The National Wood Floor Association's 2014 Wood Flooring Expo "Struck a Cord" last week at the enormous Music City Center convention complex in country music's mecca-Nashville, Tenn.
This was the 29th annual expo. Attendance, which had been affected by the nation's economic downturn, was back to pre-2007 levels. A total of 3,036 people attended the three day event from April 16-19, a 30 percent increase from 2013.
Wayne Cotton who, together with Don Finkell, used the Expo to launch new company American OEM Wood Floors, has never missed an Expo. He said early Expos paled in comparison to the booths, educational sessions and Inspector Symposium seminars at last week's Expo.
"There's no other show that segments into the wood flooring market, so for us that's important," Cotton said. "[W]e can meet with our customers, potential customers, and they're interested in one thing-wood flooring."
One change to the Expo that Roy Reichow, owner of National Wood Floor Consultants, said could have caused the attendance boost was moving the NWAFCP Inspector Symposium to the first day of the Expo instead of the last. The new schedule, Reichow said, encouraged Symposium attendees to stick around for the show.
Next year, the Expo is celebrating its 30th birthday by returning to St. Louis April 28-May 1, 2015. The show will take place on the field under the Edward Jones Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams.
