Arlington, Va.—On May 8-11, Coverings, the largest international tile and stone exhibition in North America, will feature over 45 sessions in the 2018 conference program. Speakers will share their knowledge and industry insights with attendees, with conference programing highlighting key topics for the tile and stone industry at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. With CEU credits available, these sessions continue to bring invaluable free education to the show.
Coverings 2018 will partner with industry leaders to present four featured sessions, as follows:
- May 8, 8:30-9:30 a.m.: “Focusing on the Future: An In-Depth Look at the Leading Color and Design Trends.” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and director at Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training, will provide clarification, inspiration and validation to the upcoming trends that will work best for businesses. Eiseman will also include helpful insights from her newest book, “The Complete Color Harmony,” Pantone edition.
- May 8, 8:30-10 a.m.: “Town Hall Meeting I: What General Contractors and Specifiers Are Saying About the Stone and Tile Industry?” will discuss what general contractors and design professionals are saying about the stone and tile industry, and the impact on a successful product installation. Moderated by National Tile Contractors Association executive director Bart Bettiga and Natural Stone Institute CEO James Hieb.
- May 9, 8-9 a.m.: “Town Hall Meeting II: Meeting General Contractor and Specifier Expectations,” a second town hall session hosted by Bart Bettiga and James Hieb, will discuss how to meet the expectations of general contractors and designers. Using the insight gained from the first town hall, this interactive session will include small group discussions designed to learn about partners’ thought processes.
- May 9, 9:30-10:30 a.m.: “Developing Our Workforce: Engaging the Next Generation for the Tile and Stone Industry,” addresses the continuing labor shortage and skills gap within the industry, which has had a direct impact on the quality of installations as fewer qualified installers are available. Moderated by Gayle Silvey, associate director of the SkillsUSA Office of Education.
To learn about the full range of conference sessions at coverings, visit eventscribe.com/2018/Coverings/agenda.asp.