Orlando, Fla.—Coverings, the preeminent event for North America’s ceramic tile and natural stone industry, unveiled a sneak peek of featured education for Coverings 2023, taking place here April 18-21, 2023, at the Orange County Convention Center. A robust lineup of complimentary learning opportunities, including live demonstrations, curated show floor tours, interactive sessions and partner education, will span all tile and stone industry segments.
Show organizers said attendees can benefit from dozens of educational opportunities focusing on numerous trends and relevant topics. All learning opportunities will focus on Coverings’ core tenets, which include “Sustainability,” “Health & Wellness,” “Outdoor Spaces” and “Timeless Luxury.”
Three on-floor education stages for participants to experience the latest innovations in the tile and stone industry will be key features of Coverings 2023. These include the return of the Installation Innovation Stage and Trends & Solutions Stage and a new 2023 addition of the Fabricator Stage.
Educational sessions will focus on the show’s three strategic learning tracks: “Installation & Fabrication,” “Materials & Trends” and “Workforce & Profits.”
The “Installation & Fabrication” track will help attendees brush up on industry best practices and cutting-edge techniques in the installation and fabrication of tile and stone. Those who attend the “Workforce & Profits” sessions will discover new and successful business practices and tactics to better grow and manage their workforces with practical labor solutions and takeaways for maximizing bottom-line profits. Attendees of the “Materials & Trends” sessions will be provided updates on the latest trends, design inspirations and techniques within the world of tile and stone.
Tenet sessions
A particularly invaluable session during Coverings 2023, which will be part of the “Sustainability” tenet, is “Today’s Leading Sustainability Drivers and Their Impact on the Tile Industry.” Attendees will gain insight into today’s sustainability market and the current conversation around carbon emissions, detailing the need for furthering the demands of environmental transparency, standardized environmental performance and human health optimization pertinent to product ingredients. The session will address how green building products and projects are increasingly scrutinized for embodied carbon, and how companies are further striving toward “carbon neutral” and “net-zero” practices.
Teresa McGrath, chief research officer at Healthy Building Network, will lead “Luxury Vinyl Tile’s Carbon and Toxic Impacts,” one of the featured sessions within the Coverings 2023 “Health & Wellness” theme. McGrath will present the underreported environmental and human health impacts associated with Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT). The session will include a review of LVT as a subject of concern among health experts and builders, in that, vinyl material introduces harmful toxins—such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—into living spaces and the Earth over time.
A Coverings 2023 “Outdoor Spaces” tenet session will include “Tile Installation Solutions and Systems for Exterior Projects.” Session attendees will join National Tile Contractor Association (NTCA) trainers and contractor members as they feature case studies on successful installations of porcelain and glass tile as well as natural stone in both outdoor residential and commercial projects. Product trends in varying formats, sizes and thicknesses will be discussed and new technology and installation systems will be introduced at this informational learning opportunity.
The “Timeless Luxury” insights during Coverings 2023 will include numerous engaging sessions, including “Understanding How to Market and Sell to Your Wealthiest Prospects.” This session will provide attendees with the keys to selling to the affluent and analyze the proven methodology of understanding their level of wealth. Showgoers will review the five levels of wealth and examine the behaviors, needs, wants, desires and fears of each demographic.
The University of Ceramic Tile and Stone, a Coverings 2023 educational partner, will present “How to be a Professional Architectural Sales Rep to Develop ‘Bullet Proof’ Specifications and Get the Order,” as a co-located learning opportunity, Monday, April 17, which is the day before the Coverings 2023 show floor opens. The focus of this four-hour live classroom training is to teach the fundamentals of being a professional and successful architectural sales representative. This course will explain and dissect the ingredients to developing a “Bulletproof Specification,” which are specifications resistant to value engineering and substitutes.
A separate registration and fee are required for this opportunity through advanced reservations on the University of Ceramic Tile and Stone’s website.
Register for Coverings 2023 here.