Judy Geller - METALCON 2023 Expo - PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Judy Geller from METALCON. You can read the interview below, listen to the podcast or watch the video.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Hello and welcome to MetalCast from MetalCoffeeShop. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and we're talking about the biggest event of the year, the biggest, and that is METALCON. So excited, we love this show so much. So we asked our friend, Judy Geller to come and visit with us and tell us everything that's going to be happening at this year's METALCON which is happening in October. So we are so excited. Judy, welcome to the show.

Judy Geller: Thanks for having me. It's exciting to be here.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh my gosh. This is one of our favorite things. Going to METALCON, seeing ... I learn so much every year. Before we jump in with all the fun news, why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about METALCON overall?

Judy Geller: Sure, I'd be happy to. I am Judy Geller, I am the Vice President of METALCON. I joined up in 2019, and I've spent many years producing events in the B2B space. METALCON is the first time I've ever worked in the construction or manufacturing industry. It's been really exciting and really fun to learn all about it, and meet all these new people, and work on such an amazing brand like METALCON.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I've just seen it grow so much in the last couple years, and really even the overall exposure of the metal construction industry. I know part of it is because we've gotten really involved with MetalCoffeeShop so, of course, we're learning a lot, but it is fun to see the growth. This year is going to be one of the biggest yet. Talk to us about what to expect for METALCON 2023.

Judy Geller: Well, it is going to be a big year for a whole bunch of reasons. I mean, METALCON is really back. We had good shows in 2021, had a great show last year in 2022, and we are anticipating really the biggest it's been in years this year in Las Vegas so we're very excited about this year's show. Las Vegas is historically an amazing location for METALCON. We have so much planned, and registration is already going gangbusters.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That is great. Oh, I'm so excited. Just what are some of the top things you are excited about for METALCON this year?

Judy Geller: There are a number of things, but I think the big deals this year, and one of the most exciting things is that we're adding the METALCON Training Zone. Sherwin-Williams is sponsoring that which is just fantastic. It's a hands-on learning opportunity really geared for contractors of any level on ... With experience working with metal. John Sheridan, who's the owner of SheridanTools ... You know John, he's been on MetalCast before. Organized the Zone. He is going to have amazing mockups with various details to work on. There will be training available in English and in Spanish. That's a book. We've never done that before so that's really exciting. And then roofing materials will be provided by the generosity of Drexel Metals, McElroy, VMZINC, and I'm sure there are some other generous manufacturers that will be coming in. That's one big thing we're excited about this year. The NRCA will be there demonstrating their pro certification. The IMP Alliance will be there, they've got a special education program going on. They talk about handling the IMPs which can be ... It's an art form in itself. What else do we have going on?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: And I'm going to say, IMP, Insulated Metal Panels, just in case somebody's wondering.

Judy Geller: Yes, yes, I know. See, it's alphabet soup.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I know. The thing is, I can remember you, and I, and Miguel sitting at MCA and talking about some of these things, and talking about the training center and bringing John Sheridan in. I'm just so excited that it happened and that Sherwin-Williams is such a big part of it. But to have that demo boot. And our sound stage is going to be very close to that demo booth so we're very excited about that.

Judy Geller: It's going to be great. And you know what, Heidi, you really just hit on something important. And this is why events are back and continue to be so important. You, and myself, and Miguel sat down face-to-face at the industry meeting and came up with a brilliant concept for METALCON this year. That would've been so much harder to do over Zoom.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh, I know, I know. It's so great to have that all going. And speaking of new ideas and new concepts, you, and I and, LeeAnn Slattery from ATAS also sat down together and said, "We want to do something for women in metal construction." Tell us about that. Pretty exciting.

Judy Geller: I mean, again, the power of conversation is just amazing. I mean, we'd been toying around with the idea of doing something for women at METALCON really since I came on board. This is the year we're finally doing it, the timing is right. The brainchild, thanks to you, and LeeAnn, and the support of some amazing sponsors is so Metal and Mimosas. We're doing it before the show floor opens on Wednesday the 18th so it starts at 8:00 in the morning. It's an opportunity for the women in the industry to come just right across the street to the Renaissance Hotel. We're going to have breakfast, mimosas, education, networking, and it's just going to be really fun. And I hope that this is really just the first annual. METALCON is a perfect place to bring together all of the associations, all of the events. We're on neutral ground and we're all there. It's going to be really fun.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: There's going to be a lot of women involved. And we already have sponsors who are supporting it. I mean, MetalCoffeeShop is proud to be one of the sponsors. I really see these unique opportunities. Metal construction is its own thing, and a lot of times people don't realize that. When you talk about all the sheet metal shops that are owned by women, and women-owned contracting businesses, manufacturing, I mean, there is just a strong powerful presence of women in the industry and it's always great to get them together.

Judy Geller: Definitely. And you know what? One of the teams that's going to be teaching in the Training Zone is going to be managed by an amazing woman.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Nicole.

Judy Geller: So that'll be great.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Super excited about all of that. I just think it's going ... There's just so many great networking opportunities. But there's also some amazing educational opportunities and you have some great speakers. So tell us a little bit about some of the speakers who are going to be ... Some of the keynote speakers, they're on the central stage. And you know what Judy? Some people aren't going to ... Won't realize, but the thing that's really cool about METALCON is everything's on the show floor.

Judy Geller: That's true. I'll just say right up front ... METALCON is really about metal in design and construction. We're not trying to wallpaper the universe here. The education is broken down into learning zones, to your point, that are on the show floor. We have a best practices learning zone, we have a technical know-how learning zone, and there's a sustainability learning zone. And then we have an architect's experience area for architects. And in those zones, that are located on the show floor, we cover everything. Whether you are fully seasoned in metal or you're looking to expand your business and you need advice, and strategies, and best practices, and some technical help, you're going to get it at METALCON.

I will say that the most popular registration package called the Total Experience includes all that's free education located in the exhibit hall. Right now I think that we're up to about 220 companies exhibiting and we expect more to come in. So that's all part of that very low registration cost. But if you are looking for more in-depth education, we do have some workshops that will be starting on Tuesday the 17th, and those are half and full day. We've got the A to Z of metal roofing. Some of the really popular topics that are great if you are a young professional or future leader or you're new to the business or you just want to brush up on some skills. We're also adding something really different to the workshop lineup this year. PSMJ which is the company that owns half of Telecom along with the MCA, is bringing in a mergers and acquisitions workshop just because there is so much of that going on in the industry, they do it every day for architectural firms. So they're going to come and do a special workshop and do some one-on-one consulting-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's great.

Judy Geller: On-site on Tuesday. That's great. Lots of education.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Lots of education on the show floor and it's so easy to get to. It's so easy. And you can go in and out of the booth and into education. It's not like you're looking for some classrooms.

Judy Geller: Right.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Okay. But how about keynote speakers?

Judy Geller: Okay. They're great. Okay. We have two major keynotes. And we try to make one fun with some popular ... I don't know. What's the word I'm looking for? We try to do something that's really fun, something that's out there in the universe. One of our keynotes this year is Rick ... Rico León who will be kicking us off. He is the host of HGTVs ... This runaway hit he has going called Rico to the Rescue.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Judy Geller: He works with contractors and he works with homeowners to try to just get them on the same page because sometimes things go awry. He's just amazing. So he's going to be speaking on Wednesday.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's great.

Judy Geller: And then on Thursday ... We brought back Ken Simonson. Ken is the chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America. He was with us a few years ago. And we brought him back because people love him. He has this ability to provide these fearless forecasts regarding trends in terms of project demand, material costs, labor availability. He doesn't mince words. People oftentimes pull out their notebooks and are taking notes on what Ken has to say because it's going to help them to plan.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love it.

Judy Geller: Those are our keynotes. But there are some other sessions I'm excited about.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Judy Geller: Do you want to hear about them?

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Yes.

Judy Geller: We added these things this year called Morning Kickoffs. They were actually designed to be part of the architect's experience, but we've decided to open them up to everybody. They take place at 8:30 in the morning in the convention center, they're not in the exhibit hall, but we'll let anybody with a badge in. One of them I'm super excited about is Gary Edgar from PPG along with the Vice President of Allegiant Stadium Operations. Were both really instrumental in getting that stadium built for the Raiders.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Wow.

Judy Geller: It's quite a story. They're going to be there on Wednesday morning just talking about it. I mean, you can't imagine the money that was invested, the sustainability issues, the crowd management, the fact that it's ... We forget it's in the middle of the desert. They're going to just be really compelling. And then on Thursday we've got a kickoff by ... He's an architect named Stefan Al. He's an urban designer and he wrote this book called Supertall. He is going to be talking about skyscrapers. A lot of them a long ... Around the Vegas strip, but in general. We've talked to him at length and he's going to be really interesting. We're opening that up to everybody. Come by. I think that these are going to be really amazing.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I just love all the work you've put into this. The great speakers, the great education. I mean, Judy, you and your team just do an amazing job. The heartbeat of it all is the trade show floor. You said 220 exhibitors and more coming. Everyone is seeing this rebirth of trade shows, and it sounds like the people who attend METALCON are going to see the same thing, leading companies in the metal construction industry.

Judy Geller: That is absolutely true. And I'll tell you ... We've got a lot of exhibitors who have been coming to METALCON for a long, long time, and they're there, and we're excited to greet them again. Booth sizes are up. The equipment, the machinery, the demos, everything is going to be on the floor. We're also excited to be welcoming a lot of new exhibitors.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Awesome.

Judy Geller: METALCON is really ... It's an event for the entire metal construction and design industry.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Right.

Judy Geller: People say, "Is it an equipment show? Is it a roofing show? Is it a wall show? What is it?"

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's everything.

Judy Geller: Anything across the spectrum of metal and construction, and you're going to see it on the floor in Vegas this fall.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: That's great. Wow, that's awesome. I love it. Okay. For everybody who's watching out there, we had a contest that just closed and so we are going to be giving away some super passes, or total experience passes that we're going to talk about. Everybody should be watching for that coming out and listening to see if you won if you registered. But we also still have discount codes for people who maybe didn't get in the contest and want to go. Judy, how can ... What does it take to attend? What's the cost? Can we get them some discount codes? How's that all work?

Judy Geller: Absolutely. If you are listening to this podcast, which we hope you are, we would like to offer you a $30 discount off of your registration. When you register just simply put in the code 30, 3-0, MCS for Metal Coffee Shop. 30MCS.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Perfect.

Judy Geller: The regular cost for a total experience pass is $140 so you save $30 after that. This year we also are offering something called the value pass. That's just an easy way ... If you're interested in those workshops, those in-depth workshops that I mentioned, then it's just a package that allows you to include workshops in your registration. A couple ways. All of the education that is in the exhibit hall is free so I hope people will take advantage. Register soon. Book your hotel. Hotels are selling out very fast.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: If you're interested in the Women of Metal Construction - Metal and Mimosas, register for that too. And you can find that on MetalCoffeeShop, you can also find it on METALCON. Because that's going to be going quick too, there's a limited amount.

Judy Geller: There is. And there's one other thing that there's a limited amount on and this is really important because I think it's a really cool thing. Metl-Span, one of the new core companies, is offering an exclusive tour to their Las Vegas plant-

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Oh my gosh.

Judy Geller: Which is just a few minutes away. They're including transportation to and from the convention center. It's going to depart the convention center at 8:00 AM on Wednesday morning. Well, everybody will be back by 11:00. But it's a chance to have breakfast, they're going to have a breakfast, they're going to have an educational session which will earn an AIA credit, there'll be networking, and then there will be a plant tour. If you're interested in joining that, I believe we're limited to around 50 or 60. Don't dilly-dally, get on METALCON.com. Register for the show first, and then you can register for that as well.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: All these other events.

Judy Geller: All these other events. There's so much happening. And if anybody has any questions you can always email us at info@metalcon.com. We're really good about responding very quickly.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: Very true, very true. And, of course, you can find all this information on MetalCoffeeShop, in the directory for METALCON, plus we have ads for METALCON on there, there's articles, there's all kinds of things including, obviously, it's this podcast. Judy, I'm so excited, I'm going to see you in Las Vegas.

Judy Geller: I can't wait. I'm looking forward to seeing you, it's going to be an awesome event.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: It's going to be amazing. And we hope to see all of you there too. Be sure to go check out the directory, sign up, meet us in Las Vegas. Of course, MetalCoffeeShop will be having a live sound stage. So if you can't make it, you can also catch us on YouTube where we'll be coming live during that whole ... During METALCON. Judy, one last time, thank you so much.

Judy Geller: My pleasure. Great to talk about METALCON.

Heidi J. Ellsworth: I love to talk about METALCON. And thank you all for watching. Please be sure to check out all of our metal casts on MetalCoffeeShop under the RLW: read, listen, watch navigation, or on our YouTube channel. Be sure to register or subscribe and ring that bell so that you get all the notifications. And finally, you'll also find this on your favorite podcast channel. Again, be sure to subscribe, get those notifications so you don't miss a single episode. And we'll be seeing you next time on MetalCast.