Builder

34 B U I L D E R BUILDERONLINE.COM

A rundown of IBS sessions
that piqued the interest of
BUILDER’s editorial team

The Great Builder Debate:
Building for the Future
TUESDAY, JAN. 10 → 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Small-volume, custom, and
production builders present their
perspectives on the greatest issues
facing home builders today.

If They See It, They Will Build It:
Home Hot Spots That Influence
the Purchase
TUESDAY, JAN. 10 → 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM

This session debuts the results of
new research examining how key
home features impact room appeal
and future home purchase decisions.

Foodies & Community
Design—It’s What’s In!
TUESDAY, JAN. 10 → 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM

A look at local food sources, food
trucks, and farmers’ markets as
low-cost, high-impact, and highly
successful community features.

15 Advanced Digital Marketing
Strategies to Accelerate Sales
TUESDAY, JAN. 10 → 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM

A crash course in the latest
digital marketing, social media,
and content strategy trends, and
how they can enhance your buyers’
experience or even make a sale.

Labor Shortage: Proactive Ideas

for Solving Your Trade Gap

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 → 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Discover how top builders are

solving their labor gaps, learn

about efforts aimed at introducing

students to the building trades,

and come away from the morning

with a plan for your own market.

How Risky Is Your Home

Building Business?

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 → 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

A refresher on the many risks

facing builders—political, opera-

tional, financial and beyond—and

the tools and best practices

available to mitigate them.

Clients from Hell & How to

Deal with Them...Revisited

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 → 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Through their own personal

experiences with difficult clients,

four builders present their methods

for mitigating conflict before it arises

and managing a crisis when it occurs.

Estimating, Job Costing,

Markup, & Margins: Pricing

Strategies That Maximize Profit

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 → 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Learn to make accurate estimates,

increase your profitability, and

ensure that you charge what your

work is worth.

Get Floored: Great Floor

Plan Trends for 2017

THURSDAY, JAN. 12 → 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

A showcase of floor plan ideas,

trends, and concepts, plus the best

ways to work them into your own

projects, no matter where you build.

Recruiting Elusive Talent:

What’s Working & What’s Not

THURSDAY, JAN. 12 → 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM

Find out how to face down the

challenge of finding and retaining

new talent, improve your recruitment

tactics, and appeal to a new

generation of tech-savvy prospects.

Metrostudy, a

housing data

company owned by

Hanley Wood, will

host a forum during

the Builders’ Show

on Jan. 11 from

7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at

the Hyatt Regency

Orlando. Mark

Boud, Metrostudy

senior vice

president and chief

economist, will

present his 2017

national housing

and economic

forecast. Boud

also will touch

on affordability,

using economic,

socioeconomic,

and demographic

forecasts to

predict the shape

of the housing

cycle for the next

few years in terms

of housing demand

relative to supply

and in terms of

affordability.

Following a Q&A

session with Boud,

Metrostudy will

share its research

and analysis on

the best practices

to build and

sell homes to

millennials. To

register, visit bit.ly/

ibs2017breakfast

IN
SESSION

Editors’

Picks

OUTDOOR

LIVING COMES

TO LIFE

outdoor living doesn’t just mean a simple

patio with a few chairs anymore, accord-

ing to IBS presenter Maxine Lauer, CEO of

Michigan-based Sphere Trending. Lauer

says when it comes to outdoor space, home

buyers today wish to re-create what they have

inside, such as a family room with comfortable

seating and a fireplace, a dining area with a

table and chairs, and an outdoor kitchen

where they can prepare a meal.

The demand for this trend, says Lauer, who

will be speaking on the topic at IBS, isn’t being

driven by any certain demographic or genera-

tion. Rather, it’s driven by the overarching

consumer desire for a healthier lifestyle,

which includes getting more fresh air.

“It’s about incorporating outdoor spaces into

an everyday lifestyle,” says Lauer, who adds

that 51% of millennials say they like to decorate

their outdoor spaces similar to their indoor

spaces. One way this is achieved is with lighting

and furnishing choices, from pendant lights to

built-in seating on the deck. Exteriors are a

great place to experiment with texture between

materials, such as pairing rock and painted

brick with rustic wood finishes.

The outdoor living trend isn’t relegated to

just the backyard, either—front and side

porches make excellent sitting areas. And for

baby boomers, a private outdoor space off the

master suite offers a retreat when their kids

and grandkids are visiting.

Learn more about outdoor living ideas for

every budget, how to properly zone these spaces

with design, and what materials to use outdoors

during Lauer’s “Reimagining Outdoor Living

Spaces” presentation, 9 : 30 a.m. to 10 : 30 a.m.

on Jan. 10.

BEST IN SHOW

METROSTUDY

FORECAST

Co

ur

tesy

Sph

ere

Tren

ding