Photo by Diane Taylor
I admit it. I attend The World of Concrete trade show every year because I love the title of the show, and I feel kinda macho just saying, “I’m attending the World of Concrete”.
In a more serious vein, the show last week, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, celebrated its 41st anniversary as “the industry’s only annual international event–dedicated to the commercial concrete and masonry construction industries.” Expected attendance: 48,000 people.
Photo by Diane Taylor
Who were the expected attendees? Hold your hat, the list is long. According to press information, the audience included commercial contractors, concrete contractors, concrete pumpers, construction managers, dealers/distributors, decorative concrete contractors, designers and specifiers, general contractors, masonry contractors, architects, engineers, brick and block producers, ready mix producers, rental equipment centers, repair contractors, residential contractors, specialty concrete contractors, pipe and block producers and precast/prestressed producers…and more. Wow…the world of concrete has lots of players.
The attached video shows a few of the things I found interesting at the show…and of course, my knowledge is so limited, that I had to ask the most basic of questions. “How do you get concrete to shine?” “Is that wood surface really just concrete?” And I certainly didn’t know foam could be added to concrete.
The trade show boasted approximately 1,400 exhibitors, a reported 17% increase over the 2014 show. A number of contests were part of the show. Attendees could enter a masonry skills challenge, a fastest trowel on the block competition and a bricklayer world championship. On Sunday, before the show officially began, a tour of the Hoover Dam and Bypass Bridge was offered.
Photo by Diane Taylor
The World of Concrete offered one-stop shopping for attendees searching for new and innovative construction machinery as well as educational training and certification. As a trade show, the World of Concrete was purchased from Reed Exhibitions last year and is now owned by Informa Exhibitions which operates 130 trade and consumer events in over 38 cities across the globe. The “world” title fits Informa. On their web site, Informa lists their “main office locations” as London, Sao Paulo, Dubai, Singapore, Melbourne and Beijing.
Wow! I never knew such a show existed. Nor that concrete could actually shine! The whole affair must’ve been very cool to see, I might go see it one day! Does this concrete show happen every year?