It's time to get ready for the 2024 MRCA conference and expo!

By Emma Peterson. 

Mark your calendars for October 21-23, this is the event to be at! 

In this episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Megan Ellsworth sat down with a panel from the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association (MRCA) to talk about their 75th annual conference and expo. This year, the event will be hosted in St. Paul, Minnesota. The panel included MRCA President Robert (Bob) Poutre, Vice President Laurie Moore and Managing Director Rachel Pinkus.  

This event has everything you could be looking for, including tons of educational sessions and an incredible trade floor. Bob shared, “We're expecting big things. We have tons of educational sessions that will be happening throughout the three days. We have some groundbreaking stuff in our technical and research.” Attendees can also get excited for this year’s keynote speaker, former-Pittsburgh Steeler running back Rocky Bleier. Rachel explained a bit of his story, “He was drafted in his rookie season to be a Pittsburgh Steeler and then he was sent off to Vietnam and so he had the experience of being in the NFL and then going and serving our country and then he actually came back and served almost another decade in the NFL playing professional football and he's got quite a story that he's going to tell for us.” 

In addition to this, the conference will host some incredible networking events, starting on the very first night. Bob shared, “It's going to open Monday night with the ever-popular YCC welcome party. It's a casino night, so buy a lot of chips. Most of the money they raise, they then give to a foundation that funds our technical and research grants, funds our scholarships.” That same night, there will also be a new member cocktail party! Laurie explained, “It's a good place if people aren't familiar with this group to come in and meet some of the board members and just have a smaller group to talk to before you go into the larger events.” 

And then on Tuesday, MRCA will host their annual auction that further funds their research and scholarships. Rachel shared, “We've got a great list of auction items already lined up. RooferCoffeeShop® has donated a podcast and that always goes very well during our live auction. Karnak has come in again and they've donated 70 buckets of their sealant, their Karniflex sealant.” And if the live auction isn’t your speed, there’s also a silent auction! Bob shared, “It's a great night. You can wear a tux, you can wear a white T-shirt. It really doesn't matter. We just want you to come and be involved and have a great time in both of them.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the whole episode for more about the 2024 MRCA Conference and Expo!