November 5, 2012

Vendors and presenters gearing up for annual event

BUILDEX CALGARY

Attendees can expect more than 35 seminars and 250 exhibitors at this year's Buildex Calgary. It is being held Nov. 6-7 at the BMO Centre on the Stampede grounds.

JESSICA PATTERSON

correspondent

Lace up your steel-toed boots for Buildex Calgary, taking place Nov. 6-7 at the BMO Centre on the Stampede grounds.

The annual trade show will feature a wide range of topics, speakers, presentations, networking events and panels, with more than 35 seminars and 250 exhibits.

Show director Paul Maryschak said organizers are looking forward to this year’s event.

“We continue to see some growth and we look forward to more of it,” he said.

“We’ve done some things this year that we think will draw a larger crowd.”

The plans are in place for this year’s show.

“Seminars continue to be top level and absolutely fabulous. We keep getting more and more positive feedback on the seminars,” Maryschak said.

“On the show floor, we continue to have more and more interesting stuff in the greening of the industry and making it more efficient using less energy to do more.”

Maryschak said one of the highlights will be the architecture panel.

The panel takes place Wednesday morning and is titled Transit-Oriented Development: Is Everyone on the Same Page?

It features Calgary alderman Gian-Carlo Carra, Calgary’s general manager of planning and development Rollin Stanley, Brookfield senior development manager Grace Lui, and Joe Starkman from Knightsbridge Homes.

George Dark will be moderating.

In Calgary, transit-oriented development has been gaining traction, as the city has begun to improve the transit system to meet Calgarians’ mobility demands.

“It’ll feature a lot of different perspectives, which will make it an interesting discussion,” Maryschak said.

Another seminar of interest at Buildex Calgary this year is the case study of the Calgary International Airport expansion.

Participants include Janice Liebe, the principal at Dialog, Bruce McFarlane, the director of air terminal development, planning & engineering at the Calgary Airport Authority and project director Marvin Messner from EllisDon.

“An owner, contractor and planner all participating on that case study,” Maryschak said. “They should have some interesting things to say.”

He explained that Buildex Vancouver hosted a similar case study in February, with the owners of Vancouver International Airport.

“They gave an idea of the short-term plans, the medium-term and here’s an inside scoop on what we’re doing in the next 10 to 20 years,” the show director said.

“I don’t know if they’ll have the ability to talk quite that far into the future in Calgary, but I know the airports are planning about that far.

“It’s really interesting to see what they’re doing to facilitate moving goods and people.”

Last year, 225 vendors filled the tradeshow floor and several thousand people attended.

Maryschak said he expects the same number of vendors this year, as well as more than 4,000 visitors.

On the tradeshow floor, Buildex Calgary is welcoming back Nissan, who will be showing off their utility vehicles, and Nexen who may bring their solar trailer down for display.

The show’s parent company Merchandise Mart Properties Inc. (MMPI), was bought in July by Informa, a multinational conference and publishing company.

The newly named Informa Canada Inc., will continue to run Buildex conferences across the country.

The change in ownership isn’t going to affect the Buildex Calgary show, which will have the same look and feel as in previous years, Maryschak said.

A fan favourite, the annual Canadian Construction Association (CCA) breakfast is once again on tap.

The speaker will be the CCA chairman, John Schubert, who will deliver the keynote address to members, recount what’s happening across the country and meet members at a face-to-face level.

Maryschak said 500 members are expected to attend this year, up from last year’s 250.

The annual meet and greet reception will be held at end of day on Tuesday.

Exhibitors and attendees alike are invited to this networking event, to have a glass of wine and complimentary hors d’oeuvres, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Buildex Calgary runs Nov. 6-7, 2012 at the BMO Centre, at 1410 Olympic Way Southeast, Calgary. For more information and a full list of seminars visit www.buildexcalgary.com.

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