ConstructionOnline Blog

The International Builders’ Show (IBS) in Las Vegas, Nevada is only eight weeks away, and we could not be more excited! (Request your free tickets!) As we approach IBS, we want to provide you with a weekly preparation countdown, to make sure we are helping you prepare best we can. In these exclusive articles you can learn more about the benefits for you as an attendee, new product highlights, a Las Vegas location/event spotlight, and a special behind-the-scenes look at how we as exhibitors prepare for the biggest trade show in North America!

What’s in it For You:

There are several benefits to attending a trade show. Including, but definitely not limited to:

1. New Business Solutions. Is there room for improvement in your company? A trade show is a perfect place to find new solutions for exponential growth in your business. It is also an incredible opportunity to learn about the newest innovations in construction technology, whether it be in products, brands, software, or techniques– ultimately empowering growth for the entire year and longer. 

2. Networking. Trade shows are a perfect place to make new business connections and build relationships with other industry professionals. You can swap ideas, build upon each other, and learn from other comparable markets from around the world. You can understand what others in your field use, and what is proven successful for them.

3. Education. One of the main benefits of trade shows are the seminars and courses offered by professionals in the field, on a variety of different topics. These topics can range from design and building techniques, to business development and industry trends, to land development and community design.

4. Compare Vendors. At trade shows, and especially one of the IBS scale, you can assess and understand more about the companies that you use or buy from. You can build a personal knowledge base of different brands, some of which may offer better products, prices, or personalization that you need. Comparing and contrasting these companies and their products is much easier to conceptualize when they’re all displayed in person, and in one place. 

5. Team Building. The majority of attendees we speak to at IBS travel in groups. It’s often small groups– usually managers, a business development team, or even the whole company on occasion. Attending a trade show together will help empower one another– building excitement for the year ahead. Being in a new environment paired with the influx of new information can help generate fresh ideas for your business. Plus, after the show is over for the day, there are plenty of spots in town to wind down with your team and build relationships outside of a work headspace.

If you haven’t already, the next couple of weeks would be a great time to secure your free tickets, and to finalize any travel or housing arrangements for the duration of the show. Las Vegas is a big city, but the closer we get to the event, these things may become increasingly limited. 

Las Vegas Spotlight

Las Vegas has so much more to offer you than the International Builders’ Show for the last week of February. Of course you can visit the casinos, walk the strip, and check out the sphere, but after the number of years that we’ve been to the city for IBS, we have discovered some unique places and events.

Fabulous Las Vegas is the perfect place to learn about the things you shouldn’t do in life. At TopGolf in Vegas, you’ll learn all about the things you shouldn’t do as a golfer– 

Last year, our team stayed in close proximity to the TopGolf on the strip. Some of us are golfers, but most of us see golf as an opportunity to get some sunshine, drink some beer, and ride around in a little golf cart all day. We decided to check it out one night, and we had a blast! It gave a few of us the chance to show off our golf swings, but the majority of us ended up making a fool of ourselves. Either way, it was an incredible bonding experience, and a perfect way to unwind at the end of a long day of excitement.

TopGolf had a great selection of food and drinks, and there was plenty of space for our whole team to hang out around the golf bay. After you leave the show, consider testing your skills at this high-tech indoor driving range! For more information about TopGolf, click here.

Weekly Feature

One of the most exciting parts of IBS as vendors is having the opportunity to unveil and highlight some of our freshest product releases and updates. Our mobile app has always been a great place for COL users to be able to provide updates from the site and add different things to a project from their phone. 

Thanks to our incredibly talented mobile development team, a multi-year project update has been completed as of December 2023! Now, the COL Mobile version 5.0.0 is almost like a completely new product. The app has completely revolutionized on-the-spot project management in the construction industry. In the palm of your hand you are able to:

• Log any activity in a project including photos
• Make all necessary communications between your team and the client
• Access and edit schedules
• Track time spent working on a project
• Mark-up blueprints
• Access estimate details

…and much, much more. For more information about specific improvements made to the app, click here!

Behind the Scenes

Even though IBS is always a terrific experience, we have learned that it doesn’t come without an incredible amount of hard work. IBS 2024 will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, which is approximately a whopping 3.2 million square feet– an unfathomable size. This is the one week out of the year where we get to take off the software hats, and put on our hard hats. We get to design and build a stunning, fully developed UDA Technologies booth from nothing but a taped-off area of concrete.

While every year is better than the last, it also brings new surprises and challenges. This week, we have discussed a lot about past experiences at IBS, and what strategies we’ve implemented in the past. A few years ago, we decided to give out free T Shirts. What we didn’t expect was genuinely how much time was spent digging through boxes of T Shirts to find certain sizes. Instead of focusing on the demonstration of our award-winning software ConstructionOnline, we had to focus on running the Gap store that was the UDA Technologies booth. Needless to say, we probably won’t be giving out T Shirts this year…

At this point in the planning process, our team here at UDA has already completed some preparations for the event. We have:

• Finalized the list of who from our team will be in attendance
• Made flight and airport shuttle arrangements
• Made arrangements for housing
• Organized special promotions to advertise at IBS only
• Designed limited edition merchandise and deliverables to distribute at IBS only
• Organized a timeline for our preparations including deliverables, postcards, an ordering schedule, and more.
• Organized a timeline for IBS follow-up tasks and events
• Designed an updated IBS page on our website
• Published the “New for 2024” page on our website
• Lined up vendors for storage, electrical setup, and booth features
• Decided on a finalized booth design

You don’t want to miss next week’s edition of the IBS countdown from UDA Technologies, where you’ll learn more about your attendee benefits, other exciting product highlights, more unique Vegas spots, and a peek into our preparations as a vendor. To learn more about our products, visit our website here, and get excited for the 7 week countdown to the largest trade show in North America!