S2:E1 Coffee Conversations Ray Giovine- TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of an interview with Ray Giovine, Group director of the International Roofing Expo, about what to expect with the 2021 International Roofing Expo. You can read the interview below, listen to the conversation, or watch the webinar.

Heidi Ellsworth: Good morning and welcome to season two of Coffee Conversations. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and I'm a partner with Roofers Coffee Shop. I am really excited this morning. First of all, the fact that we're starting season two of Coffee Conversations. Live Q&A for all of you out there, that we can ask questions, find out what's going on around the country, and really things that are all about roofing. Today, one of our big big, well as we know, our biggest events of roofing is the International Roofing Expo. I am very happy to welcome Ray Giovanni here today to talk to us about what the heck is happening with IRE in 2021. We have so much happening with COVID and the folks at Informa are doing an amazing job. Ray, welcome to the show.

Ray Giovine: Thank you. It's nice to be here.

Heidi Ellsworth: I've had a lot of people emailing and calling and saying we're so excited to hear what the plans are. But before we really get to all of that, let's start with for maybe there's one or two people out there who aren't familiar with the IRE. Why don't you just let everybody know a little bit about the show and what happens during that week. The whole big picture of IRE.

Ray Giovine: All right, thank you. And again, Heidi, thank you for having me on your show this morning or on your podcast this morning. My name is Ray Giovine, I'm the group director of the International Roofing Expo. I've been ... just a little bit of history about myself. I've been with Informa fairly recently. I just came onboard right before the last roofing show this past year. So I started in January of this year. Previously I was the senior vice president of sales and marketing for Hanley Wood, which deals with also the construction audience. So I'm very familiar with the roofing, construction segments of the business. In regards to the roofing show specific, the International Roofing Expo is the number one event for the roofing and exterior construction industries. We bring the professional community together to provide them with an up to date industry knowledge and the largest selection of products and services. The Roofing Expo, the International Roofing Expo, is a three day event. It features conference programming that usually happens in the mornings. And then exhibition time throughout the afternoon. Our conference program has over 40 sessions and the expo hall showcases over 500 brands displaying the latest products and services. During the IRE, you can participate in events such as our annual community service day. We have our keynote session, and along with our welcome party. Last year we featured our first ever female keynote speaker, Charlotte Jones of the Dallas Cowboys.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah.

Ray Giovine: She's the president and the chief brand officer. She did an amazing job. We're still in the process of finalizing our keynote speaker for the 2021 show in April. In addition to the IRE event, the National Roofing Contractors Association hosts their annual event, or annual convention, in conjunction with the show. Along with the National Women in Roofing, they host their annual education day a couple days before the show opens.

Heidi Ellsworth: Ray, all of those things, I mean we all love it. Right? We love it. But sometimes I think folks are a little confused about how does the NRCA and Informa, how do you guys work together? What's that relationship? Tell us a little bit more about how that came to be.

Ray Giovine: Sure. First off, a little bit about our corporate structure in Informa. Informa is the largest trade show organizer in the world. We're the leading international events, intelligence, and scholarly research company. We work in a wide range of areas or segments in the marketplace. Such as health and nutrition, finance, fashion, licensing, construction, and real estate, to name a few. Some of our events that you may be familiar with are like World of Concrete, the International Services Expo, the Pool and Spa Patio Show. Those might be some of the shows that you might be familiar with. Informa Markets, which is the segment that we work in, we're the global events division and we organize over 500 trade shows around the world, B2B events, in 15 markets in over 40 countries. We do 250 shows specifically here in the US. In regards to the NRCA, that show was founded, that specific show, the roofing show, was founded in 1955 by the National Roofing Contractors Association. It was called the NRCA convention and trade show. In May of 2004, Hanley Wood Exhibitions acquired the show and rebranded it the International Roofing Expo, or IRE. Currently the IRE is owned and produced by Informa Markets, who acquired the show from Hanley Wood Exhibitions back in December of 2014. The NRCA is a vital part of the roofing community and we continue to have a strong partnership and relationship with them. They're the official show sponsor of IRE, and host their annual convention in conjunction with the show each year. We enjoy our relationship and are working together with the NRCA to help improve the roofing industry.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is cool. Well, we wanted to start out with some of that information because I know not ... we assume everybody knows all about it. But I think that ... really, thank you so much. Bringing that out and letting people know what it all is, how it started, and what's going on. I know my very first IRE, we called it the NRCA at that point, was 1994. Been going for a number of years, but we really ... it's kind of like old home, you know? It's reunion week for all of us in roofing, to be able to do that. I know I want to thank you again, everybody who's out there and who's listening at this nice and bright 6:00 in the morning on the West Coast for Ray and I. I want to remind everybody that this is a Q&A. This is a chance for you to ask questions. We have questions here that have been sent in ahead of time. We're going to keep working through. But this is a chance for you to ask questions and really find out what you're wondering about for IRE. And so don't forget, your control panel over here. We have Miss Megan Ellsworth in the background and she'll be bringing you on live or asking your questions. Whatever you're more comfortable with. Don't be shy. Get in there to that control panel, ask your questions, chat it up, and we're going to keep going and learn exactly what's going to be happening. You know what, Ray? I think we just need to go right to the heart of it. What's happening? We know everybody has been [inaudible 00:07:24] here with COVID and everybody was wondering, and then you came out with this great announcement a couple weeks ago that you've changed the dates of the show. Can you tell us about that?

Ray Giovine: Yes. The International Roofing Expo will take place in 2021. We recently made the decision to reschedule the show or to move the show from February to our new dates, which are April 14-16. It'll still be held in Las Vegas, the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, which we're super excited about.

Heidi Ellsworth: Wow. Okay. Mandalay, in April. There's a lot going on. What are some of the big events? Any news on that front of what's going to be taking place around April? As in I know we usually start with National Women in Roofing and then move in. Just give us a recap again of what the week is going to look like.

Ray Giovine: Well, I mean it'll be moving as normal. At the first day or two before the show there will be the National Women in Roofing event. I mean everything pretty much exactly the way that it was going to happen in February is going to be moved to April. We actually have the exact same exhibit halls. We're confirming and reconfirming the same speakers, the same educational sessions. Still working with our partners and the NRCA, along with the National Women in Roofing. So really you're not going to see really any difference at all, just the dates moved from February to April.

Heidi Ellsworth: Okay. Perfect. Awesome. Kind of a little bit of insight on ... I mean this had to be a lot of discussion behind this. So why was the decision made to postpone the show until April?

Ray Giovine: After we've brought in all our partners and after ongoing discussions with all the stakeholders and with full support from the team over at NRCA, we made the proactive decision to reschedule from February to April, April 14-16th. It was really just to ensure that everybody had a productive and a relaxed environment for everyone and we felt it was the right choice for the community and the industry. We just wanted to give the world, or give our exhibitors and visitors, a little bit of extra time to be comfortable attending a trade show.

Heidi Ellsworth: Perfect. Awesome. Well, we've got some questions here, Ray. So this is pretty dang exciting. Megan, I know you got some folks coming. We have I see Josey Parks is out there and he has a question. Karen Edwards, our editor, has some questions. Let's ... while Megan's working on bringing those in, I think I'll start here, and this was one of our next questions anyway. Karen Edwards, who is the editor of Roofers Coffee Shop, she was saying, "Can we talk a little bit about safety, virus protocols?" And so I know you have been ... we've talked a lot about the Informa all secure. How is that working?

Ray Giovine: Yes. Informa all secure, like I mentioned earlier, Informa is a global company and we work in 40 countries. We've come up with a standardized process throughout our trade show world. The IRE will adapt those same protocols, it's called Informa all secure, at our 2021 event. All secure is Informa's approach to ensuring the highest standards of safety, hygiene, and cleanliness, and quality for all of our operating events. These measures are in addition to the guidance that we receive from the government, the local authorities, and even the convention center, Mandalay Bay or any of our venues. As we get closer to the show, we'll have more specific details regarding onsite procedures because they're constantly changing, being updated, being either stricter or less strict. That's sort of a moving target, so as it gets closer we will let everybody know. But we do have a webpage dedicated to health and safety information on the show website, the IRE website. You can find more details on the all secure plan show updates and also frequently asked questions.

Heidi Ellsworth: Okay. So I guess as we're looking at this, and that was one of the things, but we're going to have all the safety protocols. But still we really won't know about ... I mean I'm sure the masks. But are we going to know about some of those things or is that really as we get closer to April?

Ray Giovine: Exactly. I mean right now, there are no shows really happening in Las Vegas right now. So it's sort of like a work in progress. But masks, social distancing, whether we need to spread out the aisles a little bit wider, all those [inaudible 00:12:27] stuff will come into play as we get closer to the show. Like I said, the standards are either stricter or more lax because whether there's a vaccine or whatever, people feel more comfortable. Again, it's a work in progress but please continue to go to the website for the latest, greatest information.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. And another reason why you pushed back to April, to give it a little bit of time to try to figure a lot of this stuff out.

Ray Giovine: Yeah. And we still thought, and again with input from our stakeholders, that it was still ... we know that's starting to get in to the work cycle of our roofer community, but we still thought that April was still a good enough to be able to bring the community together.

Heidi Ellsworth: Perfect. That is awesome. And then I had another question here about contactless registration. Any changes coming up with registration or social distancing? No contact? How's that going to work?

Ray Giovine: Yeah. Again, that's still a work in progress too. We're blessed with a large number of attendees at the show and we're working on different ways, between plexiglass and staggering of times and contactless. So again, registration's not going to open up until later in the year. I believe in November. By then, we'll have that information. We're still working with the venue itself, along with our all secure guidelines. So stay tuned.

Heidi Ellsworth: Perfect. Perfect, okay. Sorry, I'm just checking my notes here because we have people coming in. Megan, you ready to bring in Josey Parks? Bring him live? We're working on it.

Megan Ellsworth: Josey, you are on.

Josey Parks: [crosstalk 00:14:24] am I here? Hello, Ms. Heidi.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yes. Good morning, Josey.

Josey Parks: Good morning, good morning. It's definitely not as early on the East Coast as West Coast, so.

Heidi Ellsworth: Ah. It's good to hear your voice, it's been a long summer. I hope all is well in your part of the world.

Josey Parks: It is going awesome. No complaints here. Same to you.

Heidi Ellsworth: Good. Good. Josey, I already know you know Ray. Josey is actually on the advisory board for the IRE, so we get to sit together, which I am very fortunate to be on that board also. Josey, what are your questions?

Josey Parks: Yes. It's really exciting, the fact that we get to have IRE. I've actually been going since 2009, so it's something that has been a game changer for me and my business. Obviously the network and the people you get to meet, so I'm very excited that y'all decided to continue on. One of my questions. When it comes to the protocols are y'all, I mean because this is a big deal for roofing community I believe and so this may be a difficult question. But are y'all going to mandate everyone to wear a mask there? Do y'all feel like the show floor is going to force people to do that or how do you feel about that Ray?

Ray Giovine: You know what? I don't believe that we are going to mandate specifically. We're going to follow the local protocols of both the convention center, Las Vegas, the city, and the state. Or the county and the state. We're just going to wait. we're still five, six, seven months away from the show. So I think there's plenty of time to understand which direction we're going to go in.

Josey Parks: I was just asking because I've had a few people ask me about it specifically, like do you know if they're going to it. I'm like, "Well, it's probably just like the rest of the world. They have no control whether or not they can do that. But whatever the local guidelines are."

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. And Josey, you know what? I think too what we are really looking at, and one of the reasons they put it back till April, is because everything's changing so fast. Las Vegas hasn't even ... I've talked to a lot of different people and Las Vegas hasn't even really put into place on all of their rules yet, on how to go back to the conventions, with everything closed. But we may do it. It looks like Ray has jumped off and he's going to come back on. I don't know. Josey, I know you're getting ready for hurricanes in your part of the world. We're dealing with wildfires out here. Ray's in the middle of them too, down in LA.

Josey Parks: Wow. Yeah, I saw the red there in Oregon.

Heidi Ellsworth: In Oregon.

Josey Parks: That's crazy.

Heidi Ellsworth: It was nuts. It is crazy. [crosstalk 00:17:10] I know. So you know what, Josey? Since I've got you here, tell us a little bit. On Coffee Conversations, we just always want to be checking in with everyone around the country. As we're learning about IRE or our topic of the week, I'm also curious how things are going. Can you share with us what's happening in Florida and how your business is going? Give us an update.

Josey Parks: Totally. I'm the chief revenue officer here at CMR Construction and Roofing. We are one of the largest roofing companies in the nation. I think last year we were number 12. This year we plan to be number one. No, we're moving [crosstalk 00:17:52]. We've got a very strong sell source. Our production team and backend we've really been building out. And so the difference in our company and most others is we're not a sales company necessarily. We're a roofing and construction company focused on building beautiful roofs. It makes it really easy for reps to sell. So at this point we have over 200 sales reps across Florida. This is insane, but we sold 700 roofs in the last week. And so it's a record setting week for us. And so it's just going really well here in Florida and I absolutely love it. Marketing, we're doing a lot of creative things in marketing. I think that's been a big game changer for us. We have all types of canvas programs and inbound, outbound marketing. And so the fact that the climate, the pandemic, whatever, everything going on all at once, there was a lot of different factors that have come to play and growth mindset. You just can't let those types of things bother you. Stay focused on it, put really good practices in place early on for basically OSHA, CDC. What they were saying and got into digital contracts. So we've made a lot of changes to our process and it's just been super effective. We're really excited and I love this Florida market. It's so fun here.

Heidi Ellsworth: That is awesome. I'm so glad things are going good. We've been seeing all that activity out in the Atlantic, so we're going to be keeping our, watching all of you over there in Florida to stay safe.

Josey Parks: Yeah. For sure. Today's actually the last day for Irma, from three years ago. Talk about timing. From three years ago when Irma hit, so it's crazy. Crazy to think that another hurricane to hit like that. So we're just having some fun over here.

Heidi Ellsworth: Well now, Josey, let's see. Did you have any other questions about IRE also? Just I want to make sure, because I saw you had a couple here. You wanted to know about safety and what else?

Josey Parks: Yeah. I was just curious when it comes to the educational classes and all the speakers. At what point are y'all going to release that list so everyone knows who to really plan for and what sessions to go to?

Ray Giovine: Well, thank you for that. And again, thanks for bearing with me. We have a large part of the 2021 conference already confirmed. The speakers that were already in place have been great to work with and they're very flexible in trying to move over from the February dates to the April dates. The conference program features over 40 educational sessions taught by highly respected, knowledgeable industry experts. The sessions will cover topics like normal, like industry trends, business, technology, safety, leadership, management, sales, and legal aspects to the roofing business. The great thing about our conference program, as usual, the hours, the programs don't overlap with the exhibit hall. They can participate in both the sessions and the expo time. We also offer free educational sessions on the show floor. These are exhibitor led and they'll teach you ways to improve your business, along with providing tips to overcome industry challenges. I guess sort of the final answer on that is too, is once registration opens, like in November, there'll be an updated schedule and you'll be able to find out more about the specific sessions and everything confirmed. Again, just bear with us. Once registration opens, everything will be published and online.

Josey Parks: November it is. November it is.

Heidi Ellsworth: And in the meantime, you've given a sneak peek that Josey and I will both be speaking at the IRE. So there's probably some more people out there who've gotten those nice letters from Brandy.

Josey Parks: Yeah. Those are awesome.

Heidi Ellsworth: I know.

Josey Parks: I don't know about timing, how many more people. One more question that I had. When it comes to this year and each year it seems like it's grown a lot. The environment, it's just so energetic. I've loved the last few years. It seems like every since y'all have taken over, the show's just increased and increased. So a question that I have, are there any changes this year coming that y'all are planning? Versus other years, any new improvements or y'all think it's going to be even bigger than the last year?

Ray Giovine: Well, we are hoping that it's going to be bigger than last year. We broke record attendance for the past two years in a row. Some of the new things that are coming this year, we're going to have a new pavilion on the show floor dedicated to siding and windows. And we're going to be expanding these segments of the construction industry and we thought it was a natural fit for the IRE. There are many roofing companies that provide other services, including siding replacement, window replacement, and building products that envelop the construction services. So we're excited to showcase these sort of companies and more products and services that our attendees are looking for.

Josey Parks: That's awesome.

Ray Giovine: The other changes obviously will be the all secure, Informa's health safety stuff. But again, we'll know more as it gets closer to the date.

Josey Parks: So yeah. That's a big deal for a lot of roofers. They deal with the windows and doors, things like that, just as little side jobs. I think it's awesome y'all are going to really start raising awareness to other roofers who may not be aware of who to use or how to do it. That's huge. Y'all are leveling up, so way to go.

Ray Giovine: Yeah. We're trying to become a one stop shop.

Josey Parks: Yeah.

Heidi Ellsworth: You know, Josey? That goes right along with what the NRCA is doing too, with all the push on residential and really being out there. I agree. I think that's going to be awesome. I'm excited to see all the whole exterior, exterior concept.

Josey Parks: Totally. So cool. Yeah, thanks for answering my questions.

Heidi Ellsworth: Josey, thank you so much for being on. It's so good to hear your voice and take care there in Florida. We'll see you. We're going to bring on, we have another question, another live panelist on, with George Daisey. He's coming on next. George, you are ready to come on. Thank you, Megan. Hi, George. George, you're muted. Got to take off the mute.

George Daisey: How about now?

Heidi Ellsworth: There you go. We got you, perfect.

George Daisey: Yeah. [inaudible 00:25:00] it took a few seconds on mute. So hello, everybody.

Heidi Ellsworth: Hello, George. [crosstalk 00:25:05]

George Daisey: I got a question.

Heidi Ellsworth: Can you tell us where you're from and your business and all that, before you ask your question?

George Daisey: Oh, sure. Sure thing. George Daisey, I work for Dow Incorporated, formerly the Dow Chemical Company. I'm located in southern New Jersey, in that southwest corner kind of close to Delaware. That's where I live and I commute up to Pennsylvania for Dow. So yeah. I heard some of the other stories. We see this on the news, what you're going through out there with the fires and the South with the storms. We're a little bit safer here, but what's been happening this summer is we get the storms that hit the South travel up here and we get the backlash from it. So we're not getting hurricane winds, but we're getting high winds, we're getting a lot of flooding. So there's been a lot of flooding, trees coming down, and things like that. It's not to the degree of what some of you are going through, so we think about you all the time. But still, in our own little corner that's what we're dealing with this summer.

Heidi Ellsworth: Wow, George. Thank you. Thank you. Stay safe. It's weird everywhere, I'm telling you.

George Daisey: It is. It's a little different wherever you are, right?

Heidi Ellsworth: It is. It is. What's your question about IRE?

George Daisey: I think it's a simple one, it just came to mind. We're going to meet in April this year. Is this an opportunity to do a reset and make April the normal month? Or will we revert back to February in the coming years? What do you think?

Ray Giovine: I mean that's a good question. I mean we haven't given it much thought, but I mean I guess it's open for discussion. But I mean we thought that we would go back to the February timeline. It seemed like the best date before the roofing season ramped up. So for right now, we are planning to go back to February because we have February dates committed in the future. But I guess it is open for ... we could see how well received it is from attendees and exhibitors.

Heidi Ellsworth: [crosstalk 00:27:15] George, that's an interesting question. I think that's a great question too, because coming from an exhibitor side, which a lot of us are and Dow is a big exhibitor, it is kind of hard sometimes coming off the new year and then right into February. So it's going to be interesting to see how that kind of works in with everybody's marketing years and everything hitting in April instead this year.

George Daisey: Yeah. One of the things I experience sometimes in the February timeframe is competing shows that ... besides IRE, there's other shows going on sometimes the same week that we need to attend. So we have to divide and conquer. Right?

Heidi Ellsworth: Right.

George Daisey: That way. So I don't know in April, there probably are other big shows that we have to compete with as well so maybe it's the same problem no matter what time of year. But that could be another thing.

Ray Giovine: When we were talking with the NRCA and some of the other partners, there was like a small window in April that we were able to find and thankfully the venue had space. But there were also several competing shows and other annual meetings and conventions and regional events that were happening. So it is like a puzzle piece. Like I said, it's you're always probably going to step on somebody's toes. It's just the least amount of toes that you can step on.

George Daisey: Totally makes sense.

Heidi Ellsworth: That's great. Hey, George, thank you so much. We really appreciate you being on here on the coffee shop and keep coming back. I love your question, that was awesome. Thank you.

George Daisey: Yep. Thanks. Thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth: We have another question, Ray. Very similar to what George just asked. It's from Matt Davis. I'm not sure if Matt's still on or wants to come on live. If you do, Matt, raise your hand and Megan can pop you on. But he asked are there any contingency plans in place in case in person is not possible? So possibly for people, first of all I think he's asking a contingency plan if something does happen. But also for people who maybe who can't attend, are there ways for them to watch on demand or is there going to be any virtual options?

Ray Giovine: We are working on that right now, to perhaps have sort of a hybrid event. Sort of in conjunction with the in person event. We're working through that right now. I think we have a meeting on that in two weeks. We'll have ... the honest answer is we'll have some more information with you shortly. But it is something that we're looking for in the future, and also believed that it's also going to be part of pretty much all trade shows going forward. That there'll be both an in-person and an online or a digital hybrid event to go along with it. Because also too it opens up to wider educational opportunities and learning opportunities. So stay tuned, but we do believe that there will be some sort of hybrid component to the show.

Heidi Ellsworth: I agree with you. That's just the way of the future. So those kind of opportunities, just like this this morning live where we're going to be able to still network and get together. And so I can tell you also, Roofers Coffee Shop has an amazing partnership with Informa. I love your team, Ray, they are just the best to work with.

Ray Giovine: They are.

Heidi Ellsworth: And so I think there's going to be a lot of different opportunities for live. Maybe we'll do a live show like this from IRE. You never know. There's going to be a lot of different opportunities to try to get that hybrid opportunity. I love that, that you guys are already planning and putting that together. Now, I do want to ... Mark Graham, from NRCA. Hello. Good morning, Mark, is on. And he did want to say that many of the sessions are already posted on the IRE website, The Roofing Expo. So of course both Ray and I are like oh, yeah. But they're there, so you can see some of the classes that have already been confirmed and that are happening and their timeline. I can tell you right now, Mark Graham does a lot of speaking at IRE and it's always amazing. The most up to date technical, so that's definitely something for everybody out there to be watching for and to go look. Go look it up. We're also going to be posting a bunch of that on the Coffee Shop and many places as we try to get in front of everybody. Okay. Ray, we do have a couple. Megan, I think we have a couple other people out there coming on. I see [inaudible 00:32:08] Marvin has a question and just let me know when you're ready there. But we'll keep going as soon as you're ready. Are we ready?

Megan Ellsworth: We have Michelle Boykin up next with a question.

Heidi Ellsworth: Michelle Boykin from Nashville. Yay. Good morning, Michelle. Hey.

Michelle Boykin: Good morning. How are you guys?

Heidi Ellsworth: We are good. Michelle, meet Ray.

Ray Giovine: Hi, Michelle.

Michelle Boykin: First of all, Heidi, I have a question for you. I'm really excited about this diversity and inclusion educational session. Do you know the day and time you're going to do it? I want to make sure I sign up.

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh my gosh. Michelle, [inaudible 00:32:52]. But I will. We'll get it out on there, and like we said, it's on The Roofing Expo. It is Alison LaValley. She runs that and leads the diversity and inclusion committee as the VP, as the vice president NRCA. I'm just really lucky to be speaking with her and we're going to talk about really generations. Stuff that you and I talk about all the time, that we love.

Michelle Boykin: Oh yeah. My question for you, Ray, is more of a recommendation question. The event is always just so focused on networking and interaction. National Women in Roofing day beforehand, all the events during the week, all the booths that you visit. Do you have suggestions for those of us, like National Women in Roofing, that can help us to make sure that we are being safe but also not missing out on that personal interaction that we have?

Ray Giovine: You're talking about attending the show specifically or? I mean-

Michelle Boykin: Yes. The actual in-person.

Ray Giovine: Again, I mean like I said, we want everybody to feel comfortable at the show. Whether that means mandating masks, if that's the specific protocol at the time, like I said we're still working on whether we're going to increase the space between the aisles so people aren't walking or bumping into each other. Will there be space between the booths? We'll be ... there'll be cleaning stations or hand sanitizing stations throughout the show floor. I think we're going to do everything possible. Along with registration, the contactless registration, we're working on all that sort of thing. All those protocols and safety activities. I think in a combination of ... I think we're going to go over and above everything that we need to do. Again, there's going to be venue requirements, city requirements, state requirements. So I think between all of them, we're going to create a very safe and healthy and hygienic environment. And then whatever we all do personally on top of that, I think is going to create a good environment. But I think from the business point of view, or from our point of view, we're going to do everything available to us to make sure that there's a safe environment for everybody.

Michelle Boykin: [crosstalk 00:35:31]

Heidi Ellsworth: I also want to make sure that everybody knows, first of all, Michelle, you're Rackley Roofing out of Nashville. But Michelle is the upcoming chairwoman of National Women in Roofing. So she is going to be in charge and I'm so excited about that. Maybe, since we've got everybody on here and we're talking IRE, and I know we're really at the very beginning. Michelle. But maybe just a quickie on National Women in Roofing day and how that fits in and what you guys are looking at.

Michelle Boykin: Yeah. If you've never been before, I would suggest that you attend, men and women. Last year we got to give an award to Heidi, as our first world award winner, which was really exciting. But we have a full day of education and networking and mentoring. We do a mixture. I haven't heard if we're going to do the same thing but I think we are. Last year we kind of did a TED Talks version where we just had different people coming up and speaking about different subjects.And then we did some breakout sessions. We had somebody do head shots last year for us. We try to just really encompass everything that we can in that day. Right now we are planning it as though it's happening in person, and we figure well, we'll do it this way until we hear otherwise. So we're really excited about it. That's kind of why I was asking for any suggestions, because we want to make sure that we're doing everything that we can do keep everybody safe. But there is that in-person contact that you really have to have that helps with networking and mentoring and all those things. So super excited.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. You know, I want to say too, we've got Wendy on here too. Ray, you are surrounded by women in roofing right now. One of the things as everybody, and Ray's going to really hit on this, we're going to talk about this towards the end of the hour on making plans for IRE in April. But I just really anybody out there, make sure you include National Women in Roofing day in your plans. It's always two days before the show opens and it is phenomenal. It's just phenomenal. I'm not even going to be humble. It's just the most wonderful thing in the world. And so be sure to come in early and attend the National Women in Roofing day. Men and women. It is incredibly inspirational. Michelle, you are inspirational. Thank you so much.

Michelle Boykin: Thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth: Okay. Ray, I think we have another question. Wendy is coming on.

Megan Ellsworth: We actually have Katya.

Heidi Ellsworth: Oh, Katya.

Megan Ellsworth: Coming on. Katya, you are unmuted. Ah, there she is.

Heidi Ellsworth: Hello.

Ray Giovine: Morning.

Megan Ellsworth: You seem to be muted, Katya, on your end.

Katya: Can y'all hear me?

Megan Ellsworth: There we go.

Katya: I'm sorry about that. Good morning. How are y'all?

Ray Giovine: Good morning. Good.

Katya: Good, good. My question for you, Ray, is what are you most excited about for the IRE? And what [inaudible 00:38:54] to look forward to.

Ray Giovine: I'm excited that we're actually planning to have an in-person event, quite honestly. All of our shows and all of the shows that were scheduled in the fall, both our Informa shows and all [inaudible 00:39:12] shows have been postponed or canceled or turned into a virtual event. So I'm very excited that we're planning to have this IRE event in April. I think that with the program that we have lined up and building on the successes of last year, with National Women in Roofing and with all the programs and educational stuff with this new siding and windows pavilion that we have, we just have a lot of positive aspects happening at the show. We're excited to be back in Las Vegas. We also think that if any city, at any point in time, is going to be able to put on a trade show it's going to be Las Vegas. I just think there's a lot of positive aspects about going into the show in general. We're just trying to build on that and the momentum going into the show.

Katya: Yeah. That is awesome. I know that the energy when Charlotte Jones was talking, and we brought up Las Vegas, everyone just screamed and it was awesome. We were all super excited. I know myself, I was worried as to what was going to play out with everything and this virus. I know that a lot of people in this industry are super excited that it is still happening. So that is awesome. I'm very excited.

Ray Giovine: Yes.

Heidi Ellsworth: It's going to happen. Okay, so, Katya, you got to tell us. Tell us a little bit about your company. I know, but I want you to tell everybody else. And also was last year your first year at the IRE?

Katya: Yes. I am pretty new in the roofing industry, just a little bit over a year. My first IRE was last year, first National Women in Roofing was also last year. So it got me very excited to get into the industry and it really helped boost my [inaudible 00:40:54]. A little bit about myself. I'm the project coordinator for LTD Exteriors. We're a roofing company based in North Carolina. We handle mostly slate and tile roofs and we do some sheet metal work as well. We've been very fortunate during the coronavirus to stay in business. We've been very busy actually. So things have changed of course. We worked remotely for months and had to adjust a lot. But we have been pretty busy and now we're getting the ball rolling with everybody getting back into the offices and stuff. So it's getting back to it. I know things are a lot different, but we're working on it.

Heidi Ellsworth: Love it. Real quick, tell us ... I mean obviously you met Megan Ellsworth, my daughter, last year. You guys became friends. Why should young people in the industry come to IRE? What is in it for all our young professionals?

Katya: Honestly, I would've never imagined that I would be in this industry. Just coming to an event like that to see so many successful people that are so passionate about the industry, and enjoy it so much. It's not just a job. I know everybody says you want to find something that you love to do. And I see that so many people in this industry that vocalize how great it is. They really have that passion for it and it's really ... it brings a lot of confidence to me and a lot of motivation to stay in the industry and see what I can get from it.

Heidi Ellsworth: There you go, Ray. There's the next generation of attendees right there.

Ray Giovine: Outstanding. Thank you.

Heidi Ellsworth: Thank you, Katya. Thank you. Say hi to Michelle and Christian.

Katya: Alrighty. Bye-bye.

Heidi Ellsworth: Bye. Okay. I think we have ... I'm double-checking. We have a couple other questions. But before we ... as they're getting ready, Ray, one of the questions we had come in was about charitable events. Roofing is about giving back and I know there's a lot that goes on during IRE. What's some of the updates on that front?

Ray Giovine: Thank you for that question. We'll be hosting our 12th annual community service day in partnership with the local chapter of the nonprofit Rebuilding Together. Each year volunteers come out early in the day to help make repairs and renovations to homes of low-income homeowners in this specific area and need. This event allows us in the roofing industry and gives us the chance to connect and make a difference with the local community. This day would also not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors each year. Thank you and a shout-out to them. They donate materials, their time, labor, and help make this project very successful. Also the NRCA also hosts the Roof PAC and silent auction in the NRCA booth, during this time. The auction can be held with a wide selection of fantastic and fabulous items, with all proceeds benefiting the Roof PAC. And then Roof PAC is NRCA's political action committee. It's the only PAC that's dedicated to supporting the roofing industries in Washington, D.C. So those are some of the things that are happening in regards to charitable events.

Heidi Ellsworth: I know we also always have the Raise the Roof Foundation does a big concert every year at the end too. I'm not going to give it away, but I heard some rumors yesterday. Some great rumors about that that concert's still on and it's going to be going. So we actually are going to be coming out with that here pretty soon too. There's so many ways to give back and so many ways that are fun. And good and you really make lasting relationships.

Ray Giovine: Yeah. We're excited about.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. I know. It's so cool. I did want to ... okay. It looks like April 15th I'll be speaking on diversity. Just so Michelle has that, 7:45. It is out on IRE, TheRoofExpo.com. Check that out. Or TheRoofingExpo.com. I wanted to see too, okay. I'm just checking our questions here, so forgive me, everyone, because we have a few more that are coming up. Any changes? Someone had a question here. Are there any changes from past years?

Ray Giovine: Like I said, the changes I kind of went into this. I mean changes we have in the new siding pavilion, obviously the safety and health protocols. But nothing ... I mean there's nothing new, there's going to be so much new. But I mean no big changes other than we're adding that siding pavilion to then again, most importantly, the safety protocols.

Heidi Ellsworth: Okay. I know you said November is the time to watch for everything. Can you go over that? Just talking about the hotels again, because people are wondering. We always get a little nervous. When should I get my hotel booked, what should I be doing. I know we have people coming in and out of this. Can you go over that again, what people should be doing?

Ray Giovine: Sure. Again, we have room blocks blocked off at Mandalay Bay for the February event and all those got moved to April. But you are going to have to go back online and rebook. Mostly for the manufacturers, because registration wasn't open yet. So anyway. Registration for the show's going to open up in November. We're in the midst of finalizing our hotel blocks for the new dates and that should be ready in a few weeks. Keep going back to the website, The Roofing Expo, to get more information. You can sign up to get notified when registration opens and when to book the hotel blocks and all that. All that information, again, it's on TheRoofingExpo.com.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. One of the things that I've really been impressed with too is your e-news. You've been putting out some great e-news, and also some great original content. Some articles, also taking submissions from exhibitors and from other partners. That ... people should be signing up for that also. Right?

Ray Giovine: Yeah. Very much so, yes. Early in the year we launched a bimonthly newsletter, so it comes out twice a month. It goes out to 38,000 industry professionals. Issues of the newsletter highlight the latest news in the industry, or industry news, I'm sorry. Show updates, exclusive articles and content and more. You can read all that information. You get it directly in your inbox, but you can also find it online on the IRE website. Last year we also introduced Regina the Roofer, the official IRE customer care chat box or chat bot. Again, you can also find Regina the Roofer on the website 24/7 to answer your questions about the show. The ENL, the e-newsletter, is a [inaudible 00:48:14] tool, so we encourage you all to sign up for it, to get the latest and most up to date information about the show and all things regarding too in regards to roofing.

Heidi Ellsworth: We did have a question here too, from Melissa Simon. Will there be something charitable dedicated to Lake Charles, Louisiana to help rebuild after Hurricane Laura?

Ray Giovine: You know, that's a good question and I don't have the answer for that right now. But we can get back to you in regards to that. I know that we do have some charitable things already in place, but we can get back with you on that.

Heidi Ellsworth: Perfect. I would also say, Melissa, be sure to check Raise the Roof Foundation with SRS, because I was just talking to them yesterday. They are doing a lot of disaster relief too for the roofing industry. They'd probably have something going. We didn't talk specifically about Hurricane Laura, but I know that they're doing a lot. So that would be another thing. SRS is a huge part of the IRE, as are ABC and Beacon. So those are a lot of folks that you can check in with there too. The other thing I wanted to bring up is as we're looking at the IRE for first-timers, I'm really happy to say Roofers Coffee Shop is a sponsor of the first-timers reception and event. I know we haven't got full details on anything of that, but I do want to just ... to encourage, like we talked about with Katya, to encourage first-timers. If there's people on here who have never been to the IRE before, just maybe, Ray, talk just to those first-timers. About them coming to Las Vegas and as Katya said, it's just a great thing for them to do for their career and for their business.

Ray Giovine: Yeah. Quite honestly I was a first-timer this past iteration of the show. We have that reception and it's just a good networking event for people's first time to the show. But it's also just a great way to ... just walking the show floor is to understand a little bit about the business and the different manufacturers and you can take advantage of the education. And just all things roofing. Whether you want to get involved on the charitable side, whether you want to just learn a little bit about the business itself, see the latest, newest, most innovative products that are coming out. I just think there's all sorts of great educational learning and just curiosity type things that are happening throughout the show. I just think it's a great way to, if you're starting into the industry, to see it all in one place.

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. I agree. I think it's ... I mean there's so many great people and so much to learn. We're going to take one last question, because we're getting to the top of our hour. So we're going to be bringing Wendy Marvin on. Megan's bringing her here. Wendy actually was with us last year. She helped us in the booth, Roofers Coffee Shop, at IRE last year. She's coming to us from Vancouver. Good morning, Ms. Wendy. Welcome.

Wendy Marvin: Good morning. Sorry a little late arrival this morning. I was having connectivity issues because of ... we don't know if it's the fires or what, but internet stinks right now. It's crazy. Glad you're safe and online too.

Heidi Ellsworth: I know.

Wendy Marvin: I just wanted to reiterate just talking about NWIR and the IRE event in general. I think a lot of times roofing companies get a little overwhelmed when they think about an International Roofing Expo. But I wanted to share an experience just talking about being there and connecting with a group that was there from Korea. And talking with their interpreter about connecting with the ladies at NWIR. Especially first-timer events. I saw Michelle posted. But a great way if you're a female, because this is still a different industry for us. But a great way as a new person would be to NWIRA event. And then just it feels to me like our family of roofing really comes together. I think you guys at IRE really make that happen with the ways that you ... the way I connected with the people from Korea was the Rosie the Roofer. What was the app again you mentioned?

Heidi Ellsworth: Regina.

Wendy Marvin: Regina the Roofer. We were looking for the next clue together. I think that sometimes you don't think about those things, but the IRE is just an amazing event. I don't want to wrap up with a negativity, but I wanted to ask you. Are you seeing a difference in the people wanting to speak? Because it feels like in our industry we are just being faced with ... locusts are probably next, because we've got fires and we've got material shortages and now we've got labor shortages. We're great, we're booking into December. But it just feels like we're all facing just this myriad of difficulties. Are you seeing anything special coming up in the seminars you want to mention, that people who are looking for an answer? I was so excited about the windows. We are diversifying into home solutions, same story. We've got to have other avenues of revenue that may provide stability in an area when roofing slows down, or vice versa. Are you seeing anything in seminars that you would recommend for anybody that's looking for some help with that stability?

Ray Giovine: I mean I know that we have a very robust educational track coming together. I'm not as familiar with all the courses that are currently going because some have been confirmed and some we're still confirming. If you'll ... I have to direct you to the website to look at little bit more on our specific courses. But I know that we are trying to bring as much information as we can that's helpful to all the different aspects of the business. I know that's sort of an indirect way to answer the question, but like I said, we're still building the program. In the next couple weeks, like I said, all that'll be finalized and you can find out that information on the website.

Heidi Ellsworth: And you know, Wendy, that is such a great comment. It's great feedback too, because I'm sure Brandy is watching all this and listening. I know Shelby and Megan are too. That's really something to consider, since we have a little bit of time now, is really talking about the ... and we all want to be COVID, we want to be like eh, it's done. But it's not. And we need to talk about it and we need to have some strategies.

Ray Giovine: Yeah. Brandy's the best, like you mentioned. Like I said, I'm new to this industry and I have to say that the roofing people, the manufacturers, the attendees, I mean they truly are the nicest group of people to work with and for. Both my team and the industry, they're just fantastic people and they're fun and they're interesting and they're welcoming. Again, we're trying to just create this environment to keep that happening. The education part is a very key part of that. Like I said, I have a great team led by Brandy, that puts the program together. So I'm sure she's working towards that. Like I said, we'll have all that information up online for you very soon. Some of it's already there.

Heidi Ellsworth: Perfect. Hey, Wendy, thank you. You're perfect. You brought us right to the top of the hour. I think, Ray, you've had some great testimonials here too from some of what consider the leaders in the industry who are really encouraging everyone to attend. Be there in April. We'll all be there. Watch the IRE,TheRoofingExpo.com, watch Roofers Coffee Shop. We put everything out, they have these, you can see in the background, a full directory for the IRE. With all the information. We're going to all be together again. It may be awhile, but we'll all be together again. Ray, thank you so much for being here today on Coffee Conversations. Thank you for the power outages, the fires, everything, and you still made it. Wendy, thank you for that final question. Ray, any last words?

Ray Giovine: Thank you all and see you in April. Stay safe.

Heidi Ellsworth: See you in April. Next week be sure to join us. Actually not next week, but the week after next, on the 24th. We are going to have Tom Shanahan from NRCA here talking about the new health plan. A health plan. NRCA is coming out with it, it's going to hit here first on Coffee Conversations. So be sure to sign up, register, and we'll see you then. Have a great day. Thank you, Ray. Have a good day.

Ray Giovine: Thank you. Bye-bye.