. I will be putting together the concrete countertop seminar program and a concrete countertop exhibitor pavilion on the show floor. All attendees will be able to go to all the different seminars, and the cross pollination that will happen because of that will be helpful to both groups.

Well, it's time for vacation now. I'll be back the day after Labor Day. Everyone have a safe and happy holiday!

Susan of Buddy Rhodes Concrete Products presents a prize

Our snazzy signage

Ian Wyndlow's Show & Tell presentation

Tommy Cook of Absolute Concrete Works accepts a Concrete Decor award

Hanging out at Dana Andrews' house

What I'll be doing for the next week - relaxing!

2008-08-22T00:25:00.006-04:00

Today ROCKED! The seminars were great, the roundtables were a hit (especially the GFRC roundtable - a VERY hot topic), all of the exhibitors were happy, attendees were enjoying the demos, things ran smoothly for the most part - it was just GREAT! We had a 25% increase in attendance due to on site registrations this morning, and we're expecting even more tomorrow morning. WOW!

I'll just post a few quick photos of the seminars, exhibit hall, showcase and the Buddy Rhodes party tonight, and then I'm going to SLEEP!

2008-08-20T23:36:00.009-04:00

What a day! Everything came together, and the day ended with a great reception.

Exhibit hall setup was a little hectic. A few exhibitors had their shipments damaged and had to repour countertops, but the biggest adventure of the day was enCOUNTER's. They were supposed to have their trailer in place by 8am because it's so large and has to be driven in. But their truck broke down last night in Death Valley, and they were attacked by bats! Really! They finally made it to the convention center at 3:30pm. We got them situated, though, and I went on to the welcome reception that enCOUNTER sponsored. When I made my toast at 7pm, I thought the enCOUNTER folks weren't going to make it, and they walked in at the very moment I was telling the story about the bats.

We're ready for tomorrow. The thing I'm most nervous about is lines at the registration counter tomorrow morning between 7 and 9. But we'll get everybody in, and it will be a great show.

The West Lobby - ready for the crowds tomorrow.

Exhibit hall setup

enCOUNTER finally arrives.

The welcome reception

The "gobi light" with the enCOUNTER logo

Coyne Edmison of enCOUNTER arrives at exactly the right moment during my toast

2008-08-19T21:40:00.007-04:00

I am SO EXCITED!!! The exhibit hall, registration counters and signs look great, and the convention center staff and all of the companies we're working with are so nice.

Denise and Darnette and I met with the hotel staff this morning, then we had lunch at Mason's at the Park Downtown, right across the street from the hotel. The manager showed us around the space that we will use tomorrow night for the welcome reception sponsored by enCOUNTER. It's a really cool place! The only thing is, the sign in the hotel lobby is going to say "The Park Downtown", but the sign on the building says Mason's. There's also a Ma Jong's restaurant in that same space - they're providing the hors d'oeuvres for the reception.

Then we walked over to the convention center for our pre-conference meeting with everyone else. The best way to walk from the Residence Inn is to just walk 2 blocks down L Street to 13th Street. You turn left out of the main lobby door, turn left on 15th Street, turn right on L Street, then walk 2 blocks to 13th Street, where you will see the convention center on your right.

We toured the seminar rooms, which are plenty big, and the exhibit hall, where Freeman was taping the floors and laying carpet. They were already bringing in exhibitor's crates. I saw my crate go by on a truck, and Buddy Rhodes' crates came in while we were standing there.

The signs and registration counters look great!

Then we stuffed all the conference bags with exhibitor collateral for our gold and patron sponsors.

I also finished wrapping all the speaker gifts and organized the photos for the Attendee Showcase. We're ready for booth setup tomorrow!

2008-08-19T13:46:00.004-04:00

Well, we had our first "problem" of the conference. I didn't buy enough ribbon for the speaker gift wrapping! I spent so much time picking out a nice grosgrain ribbon with blue and red stripes, and I bought 1/2 as much as I need. So I cut it lengthwise. At least I remembered the scissors. I hope the speakers don't mind frayed ribbon on their gifts.

If all the problems are like this, we'll be in good shape.

2008-08-19T12:06:00.004-04:00

We're here! Jeff and I arrived at 10pm last night, which was 1am our time. We went through Midway, which is where we flew through for the Concrete Countertop Council summit back in February 2007. We had dinner at one of the restaurants we hung around in then. When we arrived in Sacramento, it was cool to see the luggage scupltures again. I posted a photo of those in this blog a year ago, after I'd done my site selection visit here.

Today I have a meeting at 11am with the hotel staff. That won't last long, and then Denise and Darnette and I will have lunch and head over to the convention center. Then we have our big pre-conference powwow with everybody and their brother - the convention center, the show decorator, A/V, security, wireless, etc. Then at 3:30 comes the fun part - we start stuffing conference bags! Whoo hoo! ;-)

2008-08-16T17:35:00.002-04:00

I bought the gas cards for the drawing today. I chose Exxon/Mobile because they seem to have the most gas stations around the country. They didn't have 5 $100 cards in stock, so I ended up having to buy 1 $100, 5 $50 and 6 $25. Someone is going to get a whole stack of gas cards!

Registrations are still pouring in. 15 have come in today so far. It's a good thing I extended the pre-registration deadline, although badge printing on Monday is going to be hectic. The badges will have to be overnighted to Sacramento because show management's pre-conference setup is Tuesday.

2008-08-14T09:28:00.002-04:00

A TV show is going to film the conference! Dave Cronk of Everything Concrete called me, and he's going to bring in a whole film crew and produce a segment on the conference. Parts of it will probably go on YouTube and on Dave's website, www.davecronk.com. This will be great! I was already planning to do some filming with my little video camera, but this will be a professional film crew!

2008-08-11T18:06:00.002-04:00

I'm headed to CA in exactly 1 week! Everything is ready, except the stuff for my booth. The crate went out last Friday, but I'm working on the collateral we're going to hand out. Plus I have to take care of last-minute details like final reminders to speakers, Show & Tell presenters and contributors to the Attendee Showcase.

By the way, there's still room to bring concrete displays for the Showcase. I'm going to email all registered attendees this week and let them know about that option. It's a great way to inspire other concrete countertop makers with your work. Several of our members or students who are close to Sacramento are bringing tables or sinks. One person is even bringing concrete business card holders!

Today was the LAST DAY for the special rate at the hotel. They won't let us extend it any more, so I hope people made their hotel eservations. A bunch of reservations came in this weekend, and they're still coming, but several people have told me that they had already booked their hotel rooms, and then later called to register for the conference.

I am going to extend the pre-registration cutoff from this Friday August 15 to next Monday August 18, since it seems like so many people register over the weekend. It helps us to have people preregister so that we can have their badges ready and speed things up on site, and it helps them because they save some money - $30 on a Full Conference Pass.

2008-08-07T16:39:00.002-04:00

Just 2 weeks left!!! Our crate is shipping out tomorrow. Jeff and Brad packed it today.

There are still so many registrations coming in at the last minute that we got the hotel to extend our room block for just a few more days. We managed to add 10 more one-room suites at the special $144 rate. So if you're still procrastinating on booking a hotel room, do it now!

2008-08-01T17:40:00.003-04:00

Jon Schuler of Innovative Concrete Technologies is going to demo his sealer at CCIC! This is a bit of a last-minute arrangement with the BlueConcrete.com booth, but I know a lot of Jon's customers wanted to take this opportunity to see him work with the product while they're all at the show. Jeff is looking forward to it too. Jon's sealer is one of the ones he tested in CCI's sealer stain testing protocol, and Jeff is going to reveal results in his sealer seminar.

In other news, we've secured more rooms at the official conference hotel and extended the deadline to next Wednesday, August 6. A few people called this week saying the room block was booked. We managed to get the block increased, but people need to make their reservations soon. We've had so many last-minute registrations coming in. To me, the last minute is already here!

2008-07-30T09:20:00.005-04:00

It's getting close! There's a flurry of activity here at CCI. Of course I've been in a flurry of activity for months, but now Jeff and Brad are getting in on the act. The crate for our booth is shipping out next Friday so that it can arrive in time at the advance warehouse.

Jeff and Brad are making a really cool display for our booth. I just went into the shop to see the mold, and it's pretty wild. It involves pink foam, glass, some sort of orange tape and weird little metal things that Jeff welded.

I can't wait to see the finished piece.

2008-07-21T13:20:00.002-04:00

CCIC is only a month away! Even this close, we have some exciting new additions to the exhibit hall.

-- Brandon Gore of Gore Design Co. will be displaying his new line of sink molds. From what he described to me on the phone, it sounds like he's going to have a lot of cool stuff, all sink focused.
-- Ambient Glow Technologies is launching a new product.. and it glows! You'll have to come see it to find out more. Peter is a CCI student who has gone on to put together this innovative new product.

Speaking of new products, I was talking to Troy Thompson about his Surface 519 demo. He's going to be demoing a new UV-cured sealer that cures in minutes. It's pretty amazing. We've seen it at the CCI shop, and this UV light really does cure the sealer almost instantly. Wondering how he's going to use this UV light safely in the exhibit hall? Come find out - Troy told me about all his safety plans, so rest assured.

I was also just talking to Mike Eastergard of PreiTech, and he is going to do some demos. He'll have all sorts of forms there to show, plus really amazing displays of finished pieces. His booth is the one that's long and skinny, so that he can display all this stuff. He'll also have a DVD playing in the exhibit hall, so you'll have lots of opportunities to see how his forms work.

2008-07-16T07:48:00.002-04:00

The past 2 days were CRAZY. Monday was our early bird deadline, so of course that caused a flurry of last-minute activity. We even got a registration at 11:59pm, just in the nick of time.

Monday was also the deadline for speakers to turn in their presentations. I've reviewed them all, and they are awesome. You are going to be blown away by the amount of knowledge these folks are conveying. Lynda and Evan are getting down to details in their sales and marketing and project management presentations, showing things like an actual sales contract and an actual templating checklist. Talk about practical information that will have an immediate effect on the efficiency and therefore profitability of your concrete countertop business!

Yesterday was my birthday, but I worked from 4:45am to 5:45pm. I finalized the last wave of marketing, such as a last chance postcard, and unveiled my post-earlybird offer: a chance to win a $500 gas card! Last year there were exactly 326 actual attendees, so if this year is similar, you have a pretty darn good chance of winning.

2008-07-08T17:40:00.003-04:00

We have officially entered The A.C. Phase. Every sentence I utter, if it's not about the conference, begins with "After the conference".

We are just days away from sending the conference binder to press, and a new sponsor just signed on! Sphere Services has signed on for a Patron sponsorship, so you'll get some of their information or brochures in your conference bags.

Yes, we have bags this year. Buddy Rhodes Artisan Concrete sponsored those, so be sure to thank Buddy for the spiffy bag.

2008-06-25T17:36:00.003-04:00

It's time to make travel plans! The hotel cutoff is only a few weeks away, and our room block is filling up already. I made my and Jeff's hotel, plane and rental car reservations today. We will fly into Sacramento Monday, August 18 because we've got pre-conference preparations to deal with. We'll stay a full week so that we will have some time after the conference to enjoy Sacramento. Then we're going to Yosemite for 3 days! No computer, no cell phones, just nature - woohoo! Then we're going to go visit some friends in Ventura for a few days. We are really looking forward to the trip - there will be 3 fun and different phases to it.

The other big news today is that I posted a cool video from CCIC 2007. target="_blank"Check it out - you'll recognize some people for sure, and you might even be in it!

2008-06-20T15:53:00.004-04:00

It's been a frustrating week. I am STILL seeking Show & Tell presenters and Roundtable moderators. This was supposed to be done way back in March, and I just haven't been able to get committments from people. If ANY of you concrete countertop professionals out there want to contribute to the conference, help your peers or even just show off, PLEASE contact me through the CCIC website.

But, the week did finally turn out well. Yesterday CHENG Concrete and a new company, Surface 519, signed up for 20x20 booths! They will go behind 107/207/307 at the top of the floor plan diagram. I've been talking with the folks at Cheng for a while, but they've been super-busy trying to get a major new software system launched. As a former software developer I totally understand how that goes. More info about Surface 519 will be available soon. They're launching their new company at the conference. Should be interesting! Both companies are going to do demos, too!

And, my sister had another baby this morning! You may remember that my niece Carmen was born on November 1, 2006, just before the first conference. I had been all nervous because she was scheduled to be induced on November 6, the first day of the 2006 conference. Well, 17 months later and well before CCIC 2008, my little niece Mason was born this morning at 3:24am weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz. Mom, baby, big sister Carmen age 17 months and big sister Avery age 4 are all doing well!

Big sister Carmen, born just before CCIC 2006, inspects her little sister.

Me with Mason.

2008-06-17T15:48:00.002-04:00

The Concrete Countertop Design Expo (CCDE) website is ready: www.ConcreteCountertopDesignExpo.com. Yay!

I was anxious to do this because a big article Jeff wrote for Kitchen & Bath Design News came out this week. I knew it would, and I had as my goal to finish the website by June 6. I was so disappointed when the magazine showed up in my mailbox last Thursday and the website wasn't done. There's just a small mention of CCDE at the end, but still.

The Kitchen & Bath Design News article is called "Concrete Ideas", and it's 4 full pages of practical information and clearing up misconceptions about designing with concrete countertops. Jeff and I are so excited about it - it's part of our mission to advocate concrete countertops to the design/build community, and it ties into the idea of bringing in designers for the CCDE co-located with CCIC.

CCDE is still in flux, though. I realized while lying awake in bed the other night that if we do the Show & Tells on Friday afternoon for the designers, we can't do them in the exhibit hall because the exhibitors will be breaking down starting at 2pm. So our idea is to have the Attendee Showcase in the West Lobby and do the Show & Tells in a seminar room. Denise is now trying to get permission from the Sacramento Convention Center to put the Showcase in the West Lobby. Ah, the drama!

2008-06-12T11:46:00.005-04:00

I have FINALLY figured out the Concrete Countertop Design Expo. Denise and I have been going back and forth about this for weeks. The idea is just to bring in designers, architects and builders to educate them and inspire them about concrete countertops. We're going to have hundreds of concrete countertop professionals and dozens of actual concrete countertops in one spot - why not bring in some people who can design and build with concrete countertops?

But exectuing this was tricky. I was going to do a "lunch and learn" on Saturday, and then I thought well why not let the designers attend the Show & Tells? But what designer is going to want to drive to Sacramento at 8:00am on a Saturday to see some Show & Tells.

We finally came up with a solution: Move some Show & Tells to Friday, have the designers come in at 1pm for an introductory educational session, then they can go to Eric Corey Freed's seminar, then see some Show & Tells, then hang around to mingle with attendees. Viola! And, no pesky food & beverage contracts for $39 per person for a lousy boxed lunch!

My marketing intern, Chris, is publishing the revised schedule to the website right now. (Yes, I got a marketing intern. I desperately needed some help!)

2008-05-30T15:51:00.002-04:00

I can tell you now: The really big news and the publication I was talking about a few posts ago was that Concrete Decor is running a Concrete Countertop Design Competition! There's a full-page ad about it on page 116 of the latest issue of Concrete Decor magazine (May 2008).

I'm so glad Bent Mikkelsen, the publisher, is doing this. It's an industry-wide competition, and he's going to showcase the winners and present the awards at CCIC. Entries are due really soon though - June 30!

I put up a web page about it at http://www.concretecountertopconference.com/2008/contest.php. Check it out!

2008-05-19T17:33:00.003-04:00

The floor plan is up on the website! I didn't realize just how many exhibitors we have until I saw it on the floor plan. We're pretty much bursting at the seams.

There are a couple more exhibitors who have told me absolutely yes, they will have a 20x20 booth. Our plan for them is to remove the pipe and drape currently shown at the back of the exhibit hall. The general contractor will just have to put their exhibitor service desk somewhere else!

2008-05-16T15:59:00.002-04:00

The buzz is starting... We sent out a press release yesterday, and it's been picked up in several places. MetroCrete.com posted a blog entry about CCIC. This is a site I discovered just this week. They've just recently been doing a series about concrete countertops, including products from one of our exhibitors, Buddy Rhodes, from May 5 to May 13. If you go to http://www.metrocrete.com/ and scroll down to the entries on those dates, you'll see the whole series.

2008-05-13T17:08:00.002-04:00

I have been working feverishly on the website! There is a bunch of new information about seminars and roundtables on there, plus biographies of almost all of our speakers. This year I have a mix of business and technical seminars, and I've brought in several "outside" resources to really expand learning.

There's Sean Jacobs, a professional speaker/trainer, former countertop fabricator and now owner of a kitchen design firm. Sean and I just recently became acquainted, but he is/is becoming a big advocate for our industry, and I'm sure his keynote will be rousing.
MaryJo Camp is a contact through Max Isley from 2006, and is an award-winning kitchen designer who speaks at events like K/BIS. I'm so pleased to have her working with our burgeoning industry.
Eric-Corey Freed is a very famous architect - author of "Green Building for Dummies" and winner of numerous awards. I think I told this story already - I booked Eric to talk, and then right after that I received my copy of Metropolitan Home, opened it up, and there he was.
Evan Kruger is a granite fabricator - ewww! Just kidding. Evan is a very successful fabricator of all sorts of countertop surfaces such as Corian, Silestone, Soapstone and granite, and he even invented a solid surface called Eos. He's also very active in the International Solid Surface Fabricator Association and is a big advocate for high quality, high end countertops.

We also have some great familiar faces. I mentioned that Lynda Apple and Jeremy French will speak. They were a hit at the Show & Tells last year. And of course Jeff will speak about technical stuff. He's really going to go all out on his admixture and sealer seminars this year.

Click here for the official biographies and photos of the speakers. I wasn't planning to go on and on about them, but I'm just so excited.

There are also quite a few exhibitors listed, and 8 of them (so far) are doing demos. I put more information about the demos as soon as the exhibitors let me know what they're doing. The demos will be going on the whole time the exhibit hall is open. I already told you that enCOUNTER is our Platinum sponsor, and you know that Doug will be doing all kinds of wild and crazy demos.

The floor plan is actually done, but I haven't posted it yet because we're still in booth selection. All but 2 of the listed exhibitors have now selected their booths. I'll post the floor plan once they've made their selections.

And, I don't want to spill the beans before my big marketing campaign later this week/early next week, but... drum roll please... this year we have new Day Pass and Exhibit-Only Pass options! People asked about bringing spouses last year, so we set up an Exhibit-Only rate for that. And, the Day Pass provides a more affordable way to come check CCIC out. The Day Pass is for ONLY Thursday or ONLY Friday. It doesn't include any Saturday activities, such as the Show & Tells. I wanted to give folks who are dedicated to the full event some real bang for their buck. So to come just Friday it would be $199, but to come for all 3 days would be $355 at the early bird rate for a regular attendee, and even less with membership discounts. I also did another new thing this year - I'm offering a "CCIC alumnus" discount for people who have been to the conference in previous years. I did this because we've made a big leap to the West Coast, and I want people to leap with us and come back again this year. There's so much new stuff, it's worth the travel for someone on the East Coast.

That's a long explanation, but click here for all of the registration rates in a clearer outline.

That about covers it. I'm going to work on some FAQs for the website about these new registration rates, in case there's confusion, but I just couldn't wait to break that news.

I have one more bit of really news about a totally new thing this year, but I can't tell you until a certain publication comes out... stay tuned for that news.

2008-05-01T17:35:00.005-04:00

It's been a while since I posted. Jeff and I were gone for the past 2 weeks, with no access to a computer and our phones turned off. Our beloved dog, Pippin, was killed on April 17. He was run over by a truck at our shop. We are devastated - he was like a child to us, since we don't have any kids.

We are working on a memorial web page, but in the meantime here are a couple of photos.

In good news, the conference is really coming along. I am pleased to announce that enCOUNTER is our Platinum sponsor! We are working on getting their information up on the website. In the meantime, you can check out the updated exhibitor list.

I will announce all of our speakers soon. I posted about Eric Corey Freed, and I've had all the other speakers planned for a while, but have been delayed in getting them and the seminar details up on the website. A couple of speakers this year are fellow concrete countertop makers - Lynda Apple will speak about marketing concrete countertops, and Jeremy French will speak about taking your designs to new levels with three-dimensional techniques and GFRC. I'll post as soon as all the speaker bios are live.