5 Days of Fun at IIBEC 2022

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter. 

This year’s IIBEC International Convention and Tradeshow was a warm welcome back to in-person tradeshows. 

More than 1,200 attendees arrived in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday, March 17, 2022 for the International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants (IIBEC) International Convention and Trade Show at the Rosen Shingle Creek. Here's a recap of the 2022 convention for those who couldn't make it or are feeling a little nostalgic! 

Day one 

Registration was open all day for the in-person event. For many registrants this was their first in-person show since the pandemic. IIBEC staff gladly helped register the attendees, welcoming everyone back to the tradeshow floor.  

“It’s great to see so many IIBEC members here in-person for what promises to be a great event,” said IIBEC Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President Brian Pallasch. “We held a conference last fall, but this is our return to the annual spring conference and trade show. The attendance numbers — and the smiles I’m seeing as our members greet each other again after so many months apart — show that the time was right for IIBEC to hold the springtime convention our members have come to expect.” 

Day one also included a meeting of the 2021-2022 IIBEC Board of Directors. 

Day two 

The second day of IIBEC was a sunny day, perfect weather for the President-Elect’s Golf Tournament. This year’s tournament was a shotgun, four-person scramble.  

Those looking to avoid sunburn attended two auxiliary seminars that launched the conference educational content:  

• Florida’s High-Velocity Hurricane Zone Product-Approval Process, presented by Alex Tigera and Jaime Gascon, PE of the Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources. 
• Roof Technology and Science I, led by Aaron Nelson, RBEC, RRC, RWC, REWC, RRO of Roofing Technical Services and Andre Coppin, RRC, RRO, AHERA of Cornerstone Architectural Group. 

The afternoon was full of IIBEC committee meetings where they organized the upcoming year. The day ended with IIBEC’s opening reception and with hospitality suites sponsored by Carlisle and Johns Manville. 

Day three 

Day three marked the opening of the trade show! The show started early, with a strong turnout for educational sessions that ranged from cladding attachment strength to mental health and industry diversity. 

After a meeting of the RCI-IIBEC foundations’ (U.S. and Canada) board of directors and IIBEC region meetings, the opening ceremony launched with a high-energy dance routine from the Funky Wunks. 

Outgoing IIBEC President Ted Sheridan then thanked the meeting’s sponsors — including the exclusive sponsor of the opening ceremony, Johns Manville — and encouraged IIBEC members to think of each other as family. “Take in the whole experience,” Ted said. “You’ve earned it.” 

Incoming First Vice President Amy Peevey thanked attendees for coming in person and expressed her appreciation for the IIBEC staff who made the conference possible in half the usual time (the 2021 IIBEC International Convention and Trade Show took place in the fall rather than the spring). She also thanked RCI-IIBEC foundations’ sponsorship of 30 students in attendance for this year’s event. 

Then the keynote speaker Duncan Wardle took the stage. As a former head of innovation and creativity at Disney, he encouraged taking the time required to be creative. Duncan’s biggest piece of advice was to “give yourselves the gift of time to think.” 

On the tradeshow floor, more than 120 exhibitors welcomed the convention attendees. Sika and Polyglass did product demonstrations and SOPREMA and Siplast hosted a packed reception following the event.  

Day four 

The tradeshow continued into day four of the convention, with attendees continuing to learn about the latest products and services.  

Later, an awards luncheon was held, sponsored by Sika, where IIBEC President Ted Sheridan presented awards in numerous categories to IIBEC members who had achieved excellence in the past year.  

Here are the highlights of the winners this year: 

• The Horowitz Award, presented for best technical article in IIBEC Interface in the past year, went to Violet LaBrosse and Jason Wilen for their article, “Not Your Average Roof Replacement Case Study.” 
• The Document Competition Award went to Jennifer Hogan; Trevor Weilbach; Jason Mobraten; James Ripley; Rupesh Gulati; John Codee Goff; and Shawn LeCrone. 
• The Correll Award went to David Balistreri.  
• The Busching Award went to Kami Farahmandpour and Paul Buccellato.  
• The Emerging Professionals Award of Excellence went to Charles Sietmann. 
• The Outstanding Volunteer Award went to Steven Drennan, Andre Coppin, Alejandrina Galicia, Helene Hardy Pierce and Janial Mack. 
• The Michael DeFrancesco Volunteer of the Year Award went to April McKelvey. 
• The newly renamed Joe F. Hale Lifetime Achievement Award went to IIBEC Past President Jean-Guy Levaque. 

Then Ted Sheridan and Karl Schaack were inducted as the newest members to the IIBEC Jury of Fellows. Additionally, IIBEC 20 Year Members, 25 Year Members, 30 Year Members and 35 Year Members were all recognized. 

The rest of the afternoon was filled with the Jury Fellows Meeting and six more educational sessions. Then the RCI-IIBEC Foundations held their annual fundraiser, which featured silent and live auctions, door prizes and a raffle. 

Day five 

The final full day of the 2022 IIBEC International Convention and Trade Show included the Annual Meeting of the Members and a strong slate of educational sessions. 

At the annual meeting Ted Sheridan passed the gavel to new IIBEC President Chris Giffin, who spoke of the bright future for IIBEC after another year of the pandemic. 

IIBEC concluded the Executive Committee election and welcomed Chris Dawkins as its new secretary-treasurer during the meeting. Board members ending their service are Neil Johnson, RRO, AIA, Szymon Zienkiewicz, RRC, RRO, and Scott Hinesley, RRC, PE. 

The IIBEC Board of Directors and Executive Committee for 2022-2023 are: 

• Region 1: Julie Palmer 
• Region 2: Michael Fell 
• Region 3: Charlie Sietmann, RRO, REWO, CCCA, CIT 
• Region 4: John Cannon, RRO, REWO, CDT 
• Region 5: Julie McDonald, REWC, RRC 
• Region 6: Burt Carver, RRC, RRO 
• Region 7: Jennifer Hogan, RRO, LEED AP, Certified Passive House Consultant 
• President: Chris Giffin, RRC, AIA 
• Secretary/treasurer: Chris Dawkins, PE 
• First vice president: Amy Peevey, RRO, REWC, PE, CDT 
• Second vice president: Robért Hinojosa, F-IIBEC, RBEC, RRC, RWC, REWC, RRO, REWO, PE, CDT 
• Immediate past president: Ted Sheridan, BEC, RRC, REWC, RWC, PEng 
• Chief executive officer and executive vice president: Brian Pallasch 

Then, IIBEC Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President Brian Pallasch presented on the state of the association. He highlighted the new publications as well as a national marketing campaign to raise awareness of IIBEC and its members. Among his updates was the unveiling of a new 40th anniversary logo for IIBEC. The 40th anniversary will be celebrated at IIBEC’s Convention and Trade Show March 2-7, 2023, in Houston, Texas. 

The rest of the day was dedicated to education! A total of 12 different educational sessions were available to attendees throughout the day. 

The convention concluded with the President’s Reception and Annual Banquet. 

Learn more about IIBEC in the RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit iibec.org.