Specifiers, their clients and contractors – there’s no more important audience for the timber sector to reach. They drive demand for our products and everything they are interested in is of interest to our industry.
At the same time, however, this group is among the most challenging to attract to events, such as exhibitions. Busy construction professionals must justify days out of the office and quantify what they achieve.
That’s why Timber Expo has radically overhauled its programme of seminars for 2012, to make building sector learning an even more central component of the exhibition.
Instead of 2011’s separate paid-for conference, all the seminars at this year’s show (September 25-26) will be focused in the three theatres in the main exhibition at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena. And the theatres themselves will also be part of the communication and education process, comprising a SIPs and engineered wood structure, a timber frame design and a third, yet to be announced timber-based build system.
While some seminars will be led by show sponsors, the majority will feature independent speakers, chosen for their knowledge and expertise in topical areas.
To ensure the content is tailored to the needs of the core target construction sector visitors, they were involved in the seminar programme selection. In response to market research, 200 TRADA specifier and timber industry members scored the main topical and product areas they would like addressed.
The resulting seminars will include Case studies of projects drawn from the 2012 Wood Awards shortlist.
Products entered for the new TRADA and Timber Expo-sponsored TTJ Timber Innovation Award will form another focus, as will latest developments in managing timber frame construction site fire risk.
International engineering group Ramboll will explain the computer modelling and engineering techniques behind TRADA’s specially created exhibition pavilion, and construction clients in housing, retail and hospitality sectors will discuss their experience of working with wood.
Issues-based seminars will cover a range of topics, including the government’s Green Deal, Building Regs Part L amendments, the EU Timber Regulation, Building Information Modelling, Passivhaus, Environmental Product Declarations, CE marking and the EU Construction Products Regulation. Similarly wide-ranging will be the building product presentations; looking at, among other areas, timber connections, SIPs, modified wood, timber cladding, and green oak.
In addition, in a separate conference room, there will be updates for higher education visitors on TRADA’s University Teaching Materials programme, plus breakfast briefings and talks organised by industry associations partnering with Timber Expo. The latter will cover their lobbying activities, and technical and marketing news.
We believe this is one of the UK’s most comprehensive timber sector seminar and presentation programmes; a total of 84 speakers and 42 sessions over the two days of the show, with theatre capacity for these to reach 3,000 delegates. And while delegates must attend the exhibition itself, they do not have to register in advance.
As specifiers want proof they’ve attended learning events, to fulfil their continuing professional development commitments, the plan is also to secure CPD accreditation across the seminar content. Certificates will then be issued to attendees on request; an added attraction for the timber industry’s key audience.
