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ISFA at TISE
Tuesday, February 01, 2022 to Thursday, February 03, 2022
Category: ISFA Events

TISE

AGENDA

Monday, January 31, 2022

4PM-5PM - Color Cues: A Fresh Approach to the Sales Process

After visiting hundreds of retailers, countertop fabrication shops, kitchen and bath showrooms, and home centers, Nancy Busch, executive director of the International Surface Fabricators Association (ISFA), uncovered what paralyzes a customer’s ability to choose a material: a lack of emotional connection.

It all starts with one simple question: What’s your favorite color? The answer is the key to understanding how you can relate to your customer on an emotional level, the level that closes a sale quickest. Salespeople spend way too much time selling from their own perspective and their own aesthetic. It’s not about what you think, it’s about what your customer thinks!

If you’re organizing your showroom by material or crowding in as many display racks as you can, join Nancy as she presents a fresh approach to the sales process and showroom design.

Learn how to break the cycle and find a direct path to better understanding — and serving — your customers’ needs.

Location: Seminars - Islander I

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

9AM-10AM - Ask an ISFA Expert: Joe Duszka

Struggling with process issues in your shop? Got a question about automation? Ask ISFA president, Joe Duszka! Joe is the owner and president of Carolina Custom Surfaces. With a degree in industrial engineering and an MBA, Joe’s strong interest in the relationship between machinery, people and processes has served him well in various positions, including plant engineer, production manager and plant manager for two manufacturing companies.

Location: ISFA booth #4564

11AM-12PM - Ask ISFA Experts: Steve Mast & Austin Maxwell

What does farming have in common with running a fabrication business? Stop by and say hello to Steve Mast and Austin Maxwell and Steve Mast to find out!

Steve Mast joined Precision Countertops in 2004, which has since become one of the largest shops in the United States. In addition, Steve co-owns a remodeling company, a laminate edge manufacturer, and the software company behind the popular SPEEDlabel solution. Passionate about the industry, he loves visiting other fabrication shops, learning, and sharing ways to improve business. He’s also the owner of a hobby farm.

Austin Maxwell is the president and second-generation owner of Maxwell Counters, Inc. Since 1981, Maxwell Counters has provided central Illinois and surrounding areas with full-service, custom surfacing for commercial and residential stone, solid surface and laminate countertops.

Location: ISFA booth #4564

12PM-1PM - Ask an ISFA Expert: Augie Chavez

Want to learn more about commercial business or thermoforming solid surface? Meet Augie Chavez, who is happy to share his experiences and expertise with you.

Augie Chavez is the owner of GECKO Solid Surface Solutions (GECKO SSS) in San Antonio, Texas, and he has over 35 years of experience in the surface fabrication industry.

Augie’s expertise is primarily within the commercial space specializing in custom inlays and thermoforming projects for recreational centers, hospitals and more. He is passionate about safety, sustainability and creating a thriving company culture in which he treats his employees like family. He was named ISFA Fabricator of the Year in 2016, and he served as president of the association in 2020.

Location: ISFA booth #4564

1PM-2PM - Understanding the Value of SOPs with Eric Tryon

Struggling to put out fires, let alone write standard operating procedures? Stop by the ISFA booth and learn about the value of SOPs for your business from industry expert and ISFA Director Eric Tryon.

Eric Tryon has started, grown and sold multiple businesses over 30 years. Most recently, Eric was the founder and CEO of Premier Surfaces. He parlayed the lessons he learned over two and a half decades of professional success as an entrepreneur and business owner into shaping one of the nation’s largest and most profitable countertop and specialty surfaces companies in North America. Eric sold Premier Surfaces in 2017 and retired in 2018. Eric has won many awards over the years including the city of Atlanta’s top entrepreneur in 2015; Stone World Magazine's 2016 Stone Fabricator of the Year; Top 20 Workplaces in Atlanta by the Wall Street Journal.

Location: ISFA booth #4564

3PM-4PM - Ask ISFA Experts: Jim Callaghan & Paul “Max” Le Pera

What happens when a sustainability obsessed New Jerseryan mixes with a sales guy from Detroit? Stop by the ISFA booth and find out!

Paul “Max” Le Pera is the president and founder of Proprietary Ventures, LLC, a boutique-style global firm devoted to researching, discovering and deploying disruptive and sustainably oriented proprietary products and technologies. A member of ISFA since its inception, Max is fervent about sustainable manufacturing and helping the industry find and develop new products and processes that contribute to the health and safety of the environment.

Jim Callaghan is a sales director for GranQuartz, the largest distributor of stone fabrication tools, equipment and supplies in the United States. For over 20 years, Jim has specialized in consulting with clients on how to pick the best capital equipment for their fabrication business, as well as integrating automation. Throughout his career, he has helped hundreds of fabrication firms lower their operating costs and increase productivity.

Location: ISFA booth #4564

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

11AM-2PM - Designer in the Spotlight: Mario Romano

Meet Mario Romano, founder and creator of M.R. Walls, an architectural product blending design and digital fabrication with installation assembly. M.R. Walls creates the most beautiful 3D textured surfaces in the world, nonrepeating designs of any size and infinitely customizable. Endless expressions, carved and textured like nature, capture the interplay of light and the complexity that emerges from nature’s simple rules.

Mario designs his building systems using solid surface. His homes contain structures that undulate like ocean waves. His interior wall surfaces are carved with intricate gradient lines that evoke the desire to touch them. “It’s something like a second nature,” he says. “Nature never goes out of style.”

Stop by the ISFA booth to meet Mario and see one of his exclusive designs on display.

Location: ISFA booth #4564

2PM-4PM - SPECIAL EVENT: Cheers with Beers! 
Sponsored by Corian Design

Skål! Kanpai! Salud! Prost! Santé! Raise a glass with ISFA and share some laughs during this happiest of happy hours. Drinks are on ISFA and Corian Design. Stop by, grab a beer and network with your peers and industry experts in the ISFA booth!

Location: ISFA booth #4564

Thursday, February 3, 2022

9AM-11AM - ISFA Staff Meet & Greet: Sarah Peiper, editor of Countertops & Architectural Surfaces magazine

ISFA’s quarterly publication, Countertops & Architectural Surfaces, is the only trade publication devoted to the decorative surfacing industry. If you’ve got a story to tell – a new product, a new service or a completed project that deserves recognition — stop by and bend Sarah’s ear. You could get featured in ISFA’s magazine!

11AM-1PM - ISFA Staff Meet & Greet: Nancy Busch, ISFA’s executive director

Nancy Busch has worked in the building materials sector for more than 15 years. She served previously as sales manager for Willis, a North American distributor of premium design materials, as well as an independent kitchen and bath designer, earning NKBA’s Associate Kitchen and Bath Designer (AKBD) certification. Nancy studied fine art and design at Pacific Lutheran University after earning an Associate of Arts and Science degree at Pierce College. Got a question about using color to close sales quicker in your showroom? Want to learn more about how you can join one of the most powerful networks of surface fabricators in the world? Nancy has the answers to these questions and a whole lot more.

Location: ISFA booth #4564

1PM-2PM - It’s a Wrap!

Close the show with us and we’ll make it worth your while with stickers, Yetis and any remaining swag. Plus, we’re just really nice people to hang out with! ;)

STOP BY BOOTH 4564
WE'D LOVE TO SEE YOU!

For more information about the International Surface Event, visit www.intlsurfaceevent.com.


Contact: Nancy Busch, 888-599-ISFA, ext 1