Jennifer Hogan - Inside the 2025 IIBEC Convention - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with ennifer Hogan of the International Institute of Building Envelope Consultants (IIBEC). You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Megan Ellsworth: Hello everyone, my name is Megan Ellsworth here at RufersCoffeeshop.com and I am so excited. I'm gonna be talking about iBeck today with Jennifer Hogan. And what is iBeck? It's the International Institute of Building Envelope Consultants and we're gonna be learning all about it today. So Jennifer, hello, how are you?

Jennifer Hogan: And we're going to be learning all about space. So Jennifer, hello. How are you? I'm good. Thanks. How are you?

Megan Ellsworth: I'm so good. Can you just tell us a little bit about you and Ibex?

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, so again, yeah, I'm Jennifer Hogan. I work for a company called Pridium Engineering in Burlington in Ontario, Canada. And I've been a building science consultant for about 18 years now. And I specialize mostly in helping buildings achieve their energy and carbon reduction goals. I've been involved with IBEG for a number of years. It's a great association for people in the industry to make connections and learn things. Obviously, the things change constantly in our industry. So it's great to kind of like have your finger on the pulse of what's going on. So I'm currently serving as Ibex second vice president. And essentially part of my role as the second VP is that I get to serve as the 2025 convention committee chair. So I have all of the information and details about that convention and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you guys today.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome. Well, this will be my first year attending the IBEC convention, so I'm excited. Why would you say it's a must attend event for roofing professionals?

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, so mean, there's probably like three main reasons when I think about it. One is you get to experience like four full days of comprehensive education. So if you're someone who has any of the IBEK credentials, you can actually fulfill all your CEH requirements in one program over the course of the weekend, which is fantastic. We've also got a trade show and the trade show is incredible. It's huge and it

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Jennifer Hogan: Offers attendees a chance to meet representatives from over 130 manufacturers. And they range everywhere from like roofing, waterproofing, exterior wall products and honestly just so much more.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, yeah, that's so nice that they can finish their credentials just in one fail swoop.

Jennifer Hogan: I know it's fantastic. And on top of that too, you can network. Like there's so many great networking opportunities. So really like you have these two great chances to learn from the education sessions and the trade show floor. And then you have this opportunity to connect with your peers and really expand your network.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that's great. So can you give us a quick overview of the event schedule?

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, absolutely. So this year we've actually shifted the schedule a little bit from our typical convention just to try to better accommodate everyone's travel and really maximize the weekend for them. So this year it's actually going to run from Thursday through Sunday and it'll be March 6th to 9th and we're actually having it in Orlando, Florida at the Rosen Shingle Creek. So anyone who's been a sort of long time attendee at conventions and the building and enclosure symposiums, they're

Megan Ellsworth: Mm. Mm-hmm.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay.

Jennifer Hogan: Pretty familiar with Rosen Shingle Creek. For anyone who's not, it's a great place, awesome event space with everything that you could possibly need all in one building. So on Thursday, we actually have a couple of optional events that are available at an additional charge. So if you wanted to up your education even more, we have an auxiliary seminar that's gonna be on waterproofing and it's called Advancing Durability in Building Design and Protection.

Megan Ellsworth: That's awesome.

Jennifer Hogan: So that's a great opportunity to get a bit of extra education in. If you want to enjoy the Florida weather and you like to golf, Thursday also has the option of the RCI Ibex Foundation Golf Tournament. It's right on the property at the Rosen Shingle Creek at their golf course. And it's so much fun. Even if you're not an avid golfer, it's a great way to just get out, enjoy the beautiful Florida weather. And honestly, if you're hoping to see a gator on your like Florida bucket list,

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, well.

Jennifer Hogan: Anytime I've ever golfed at that golf course, I have always seen at least one alligator. So no promises, but your odds are pretty good.

Megan Ellsworth: Whoa!

Megan Ellsworth: Hey, that just sold me. I'm going. I'm golfing.

Jennifer Hogan: Hahah. Yeah, so after those events, we have our like official welcome reception on Thursday evening. It's going to take place from six to seven. Great opportunity for all the attendees and the exhibitors to come out and just kind of get the convention kicked off in earnest with a bit of fun. Our trade shows open Friday, March 7th through Saturday, March 8th. And we do have sort of two networking

Events that coincide with that, which is a reception on the trade show floor on Friday evening when it opens. And then on Saturday morning, there's a full buffet breakfast available on the trade show floor. Yeah. And then our education also rounds it out. It runs from Friday right through Sunday. And then the whole event closes with the foundation's auction and the president's annual banquet. That's on Sunday evening.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, that's nice.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay. Wow. Oh my gosh. Well, jam packed weekend. Sounds like a blast. I'm so excited. What are some key highlighted events through the week? I know you mentioned the President's Dinner and the trade show reception. Can you tell us a little bit about some of those?

Jennifer Hogan: Absolutely.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, so those are great events. The President's annual banquet, usually there's some great entertainment. Everyone gets dressed up a little bit fancier, not too fancy. We kind of see like a whole range of attire at the event, but it's a really nice sit down dinner and the entertainment's always awesome. And then the trade show, we have the sort of like reception on the trade show floor. Again, that's just a great opportunity for everyone to kind of like...

Megan Ellsworth: Cool.

Jennifer Hogan: Mingle with the exhibitors and chat with everyone. A couple of other highlights for me, the second annual Excellence in Building and Closure Consulting Awards is going to be taking place. And yeah, so that's going to be during the annual awards luncheon. And this year, something new that we have is after the awards are given out to the successful projects,

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: Awesome.

Jennifer Hogan: And the awards luncheon concludes, we're actually going to have a presentation given by the winners about their projects. So you can actually get to learn a little bit more about them and even potentially have the opportunity to ask the winners a few questions about the technical aspects of their work.

Megan Ellsworth: That's great. Awesome. Cool.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah. We've also got a great keynote speaker lined up this year for our opening ceremonies. Yeah. Joel Neebs. So Joel is a eight by eight chief transformation and business operations officer, and he's going to be delivering a presentation on the insight age. So talking a little bit about AI and technology, Joel's a really, really interesting person. He's actually a former F-15 mission commander in the U S air force. Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: Fabulous.

Megan Ellsworth: Whoa.

Jennifer Hogan: So his leadership was tested in some of the most high-stake environments you can possibly imagine. He's actually commanded over 3,000 missions, which I can't even fathom the scale of that. Yeah, yeah. He's even done presidential escort operations. And so he takes all the lessons he learned from the precision and tactical expertise that he had to have to be able to do that kind of job.

Megan Ellsworth: My gosh, that's wild.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Jennifer Hogan: And really tries now to apply it to building and scaling teams in the world of business. So how he, you can apply the lessons he's learned in sort of your everyday life.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, that sounds like an amazing keynote. When did you say that's happening?

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, so the keynote speaker is I believe on shoot now it's gonna mess me up because we've shifted I believe it's on Friday morning

Megan Ellsworth: No. Okay, yay, perfect. I'll make sure that it's on my calendar, because that sounds like an amazing talk. So what kind of exhibitors and products can attendees expect to see on the trade show floor?

Jennifer Hogan: Yes.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, so as I said, I think we're at something like 135 different exhibitors this year. And there really will be something for everyone. We've got roofing manufacturers, waterproofing, exterior walls, products for building commissioning, really like innovative solutions and insights on any of the sort of latest trends in the building enclosure industry.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow.

Jennifer Hogan: One of the great things about the trade show floor too is we actually also have six product demonstrations throughout the time that the trade shows open. Yeah. So during that time, you'll be able to pop in and see a more sort of like hands-on presentation from Sika, McElroy Metals, Polyglas, Westlake Royal Roofing Solutions, Elevate and Carlyle. And don't forget, I think you guys with the Roofers Coffee Shop are actually going to have a soundstage on the trade show floor. Yeah. You guys will be at booth.

Megan Ellsworth: Cool.

Megan Ellsworth: Yes, we will have a soundstage.

Jennifer Hogan: I think booth 1001, right?

Megan Ellsworth: Yes, 1001, great number. We're so excited. We're going to be interviewing all of our partners and customers that we work with, including Ibex. So maybe we can get you on the soundstage too, Jennifer. We're so excited. Again, like I said, this is my first year attending and I believe this is our first year doing a soundstage. So we're just excited to bring the show to...

Jennifer Hogan: Hahaha

Jennifer Hogan: I'd love to, yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: People out there that can't attend, can't make it out, what have you and just bring the show to everyone at home. So I'm excited for all the educational sessions. What would you say are some standouts that people should prioritize this year?

Jennifer Hogan: Man, it is so hard to choose the standouts because honestly, there are some incredible sessions. I think I'll give you a couple on each day because it's just way too hard to pick. And certainly if anyone wants to see all of them, like they're always available on the website and actually even if you download the iBEC convention app. So.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: Haha

Megan Ellsworth: Perfect.

Jennifer Hogan: On Friday, we're kicking things off with a general session on the initial use cases for artificial intelligence in building enclosure consulting. And what's really interesting about this one is that it really aims to provide real world insight into how to think about AI and where and how we can actually implement specific technologies to address the questions that firms and individuals have today. Ultimately, we want to go beyond

Megan Ellsworth: Mm.

Jennifer Hogan: Chat GPT queries and really talk about the potential for a building enclosure industry, which I think for most of us has been kind of nebulous until this point. We've also got a great case study presentation on Friday on the Ferguson School called Hygrothermal Failure Case Study. And this one's going to examine a failed roof and ceiling assembly with respect to interstitial condensation.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jennifer Hogan: So during the presentation, they're going to share a theoretical model and talk about how it was used and how it compared to the real life failure. Yeah. So then on Saturday, we have an interesting update on some research. So it's the phase three of concrete roof deck moisture research. And this is going to present an expansion of research that was conducted to produce moisture and concrete roof decks, which was published by the National Roofing Contractors Association in 2020.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow, very cool.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay.

Jennifer Hogan: Then we get to close things out on Sunday with some more just excellent content. We have another general session, Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover. This session is going to talk about how sometimes the simplest explanation isn't always the best. And we're going to kind of dig into that concept of how like drawing early conclusions can inhibit open thought and exploration. And this one should be really fun because I know the speakers are planning to have some audience participation throughout the conversation.

Megan Ellsworth: Cool.

Megan Ellsworth: That's the best. love when it's participatory.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, absolutely. There's a ton of other ones on Sunday as well. We've got like above sheathing ventilation and steep slope roof assemblies. We've got a presentation on key considerations for roof drainage design. And then we're going to sort of close out the whole day of education with a final session Sunday afternoon where Amy Peeby, one of our past presidents, will be leading a panel discussion with some of the participants of the mentoring program project, Excel. And they're going to talk about mentoring and the development of soft skills in our industry.

Megan Ellsworth: Cool.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Soft skills, man. So important, so important. I'm excited for that one. That'll be really interesting. I also love panel discussions and hearing different perspectives. That's the best.

Jennifer Hogan: Absolutely.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, me too. Everyone brings a little different flavor to it then, right?

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, exactly, exactly. So you mentioned iBeck is kind of ideal for networking. What are some of the networking events that are happening over the weekend?

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, like you said earlier, like it's a packed schedule. There are so, so many events. Um, so obviously we talked about like the welcome reception. We've also got region meetings. So this is where we have lunch on Friday. Um and you sort of like break out into separate areas with your region. It's just a great place to connect on local issues. So it gives everyone from that general geographic area, a chance to kind of connect and get together.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, we talked a little bit about the awards luncheon. That's going to be on Saturday. Great opportunity to just celebrate IBEX outstanding members and volunteers. There's just so many of them. We have an emerging professionals networking reception, which is awesome. It's a great opportunity on Saturday evening for folks under 40 to connect. We have our annual meeting of the members on Sunday.

This is more of a business meeting with leadership sort of like sharing the latest from the organization, as well as hearing from the candidates and learning the results of our annual election, which is always very exciting. And then we've got the event closing with the RCI Ibex Foundation's live auction and reception. That's on Sunday, immediately before our president's banquet.

Megan Ellsworth: Cool.

Jennifer Hogan: It's a combined fundraiser for both the Canadian and the US Foundation Arms. And the theme this year is actually called Out of This World, which I love the themes for the auction. And I do always tend to try to plan my outfit with a little bit of a nod towards the theme. So if you run into me there, you will see a little bit of a nod to the theme again this year. And I invite anyone else who wants to join me to do so. But just remember what

Megan Ellsworth: Yes.

Megan Ellsworth: Yes!

Megan Ellsworth: Yes!

Jennifer Hogan: What you wear you're probably going to be wearing to the President's banquet. maybe not a space helmet, but you know, a little little nod. That's right.

Megan Ellsworth: Right.

Megan Ellsworth: A little something, something. I love that. I love a theme. I love a theme. I love dressing to a theme. That's perfect. Amazing. Okay. So tell me more about the emerging professionals networking reception, cause that sounds like a blast.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, same.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, it's great. Like this, think is probably only the second time that we've done this reception. I think last year's convention was the first time we had it. And it's just like a great relaxed environment. We have some cocktails, we have some appetizers and it's a great opportunity for those under 40 just to connect, exchange ideas and even discover potentially career opportunities.

A lot of the industry leaders come as well because obviously recruiting is always on everyone's mind. And, it's just a great opportunity to kind of have those conversations and connect. And I think, like on that same vein, just, for me, I, I got involved at IBEK like quite early on in my career. And I just try to always share that message to the emerging professionals that the benefits that you get from participating in an association like IBEK.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jennifer Hogan: Coming to these events, growing that network and really developing those soft skills like we were talking about, it's something that can't easily be quantified, but it's so impactful. You find new confidence, you develop speaking skills, leadership qualities, all of those things are things that I directly in my professional career attribute to my early involvement with iBEC. So I always, always stress to people.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Jennifer Hogan: If you can get involved, get involved because you are going to reap so much like benefit from that participation.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, that is so true. That's something I've learned a lot as well through other associations like Western States, NRCA and their young professionals programs. So I'm really excited to get involved with the IBEQ Emerging Professionals Networking Reception and Program because it's so nice to be able to make genuine friendships in the field that you're in and connections that go beyond the workplace too. I think that's so important, like you said.

Jennifer Hogan: Absolutely.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah. All right. So the most important question, are there any deadlines or things attendees should keep in mind when it comes to registration, accommodations, event signups for IBEK convention?

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, absolutely. So I believe the early bird rate ends February 7th. So the earlier you can get in there and register, the better. Rooms are definitely starting to sell out pretty quickly, but that's not too much of a concern because we'll always be able to have overflow hotels made available if we run out of space at Rosen. But definitely the sooner you can register and get in there, the better because Rosen is a great place to be.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay.

Jennifer Hogan: The convention website has all of the information you can possibly need. So it's ibeqconvention.org or if you can't remember that and you just go to the ibeq website, you'll be able to find the link to it really easily. It's usually right at the top. The website has the entire schedule, the education sessions, information about all the networking events and so much more. The other thing that I mentioned a little bit earlier too is the convention app. It's a great way to plan your weekend.

I always go in there and I love the process of going through and like putting a little star next to the events that I'm going to. And then I can like view my own schedule because there's so much going on. Like you said, it's so easy to miss something. So that really lets you before you get there, have a look through and kind of like make sure, okay, I've put a star on the things that I really just cannot miss. It's easily found in the app store. Just search ibex. And if you look for the little live in 25 icon, it's pretty obvious and you just click to download.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah.

Megan Ellsworth: Perfect. Amazing. I love it when conventions have apps. Like you said, it just makes it so easy, very customizable. You can add things to your calendar. So everyone definitely go download that. I'm going to go do that right after this. Well, Jennifer, I'm so excited to go to iBeck this year and meet you in person and see everyone. Thank you so much for having the coffee shops. And we're just excited to be in attendance and see all the great stuff that you all are doing.

Jennifer Hogan: Yeah, fantastic. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there too. This is pretty much a highlight of the year for me is coming to the annual convention each year. I get to connect with just like so many friends I've made over the years and it's really rewarding and kind of like fills your cup to spend a few days with really like-minded people who all are passionate and geeky about the same thing as you are.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, I love it. Incredible. Okay, so everyone can also go to RufusCoffeeshop.com to the iBeck directory and find all this information as well. Go to iBeckConvention.org to get signed up and registered. And hopefully we'll see everyone there March 6th through 9th, correct?

Jennifer Hogan: That's right.

Megan Ellsworth: Okay, well, I will be seeing you all in Orlando. Hopefully it's warm.

Jennifer Hogan: Fingers crossed.

Megan Ellsworth: Thank you so much, Jennifer. I'm so excited.

Megan Ellsworth: And everyone out there listening, please go to RoofersCoffeeShop.com to learn more. And we'll see you next time on Roofing Road Trips. That was great.

Jennifer Hogan: Awesome.