Although attendance numbers were not yet available at press time, the consensus on the trade show floor at Surfaces 2013 in Las Vegas was that traffic was substantially better than in recent years; last year attendance was more than 27,000. This year approximately 600 companies exhibited at the show, compared with 546 in 2012.
New on the show floor this year was the NWFA Pavilion, where the National Wood Flooring Association and Hardwood Floors were co-located along with kiosks for member companies participating in the pavilion.
"Our partnership with Hanley Wood worked well for everyone: Surfaces was able to land some new exhibitors onto the floor; NWFA increased its value to its members by having a place members could meet and manufacturers could exhibit; and most of all, these joint efforts raised the exposure level for the wood flooring industry within the show," said Michael Martin, NWFA CEO. Martin added that going forward, he hopes to see other wood flooring companies exhibit in the pavilion or locate their booths near it so there is a more dedicated home for wood flooring products on the Surfaces show floor.
Allegheny Mountain Hardwood Flooring (Emlenton, Pa.) was among the member companies in the NWFA Pavilion. "I feel that having our kiosk under the NWFA pavilion was a good fit for us at the Surfaces show," said Allegheny Marketing Director Jessica Hickman. "If we went with a small 10 x 10 booth, we would have been lost among the giant companies. Our central location and associated with the NWFA allowed for more networking and more overall traffic."
The pavilion was adjacent to the S2 Theater demonstration stage, where NWFA member Chris Zizza did two demonstrations on "Wood Floor Touch Ups & Repairs" and new NWFA Director of Certification & Education Brett Miller did two demonstrations on "Wood Floor Tips & Techniques."
To see photos from the show floor, visit the Hardwood Floors Facebook Surfaces photo album.
