Please Note: 2009 information will be available mid-July! LEARN: 2008 Show Education Sessions The full registration package provided attendees with access to ALL education sessions on both days of the show. Attendees made an impact on their bottom line by learning from the nation’s top experts in economics, sales and marketing, building science, green and environmental building and the world of finance. Here’s a summary of the education offered at the 2008 NWBS. The 2009 education sessions will be posted soon. Education-at-a-Glance
Detailed Session Descriptions Show Education - Day One Profit or Punishment: Your Construction Contract This class is designed to show how to incorporate a “Change Order” clause into a contract that works effectively for both the contractor and customer, saving time, money and energy. Attendees will also learn how to determine the rights and responsibilities of both the contractor and the customer in dispute situations. Audience: Contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, developers, providers of professional services, and custom/spec homebuilders Why Green Builders Stay Busy in a Questionable Economy Learn how to market yourself, your firm and your products and services with relevance to today’s green marketplace. Learn the latest trends in green building and remodeling to improve building quality and increase the bottom line. You’ll also gain greater credibility and visibility in the community, increase sales, improve staff morale and create satisfied customers. Johnston’s new book, Green from the Ground Up will be available for purchase with author autograph. Audience: Builders, remodelers, suppliers, vendors, real estate professionals Soil and Site Strategies for Storm Water Compliance and Landscape Success New storm water regulations are taking effect around Western Washington that require soil "best management practices," including preserving site topsoil and vegetation where possible, reducing compaction and amending disturbed soils with compost to restore healthy soil and storm water functions. Learn why and how these requirements are being adopted and how to comply in a cost-effective way. Includes specifications, construction sequencing and practical methods for a variety of sites. Audience: Builders, developers, project managers, erosion control, storm water and landscape design professionals Design & Build for Life, provocative designs to build it right the first time. This panel discussion examines the length of time a home can meet a family's needs. It discusses how combining sustainability with creature comforts makes the home safer and healthier, while helping owners avoid tortuous and wasteful future remodels. Their design ideas reflect the European flair for extended family usage and show how incorporating small changes can have a significant lifestyle impact and yield a generous cost savings over the life of the home. Audience: Architects, designers, builders, remodelers and real estate professionals Website Hot Seats - Let the Expert Critique Your Website and Provide Inside Tips to Increase Your ROI! What’s the best prescription for creating a website that builds your business? Live Website Critique! Get specific suggestions for increasing your website’s lead generating power by as much as 300%. When you website is designed right, it can quite literally take the place of a salesperson - introducing you to potential clients, positioning you as the expert, answering questions, and following up automatically. This is NOT a workshop where you just listen to Stacy speak. Instead, participant’s Websites are put up on a screen live for a critique packed with feedback, ideas, and suggestions for giving it a big, fat power boost. Plus you’ll get to see what other people have done, and listen to the advice they get, so you can apply that to your own site and business as well. Audience: Business owners and sales and marketing professionals Wedi Waterproof Tile Backer and Shower System Learn why Wedi Building Solutions is transforming the tile industry and why builders prefer Wedi under their tile in wet areas. Wedi is a 100% watertight shower pan and wallboard system that installs in just a few hours and is ready for installation. This German technology enjoys an impressive 60% market share. Course shows how to reduce liability by constructing with this proven shower system that is mold and mildew free. Audience: Architects, contractors, risk management departments, quality assurance and warranty departments, insurance professionals and labor force The New Economic Power Source: Exploring the Opportunity in Multicultural Markets With an overview of demographics and the changing homebuyer profile in the Northwest, Gonzales gives step-by-step instruction to increase market share and profitability in any economic condition. Learn the fundamental cultural competency skills to improve effectiveness in working with multicultural customers with crucial tips to unlocking the potential of this market and leveraging vendor and affiliate partners. Audience: Builders, remodelers and other building industry professionals Irresistible Marketing Ideas for Buyers in Today's Market Buyers today visit an average of 17 homes and spend less than nine minutes in each house. Dave Porter, MIRM (Member of the Institute of Residential Marketing) will reveal the latest and best ways to make your home or community stand out. This fast paced session includes plug and play ideas you can deploy immediately and shows you how to set your home or community apart from the rest. Audience: Real estate sales professionals, site agents, marketing personnel Social Media 101 – 90 Days in the Online World Learn what social media really is and learn the tools and tactics that work. Avoid pitfalls and learn to analyze your marketing budget for successful results. Find out what steps a group of Master Builders Association member businesses took to leverage online tools and their results. Course includes expert direction on how to tactically apply these concepts to other businesses and the top five tools and tactics to empower your own social media strategy. Audience: All business owners, communications and public relations managers, web developers and IT personnel Impact of Government Regulation on House Prices: McMansionomics The session looks at neighborhood appeal regulations (McMansion ordinances), affordable housing (zoning) and life saving (fire sprinklers). Learn why housing regulations have unintended consequences and why objectives are rarely met while house prices always rise. Discover why these sorts of regulations often increase sprawl, raise housing prices and reduce school budgets unnecessarily. Audience: Builders and remodelers Master Builders Construction Industry Solutions Overview Become adept at sending and retrieving critical information using handsets, PDA's, notebooks and other wireless tools. Course covers streamlined paperwork processing, scheduling, sub-contractor management and collaboration, safety and compliance, customer satisfaction, the warranty process, GPS 101 and how it can benefit you. Audience: All builders and remodelers Integrated Construction Estimating This Sage Software class teaches how construction estimating software – specific to the homebuilding industry – can help you tighten your estimates and win more profitable bids. You’ll learn first-hand about the flexibility of this powerful system and how easy it is to use. Topics include spreadsheet manipulation, multiple methods of takeoff, custom report output and integration capabilities. Audience: All business owners, accounting and estimating staff, IT personnel and project managers Preparing for the Up Swing It may look bleak now but according to the experts, the upswing is coming and it will create a lot of opportunity. This session will help you recognize the indicators, triggers and strategies that will propel you ahead of the competition. Prepare for action as the housing recovery begins with strategies to capitalize on opportunities and establish trigger points to set those strategies into action. Audience: All business owners and key management personnel Audience: All business owners, accounting and estimating staff, IT personnel and project managers Bilingual Challenges in Residential Construction Language, culture and conflict resolution are the focus of this session. Participants will learn how bringing cultural understanding and fluency to conflicts can help their staff grow and make more intentional and adaptive choices. You will learn how to develop skills necessary to comprehend and appreciate how cultural differences impact language, values, customs, behavior and expectations. Hot Topics in Remodeling In-depth analysis of the cycles of the remodeling market, how the current market turmoil is affecting the remodeling industry and how to weather the storm. Session will also cover vital topics such as the latest data from market economists and their outlook for the future; the new lead paint regulations and resources for working with the new rules and how remodelers can differentiate themselves from their competition and differentiate their business for success. Audience: Remodelers and those interested in the remodeling aspects of the building industry New Member Orientation Join Larry Chimenti, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties Director of Membership and other great speakers to learn all about what the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish counties has to offer you as a new member. Note: This is a members only event. Show Education - Day Two The New Mortgage Market – Where’s the Money Prepare yourself to educate your clients about both short-term and long-term financing goals with emphasis on qualifying, property types, common sense underwriting, how to rate credit requirements and answering the question, "where is the new money?" Taylor explains how the industry has not changed, but rather readjusted itself and how to take advantage of today's more streamlined financial products. Audience: All builders, remodelers, sub-contractors, real estate professionals and suppliers Getting to Zero Energy: The Future of Energy-Efficient Homes This session explores practical ways to reduce energy use, evaluate on-site power generation options and educate consumers on the value of an energy-efficient home as well as examine the tools and stepping-stones needed to reach zero energy. Examples used will include the Shirey Contracting Incorporated’s Zero Energy Idea House and other demonstration projects including the Built Green™ Home at Suncadia and Going Green at the Beach, which was named NAHB's Green Custom Home of the Year for 2007. Audience: Builders, remodelers, architects, designers and real estate professionals Leaders Growing Leaders Backed by 30 years of experience and leadership in the home building industry and as a business coach, Nelson looks at what is stopping companies from achieving greater success and helps them create action plans that work by creating leaders and not just workers. This captivating session "nails" the building blocks of successful business growth. Audience: All business owners, superintendents and supervisory staff Get a New Plan Stan! Smart Development with Transportation Choices This session details the future of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) in King and Snohomish Counties, reviewing new policies that affect traffic and growth. The panel will discuss how TDM can help alleviate traffic problems where transit is not available and describe how to incorporate TDM techniques into developments, including transit-oriented developments, as well as single-family detached homes. Audience: Builders, developers, transportation and land use planners, engineers and designers Permitting – Negotiating the Maze, Things To Do, Not Do, Shortcuts and Why You Fail Improve your timelines in today's very challenging market. Learn how to negotiate the process of land use and building permits amidst conflicting codes between jurisdictions and agencies and reduce the time, energy, and financial expense of incomplete applications and other drains on production associated with permitting. These experts will share the skills developed from many years experience to help improve your approval rate. Audience: Developers, builders, remodelers How Savvy Marketers Harness the Internet in Challenging Times Discovery how to into harnessing the internet in challenging times with strategies to convert your website browsers into homebuyers. This program will explain consumer behavior online, how buyers find you, effective ways to measure and monitor your online programs and how to convert window shoppers into homebuyers through effective lead management systems. Audience: Marketing managers, sales consultants and anyone within the sales organization charged with marketing and selling homes. Enhance Your Productivity, Livability and Sustainability Through Innovative Technology Explore the ways technology can increase productivity in the office, in the field and in your personal life. Learn what new technology you need to install now to differentiate your product from other products on the market while making a real difference by reducing energy consumption through technological advances. Audience: All attendees Theft Proof Your Jobsite! An invaluable, information-packed hour detailing how to protect your jobsite. Topics include understanding the role of the police, how to make fences, gates and locks work for you, jobsite security systems, protecting your jobsite from tool and copper theft, security through landscaping, value-added design features and construction methods that enhance security, pre-employment screening and more. Audience: Builders, remodelers, project managers, front line superintendents Breaking News – Legislative Update Whether it is the budget, growth management, the Puget Sound Partnership, vesting or contractor licensing, the 2009 legislative session will be an exciting and possibly frightening 105-day roller coaster ride. This session will be an overview of what is likely to come up in the next legislative session and the issues directly affecting the homebuilding industry. Audience: All building-industry professionals with an interest in Northwest region legislative issues Integrated Construction Estimating This Sage Software class teaches how construction estimating software – specific to the homebuilding industry – can help you tighten your estimates and win more profitable bids. You’ll learn first-hand about the flexibility of this powerful system and how easy it is to use. Topics include spreadsheet manipulation, multiple methods of takeoff, custom report output and integration capabilities. Audience: All business owners, accounting and estimating staff, IT personnel and project managers |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright 2008 Northwest Builders Show. All rights reserved. 2009 NWBS Sponsors
