Welcome to the 10th anniversary of the Global Buyers Mission™ (GBM) – a three-day, invitation only networking/tradeshow event developed to bring together pre-qualified international buyers of wood products from around the world, with Canadian manufacturers of products that include finished materials, building supplies, and remanufacturing products.

The GBM continues to be the best business building event in Canada for wood products manufacturers interested in growing their export market opportunities – and developing new business relationships with architects, designers, developers, builder & contractors – and other exhibiting wood products companies. Response from our 2012 Exhibitors surveys indicated an estimated $48+ million in new business from attendance at the event.

To celebrate our 10th Anniversary, we are also putting on a little competition to see who can come up with the best booth design/display. This will be judged by a committee of your peers and international buyers, and the incentive is to win back the cost of one booth space! (That’s better than an ipad, right?!)

We are very pleased to be partnering once again with the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association (WRCLA) on the event, as they deliver their Cedar Summit program on the 4th and 5th. We will also draw the important architect / designer / contractor / builder decision makers with our popular Wood First program, which will run through the whole event. Last year, pre-qualified wood products buyers came from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Eastern Canada, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

We will be back at the beautiful Whistler Conference Centre and have negotiated unbeatable hotel rates for our delegates in Whistler Village.

You will not want to miss this opportunity to showcase your products to over 250 pre-qualified international buyers plus North American specifiers!

Exhibit space is limited and will be available on a first-come / first-served basis. If you haven’t already registered, contact us for your online registration link at gbm@bcwood.com or call 604-882-7100. The link will include a floor plan showing the space and showroom layout for exhibitors.

In case you haven’t seen them yet, here are some links to a few short videos from last year’s event:

2012 Global Buyers Mission Video: http://youtu.be/75FB6QDMv1o
2012 Wood First Video: http://youtu.be/2oAK2n6Vf8U
2012 Global Buyers Mission Exhibitor Testimonials: http://youtu.be/C5j5u6ShUP8
2012 Global Buyers Mission Buyer Testimonials: http://youtu.be/c2Xwy8yRbio
BC Wood YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BCWoodAssociation

Proposed Program Schedule

Thursday – September 5th
Association Business & In-Market Representatives Meetings
Evening Welcome Event at the spectacular Roundhouse Lodge at the Peak of Whistler Mountain for all participants

Friday – September 6th
Morning Networking/Tradeshow/Meetings
Afternoon WRCLA Sponsored Golf Tournament; Architects in-booth presentations; or Whistler free time
Gala Evening Event

Saturday – September 7th
Morning Networking/Tradeshow/Meetings

2013 Exhibitor Fees

BC Wood, WRCLA or Canadian Wood Products Association Member:
10 x 10 booth – $2,079 (includes 2 exhibiting participants)
Non-member:
10 x 10 booth – $3,129 (includes 2 exhibiting participants)
Each additional company participant: $400 / Spousal Program: $150 (includes 2 Evening events)

Exhibit Registration Includes:

• 2 full participants per booth space
• Basic electrical, pipe & drape, covered table & 2 chairs, carpet & Wi-Fi
• All meals during the event including the Thursday night Welcome Event at the Roundhouse Lodge & Friday evening Gala Event
• Full access to Thursday Association Programs
• Complete multi-lingual company listing in the Mission Program Guide

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like more information on the GBM or how it could benefit your company.

In our last Wood Connections, being the first issue of BC Wood’s new fiscal year, we provided a summary of the events from the 2012 – 2013 fiscal year. For this issue, I will discuss what we have planned for the upcoming year.

To begin, we will become more involved with the various associations we are now connected with, including the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA), the Independent Contractors Business Association (ICBA), and the Architect Institute of BC (AIBC). Each of these associations has annual conferences which we will be participating at in whatever capacity that is available to us. For example, we have already booked exhibition space at two of these associations’ conferences, VRCA’s conference which will be held in Whistler at the end of May and at the AIBC’s conference in October. This will be the first time BC Wood will have participated in these events.

Regarding AIBC, one of the major reasons we are participating in their annual conference is that this year, for the first time, they are partnering with the American Institute of Architects – Northwest & Pacific Region. The conference takes place on October 23-26 at the Vancouver Convention Centre West. Aside from these specific events, we are also planning on the following:

• A minimum of 40 Lunch & Learn sessions for Architects, Interior Designers, Contractors, and Builders at their facilities
• Group seminars which will be held in offsite locations
• Factory tours and accompanying seminars for interested participants

The goal for all these activities is to continue to increase awareness of the great products we make in our Province to the aforementioned groups so they will ultimately specify and use BC manufactured value-added wood products.

Speaking of great products from our industry, I had the pleasure of visiting a project last week that made extensive use of a BC produced product, Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL). Although it has been around for a while, LVL’s BC production is in its early stages. Manufactured by Brisco Manufacturing in Brisco, BC (East Kootenays), this LVL has been used for columns, beams, walls, stairs, and a mezzanine floor. The architect who designed the project and specified the LVL is Michael Green. The project is still in its construction stages and is not expected to be completed until July. Even at this stage, one can clearly see the beauty of this wood product. I can hardly wait to see the project when it is completed and the product is fully finished.

*Picture above: LVL Column & Beams

*Picture below: LVL Mezzanine

Last week, I also attended a conference hosted by the International Wood Products Association out of Washington, DC. The conference was at the Westin Bayshore and was attended by representatives from USA and Canada. During the conference, at a panel discussion, another couple of great BC products were given homage, Cross Laminated Timbers and Silva Panels, with both being highly touted.

All in all, a pretty good week spotlighting some great BC produced products

All of these products and many others have been given a great deal of exposure to the Specifier Community through the Specifier Program. As we are just embarking on our new fiscal year, if your company has not yet participated in the Specifier Program it would be a great time to start. For further information, please contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com

*LVL Wall & Stairs

We have another fiscal year behind us as April 1st marks the beginning of a new year for both BC Wood and the Specifiers Program.

Although we had a late start in 2012, the Program picked up considerable momentum beginning in October and continued quite a hectic pace through to March 31st, the end of our fiscal year. Although the major audience was the architect community, the program also experienced an expansion into the construction community with us joining and become active with the major construction associations in BC. As we look back, here are some of the highlights for the 2012 – 2013 year:

• We hosted almost 50 events, including lunch & learn sessions, group seminars, and tours.
• These events put us in front of over 800 architects and designers and their respective support staff, contractors, builders, and engineers.
• While Greater Vancouver is where the majority of events took place, we also held sessions for specifiers throughout the province including Victoria, Nanaimo, Squamish, Kamloops, Kelowna, Vernon, and Penticton. We were accompanied by industry representatives who each provided educational seminars on their respective products.
• One of our last events of the year was our first group session for the Independent Construction Business Association (ICBA) (picture below). For this group, instead of a lunch & learn, we held a “breakfast & learn”. This worked quite well for the contractors as it ended at 9:00am, thereby, allowing those that attended to minimize the time from the jobsites. Five companies from industry participated in the session and each gave 15 minute educational presentations on their respective products to the group. Afterwards, most stayed behind for 30 minutes or so to answer questions on a one-on-one basis.

• We have a group session booked for Mid-May with the other major construction association, the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA).

• We held our first group seminar for the CHBA, Sea to Sky Chapter, up at Whistler.

• In total, 24 companies from Industry participated in the Specifiers Program in varying degrees.

• Throughout the year, we were contacted by several architect firms requesting seminars on specific products which we arranged for industry representatives to present on. This epitomizes one of the major benefits of the program; follow up sessions are where relationships are formed between specifiers and companies, which in turns greatly increases the company’s profile and chances of having products specified.

• We fielded numerous requests from specifiers looking for information on specific products or where to source them. In these cases, we put them in touch with the appropriate companies. If the products are available, having high quality, made in BC products used on BC projects is a win-win for both the specifier and industry. Certainly, the specifiers are now aware of this more than ever before.

All in all, this was a quite busy and successful year for the Specifiers Program. My next Wood Connections article will cover our planned activities for the coming year. In the meantime, should you want to participate in the program for the upcoming year, or simply want more information, please feel free to contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com or you can reach me by calling the BC Wood office.

A few comments, suggestions, and ideas that may be of interest…

June 2013 is expected to be be a busy time for BC Wood with two major trade events that are important to the residential and light commercial construction sectors in the United States. PCBC and AIA National both take place that month and BC Wood, along with member companies will be exhibiting at both key events.

PCBC, a longstanding trade event for the construction sector on the West Coast of the US, takes place in the first week of June. This event draws builders, developers, distributors, and architects from across California and the Western United States. PCBC has traditionally been held in San Francisco, but for the first time in its 50+ year history, has moved to the sunnier climes of Southern California and the city of San Diego.

Show organizers made the difficult decision to move the event for a number of reasons; the primary being the decline in attendance in the San Francisco event since the downturn of 2008. Having the IBS builders event in Las Vegas for the next few years also factored into the equation.

Either way, moving the event to the San Diego market makes good sense. San Diego is one of the stronger markets in California with increasing construction starts in the residential and multi-family sectors. So far, interest and uptake in the event is very good, with the show selling out its original space and having to add floor space to accommodate new exhibitors. BC Wood already has 5 member companies exhibiting and has a small amount of space left. If this is of interest to your company, let us know as soon as possible.

*images from PCBC

AIA National is the American Institute of Architects annual conference and trade event that moves around the country each year. This event annually attracts 25,000 to 30,000 architects, engineers, and builders from both the residential and light commercial construction sectors. The 2013 AIA takes place the 3rd week of June in Denver, Colorado and is expected to be a well attended event. As with PCBC, BC Wood and member companies will have a significant presence at AIA and if you want to reach a target audience of US architects and builders, then this event is a cost effective way of doing so.

Both trade events are important for manufacturers to connect directly with their target audiences. If you are targeting builders, architects, developers, and distributors in the western United States, then you should seriously consider either or both of these events as a part of your companies market development strategy. With improving economic conditions and a stronger than expected construction market being experienced across the US, the time to develop market share is now.

For more info on these events or opportunity in the US, please contact me at dfarley@bcwood.com or give the office a call at 1877 422 9663

A few ideas, suggestions, and thoughts that may be of interest to Industry…

Last week, I attended the Wood Solutions Fair in Seattle, Washington and was pleasantly surprised with the number and quality of attendees at this one day event. According to Woodworks staff, over 630 qualified architects, engineers, construction specifiers, and other key influencers in the light commercial construction sector attended the event. Attendees had a chance to participate in seminars that showcased new products and trends in wood frame construction and to meet with exhibitors displaying high quality wood and construction related products. The general consensus from exhibitors and attendees was positive and many architects came to the event armed with construction plans and blueprints. All in all, the Wood Solutions Seattle was a good event for companies looking to increase sales into the non-residential and light commercial construction sector.

I have been working with an architect in the Lake Tahoe market and in our discussions found it interesting how he is using some new software in the design of the multi-million dollar vacation homes that his firm specializes in.   He is using a software program, Innodraw, which utilizes laser technology to provide 3 dimensional, precise measurements of the interior rooms of his projects. These exact measurements are then forwarded to the architectural millwork shop that he works with. They in turn manufacture 95 percent of the product in their shop and are only on the jobsite for the install. The architect believes that considerable time and money is being saved by using this software, and he feels that a number of costly mistakes have been avoided as a result of the millwork supplier adopting the use of the software into the manufacturing process. For more information on the Innoware software, check out their website,  www. Innodraw.com.

Finally, a hearty congratulations to Mr. Doug Auer who has recently been appointed as the new CEO for Viceroy Homes. Doug, as many of you know, worked for BC Wood for a number of years as our in-market representative for the United States. He has a strong knowledge and specialized expertise in the prebuilt housing sector and will use these skills in his new role with Viceroy. We wish Doug all the best in his new endeavor.

As always, for more information on the topics discussed or on market opportunities in the United States, please contact me at dfarley@bcwood.com

As mentioned in earlier Wood Connections, we anticipated that the first quarter of 2013 would be a busy for the Specifiers Program and the reality is indeed living up to expectations.

We started 2013 out with a bang as January was an incredibly busy month. We conducted 9 Lunch & Learn (L&L) sessions with architects in Vancouver and Surrey and booked additional sessions for February and March. Three of these sessions were initiated by the architects as they requested follow up lunch & learns on specific products we covered in our overview.

We also finalized 4 seminars; two of which are with the two major construction associations in Greater Vancouver – The Independent Construction Business Association (ICBA) and the Vancouver Regional Construction Association (VRCA). BC Wood will have 5 firms from industry actively participating in these sessions with each having approximately 20 minutes to educate the contractors on their respective products. We have also finalized plans for group seminars in Kamloops and Kelowna. These sessions are targeting architects and specifiers and once again BC Wood will be joined by representatives from our industry. This time, 4 companies will participate and present their products in an educational format to the respective groups. We are also planning on a couple of individual L&L sessions while in the Okanagan. All these sessions will be held in March with Kamloops and Kelowna scheduled for March 5th and 6th respectively, the VRCA scheduled for March 20th, and the ICBA scheduled for March 27th.

While we haven’t mentioned it yet, February will be no “cake walk”. As of now, we will have conducted 3 lunch & learn sessions, and are gearing up for Buildex which will be held on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. a week later, I am off to Seattle for the Wood Solutions Fair and returning for another lunch & learn session. Then the week after, we are off to the Interior for our previously mentioned seminars.

In the first weekend of February, I had the pleasure of speaking to the BC Log and Timber Builder Industry Association on the subject of Marketing to Architects. The occasion was the LTBIA’s 16th Annual Conference and AGM which was held at the Quaaout Lodge in Chase, BC. Although my stay was relatively short, I did have the opportunity to renew acquaintances and met some new friends from the LTBIA. From all reports, the conference was a great success so congratulations to Patti LeFrancois and Aaron Moore and their groups for organizing this successful event. I was happy to have been a small part of it.

It’s hard to believe but in just 6 (hectic) weeks, our fiscal year will come to an end and we will start gearing up for the 2013 – 2014 Specifiers Program. If you have any thoughts regarding changes or additions to the program, this would be a good time for your suggestions. We are very open to them as in the end, while we may administer the program, it can only be successful if industry is fully engaged with the ultimate goal of increasing industry’s business. So if you have any suggestions, please let us know.

Also, if you have any questions on this article or wish for more information on any aspect of the Specifier Program, please contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com or call the office. I would look forward to hearing from you.

By Roy Manion

2013 is starting out with a bang for the Specifier’s Program with 9 Lunch & Learn (L&L) seminars booked for January. Seven of the nine seminars are with architect firms we have never visited before; we are continuing our efforts of expanding BC Wood’s circle of influence throughout the architect community.

The other two out of nine L&L seminars are focus sessions where BC Wood will be joined with a representative from industry who will be presenting their products in an educational format. These two sessions are will take place at an architect’s firm that we have already had L&L seminars in the past. This is when relationships with specific companies are really formed, making these follow up sessions invaluable.

The Specifiers Program is close to reaching the point where, by the end of our fiscal year (March 31st), we will have visited all but a handful of the major firms throughout the province. Therefore, if all goes according to plan, by the end of our next fiscal year, BC Wood will have held at least one lunch and learn session at each architect and designer firm throughout BC.

We are also working on group seminars. During the week of March 4th, we, along with four participating members, will be in Kamloops and Kelowna giving seminars to the specifier communities.

At the end of March, BC Wood, accompanied by participating members, will be giving our first group seminar to the contractors who are members of the Lower Mainland Chapter of the Independent Construction Builders Association (ICBA). We are also working with the Vancouver Regional Construction Association, BC’s other major construction association, for a similar session. This is part of our continuing effort to expand the Specifiers Program to include the construction and engineering communities.

I have also been asked to speak on marketing to the architects during the first weekend in February at the BC Log and Timber Building Association’s upcoming conference in Chase, BC. I am very much looking forward to it, as well as the opportunity of meeting with many of their members.

If you have any questions on this article or wish more information on any aspect of the Specifier Program, please contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com or call the office. I look forward to hearing from you.

Our 2012 Global Buyers Mission videos have now been uploaded. All of our videos can be seen on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/BCWoodAssociation?feature=watch

Global Buyers Mission Video

Wood First Program Video

Buyer Testimonial Video

Exhibitor Testimonial Video

By Roy Manion

BC Wood continues to develop relationships with contractors and builders. As the readers may know, we are members of the Vancouver Regional Contractors Association (VRCA). Last Thursday, I attended a VRCA breakfast seminar sponsored by Wood Works BC on High Rise Wood Towers, the Next Step for BC. The speaker was Hubert Rhomberg, CEO of Rhomberg Holding GmbH and Cree GmbH, an Austrian company. The presentation was particularly interesting as the Rhomberg group built an 8 storey wood building in Austria (it went up one floor per day) and is one of three groups which have been asked to submit a proposal for the Tall Wood Tower in Prince George.

After the session, VRCA not only invited, but encouraged both BC Wood and Wood Works BC to utilize VRCA’s facilities to host group Lunch & Learn (L&L) sessions for their contractor members. As you may know, BC Wood has held a number of meetings and L&L sessions with several of the larger construction firms. These sessions have all been well received, and as a result, several firms have and continue to use BC Wood as a resource for information and product sourcing.

A few days prior to attending the VRCA breakfast meeting, we also met with the Independent Contractors Business Association (ICBA). The ICBA is an association that represents “open shop” construction companies. We have decided to join the ICBA as their membership is similar in size to the VRCA and provides us with access to additional construction companies. ICBA also encouraged us to use their facilities for group sessions.

In addition to these two associations, BC Wood is now working with the Canadian House Builders Association (CHBC), Sea to Sky (Whistler) Chapter and will be holding a L&L session in Whistler for their members on November 8th. Along with the CHBC members, we invited all of the Whistler architects. If all goes well, and we expect it will, we will look at a holding another session in Whistler with the CHBC in March.

Last Tuesday, we attended the Wood Solutions Fair and met with many architects and a number of companies in our industry who were exhibiting there. I also attended a seminar by Mateo Durfeld on Passive housing. Mateo is quickly setting himself up as the BC expert on passive housing.  After Mateo’s presentation, I then scooted over to the UBC Robson Square campus and participated as a speaker at CAWP’s Wood Tech Summit 2012. I gave a talk on marketing to architects.

This Thursday, November 1st, we are holding a seminar at UBC introducing a manufactured in BC hybrid solid wood curtain wall window system. Also speaking with me is an envelope consultant and a government representative on the requirements of the energy efficiency act and associated regulations. All in all, it looks like it will be a great session.

In addition, we are beginning plans for an Okanagan trip in February where we plan on holding group sessions and one or two individual L&L sessions in Kamloops and Kelowna. We already have two companies who have approached us to participate for the Okanagan sessions and we still have room for one or two more.

In the meantime, we are booking lunch & learn sessions primarily with the architect firms at their offices. We expect to do 30 more of these sessions by our fiscal year end, March 31st..

As one can see, the program continues to be very active. The interesting thing to me is that the group sessions we have held this year were all initiated by proactive participants in the program. We would encourage those who are reading this article who are not an active member of the Specifier Program to seriously look into it. You could benefit from exposing your products to the contractors and specifiers. For more information, feel free to contact me at 604-882-7100 orrmanion@bcwood.com

By Roy Manion

This is a short, midsummer report and it is all about the GBM.

The Specifier Program at the GBM is coming along nicely. All the speakers and seminars for Thursday’s Wood First Forum are in place as is Saturday’s lunch & learn session which features Neil Godin. The entire program provides architects with 9 learning units, half of what is required for the entire year; a great incentive for the architects, so we are expecting a good turnout.

This year, we have developed a brochure for the Specifiers Program at the GBM / Wood First Forum. To access the agenda brochure, click here   

Now we are focusing on finalizing the exhibitors who will be participating in the mini-seminar series on Friday afternoon. Everyone involved in the Mini-Seminar session will meet for lunch at Kypriaki Norte Restaurant near the Conference Centre then back to the Centre for the sessions.

This is a great opportunity for exhibitors to reach out to the Specifiers (Architects, Designers, and Contractors) who will come to exhibitor’s booths to receive an education on the nature of the exhibitors’ products. Invitations to the exhibitors to participate will be going out the next couple of days. Some exhibitors are not waiting for an invitation and have already signed up for the program.

By Roy Manion

I just returned after spending most of June in Europe, primarily in Croatia where my wife was born. One of many features of Europe that is immediately evident to most North Americans travelling to that continent is the architecture – and the age – of many of the buildings there. Along with the architecture of these buildings, one didn’t have to look hard to see a large amount of wood used in these buildings including timber frame, millwork (most had wood windows and doors), flooring, ceilings, and panelling.

For example, the hotel we stayed in Delnice, a small town in North Western Croatia, was several hundred years old – I was told 500 years old. This hotel was a timber frame structure imbedded into a combination of stone and concrete foundation and walls. As you may be able to see from the picture of the dining room, the interior walls, floor, and ceiling also were wood.

Surprisingly, this was not uncommon throughout Croatia. Everywhere we went, we saw wonderful uses of wood being used, whether the buildings were institutional, places of worship, commercial, or residential (including my wife’s 250 year old family home). For the most part, the wood was in excellent condition. When these buildings are eventually torn down, I am sure this wood can be salvaged and reused in new buildings which will most likely last for additional centuries. All in all, for me this was great reinforcement that our activities in promoting the use of wood as a viable and long lasting building material are on the money.

GLOBAL BUYERS MISSION

As I am sure you will be reading in other parts of the Wood Connections, preparation is in full swing for the GBM. We are looking for another strong representation from the architect and designer community. We are also expecting to see good support from the construction and engineering communities.

Once again, we will have a strong program set for our Wood First Forum on Thursday. We have some great speakers committed to the program including three amazing speakers from Europe, thanks to our friends at CAWP. Last year we introduced what turned out to be a very successful mini-seminar series for the architects and designers given by 20 exhibitors at their respective booths. Since this was such a success, we are continuing with it this year. Expect to hear more about this in the days to come.

For further information on the above or any issue related to the Specifiers Program, please feel free to contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com.

With physical samples, case studies, technical details about materials, building ideas and case studies, the Toolkit is your one-stop resource for British Columbia wood products.

The Architect’s Toolkit comprises of three sections: Engage, Inspire, and Innovate.

Engage: To help you choose the best wood species for your next project, this section contains information on the properties, usage and commercial availability of 11 species of B.C. wood.
*The physical version of the Architect’s Toolkit includes samples of 11 types of B.C. wood species and three engineered wood products: cross-laminated timber, OSB and plywood that you can see, touch and show to clients.

Inspire: Explore case studies, videos and continuing education units (CEUs) in this section.  The Building Green with Wood Toolkit provides resources for addressing green building rating systems.  Further information includes details of B.C.’s Wood First Policy, third-party forest certification and how wood can help mitigate climate change.

Innovate: To help you design and build innovative structures with B.C. wood products, this section provides links to suppliers and technical advisors.  Find information on wood performance and maintenance guidelines related to strength, durability, adaptability, energy efficiency, fire and seismic.

To access the online version of the Architect’s Toolkit and for more information, please click here

By Roy Manion

Recently, the Architect Program has been focusing on major contractors including such companies as Smith Bros & Wilson, Metro Can, Scott Construction, UPA, and Titan; this is in addition to companies that include PCL, Ledcor, Ellis Don, and more. The purpose of meeting with contractors is the same as meeting with architects. That is, we inform them about the value-added wood products that are available from our province and then connect those who are tasked with sourcing products to those who manufacture them. We tell all who we meet that they no longer have to ‘Google’ to determine where they can source product or information, they simply contact BC Wood and we will provide the names of the appropriate companies. This message has been well received and the entire endeavor has already proven to be worthwhile, as we have received several inquiries from construction firms who, until we met with them, didn’t know that we existed.

Also, like architects and designers, contractors, in many cases didn’t know and perhaps didn’t care, where the products were produced - a situation we are working on changing.

One area that some construction companies have spoken to me about is for more manufacturers to offer installation services. I know this is standard for many industries (architectural millwork, cabinet manufacturers, and log & timber frame companies to name some) but for those who don’t, you may wish to consider doing so. The reason is that sub-contracting out entire segments of projects, which include supply and installation, makes life easier for the general contractor. Simply put, the more services the manufacturer offers, the greater the potential of securing an order becomes. Think about it!

In the meantime, we continue to meet with architects and have set up lunch & learn sessions. Most of these are for firms we have already met and they have requested follow up sessions on specific products, something we are more that anxious to provide.

For further information on anything in this article or if you wish to participate in the Architect Program, please contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com or you can reach me at the BC Wood office

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, @roymanion and @bc_wood.

By Roy Manion

Last week, BC Wood sponsored a very successful event with Macdonald & Lawrence Timber Framing Ltd on Timber Frame and Timber Connections. Thirty-five architects, designers, and engineers, mostly from Southern Vancouver Island, spent Thursday afternoon attending seminars and site tours to increase their knowledge of Timber Framing and all it entails. Gord Macdonald of Macdonald & Lawrence presented an entertaining overview of various timber framing techniques and designs. He also provided an update on his multi-year restoration of Scott and Shackleton’s huts in Antarctica. In addition, Robin Zirnhelt of Cascade Engineering Group gave an engineer’s perspective of the various connector systems.

The seminars were held in the Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre, which was perfect since it was a timber frame structure that provided examples of the various issues raised during the seminars. We then went for a brief walk to view a couple of other examples of timber framing.

Group seminars and factory or site tours continue to grow in popularity as they give companies in our industry an opportunity to provide a far greater education to the audience than what they are currently able to provide through seminars. Those who attend, architects, designers, engineers, etc., also find this format very beneficial for much the same reasons.

We are currently working on two similar events with other manufacturers.

For further information on anything in this article or if you wish to participate in the Architect Program, please contact me at  rmanion@bcwood.com or you can reach me at the BC Wood office

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, @roymanion and @bc_wood.

Gord Macdonald (in centre with back to camera) explaining basic timber framing at an outdoor site; examples in foreground

By Roy Manion

Global Buyers Mission:

I am sure you will be reading many articles on the GBM in this Wood Connections edition and this one will be no exception; however, this article will focus on just the Architect & Designer Program portion of the GBM.

For the A&D’s, the program began with Thursday’s Living and Building With Wood seminars, which we are pleased to report were among the best we have ever had and accordingly, received excellent reviews from those who attended.

On Friday, we introduced a new program for the architects and designers. In the past, we have take tnhem on site tours of some of the finer projects in Whistler. However, this year, in lieu of site tours, we opted for an architect’s only session with the manufacturers. One of the key reasons is that in previous years, while architects and designers walked the exhibit floor along with the buyers, many exhibitors didn’t get a real chance to talk to the A&D’s. While A&D’s wanted to learn about various products, they really didn’t want a sales presentation and in other cases they would look at a booth from a distance and if there wasn’t an immediate interest, they would simply walk by. In response to all this, Friday afternoon’s, Speed Learning Architects & Designers Only Session was developed.

For the A&D’s, we were able to provide them with Educational Credits for participating in the afternoon session. The A&D’s were broken up into small groups (maximum 4 people) with a specific agenda that required them to visit one of two preselected streams of 10 manufacturers, with each group starting at different exhibitors booths – sort of like “speed dating”.

For the participating exhibitors, they had to prepare 15 minute educational mini seminars which they gave to each of the 10 groups in their “stream”. By the end of the day, many exhibitors were hoarse – a sign they did a lot of talking which was a good thing.

As the program was new, neither the manufacturers nor the A&D’s quite knew what to expect. For many, this was the first time they gave an accredited educational seminar to the A&D’s. The A&D’s, for their part, were pleasantly surprised that they received educational sessions and not “sales pitches”. Some even said they were the most intense series of seminars they had ever attended.

One of the many positives from the session is that A&D’s were expected to sit in on presentations that they initially felt were of no interest, only to find that in some cases, an interest did indeed exist. In at least one case, an architect and exhibitor found a common interest and as a result, the exhibitor could be supplying a major project the architect is working on – a situation that would have never developed without this particular session.

The consensus is that both sides want the program to continue next year.

Architect Program:

Now that the GBM is mostly behind us (we are still collecting surveys to determine what we did right and where improvement is required), we are moving onto our regular A&D programs with a number of activities already booked for October.

Specifiers Guide:

As we have mentioned in the past, the Guide is available on 2GB flash drives which were given out at the GBM. We now have the Guide on-line, in hard cover and on flash drives, which means that we have all the architects and designers requirements handled. If you wish to have your company included in the Specifiers Guide, please let me know.

As always, we welcome your company participation in any of the programs relating to architects, designers, contractors, and local governments, or if you just require additional information, please contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com. If you aren’t quite sure if the aforementioned group should be included in your marketing activities or how to go about doing it, again, just get in touch with us. We would be pleased to provide answers to any of your questions.

Please note that I will be on vacation the weeks of September 26th and October 3rd, returning the day after Thanksgiving.

Roy Manion

GBM:

Since our last Wood Connections, the architect program has been almost all about the GBM – almost! After a slow start with sign-ups, we will again have a great turnout from the architect and designer community and we will have an even greater turnout this year than we last year. This is a great testament to the draw that our industry provides.

All of the exhibitors who will be giving presentations to architects on Friday afternoon have either completed their presentations or are currently putting the final touches on them. It is somewhat of a challenge for those who have never presented to architects in the past as the presentations must be educational and generic. As most of us are sales people, it is tough not to be overtly promoting our companies and products. However, based on the presentations we have received, I am very pleased with the caliber of them as they are all very professional and I think it will be a mutually beneficial event for both the architects and the companies involved.

Architect Program:

While the past couple of weeks have been mostly about the GBM, we still continue on with other programs. In this regard, we are now up to 5 L&L sessions that we have booked for the month of October, as well as continuing to work with companies in our industry to assist them in their pursuit of architects.

As we do with all of our Wood Connections reports, we welcome your company to participate in any of the programs or if you just require additional information, please contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com . If you aren’t quite sure if architects (and contractors) should be included in your marketing activities or how to go about doing it, again, just get in touch with us. We would be pleased to provide answers to any of your questions.

 Registration for the 8th annual GBM is now sold-out completely. We are delighted to host over 600 delegates to the event this year. The entire office will be in Whistler from Tuesday, September 6th to Sunday, September 11th.

Click here for a current listing of participating industry manufacturers and suppliers.

You can access the current list of registered buyers from Europe, Japan, Korea, China, Malaysia, India, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Mexico, United States, Vietnam and Taiwan. Click here for the international buyer listings.

As many of you know, we are also delivering the Living and Building with Wood Forum on Thursday, September 8th, as part of the GBM Program. Participants include: architects & designers; municipal planners; engineers; developers and builders and will be attending to learn about how to use wood in both commercial and residential projects. Click here for a listing of LBWW participants.

The overall GBM Schedule of Events can be accessed by clicking here.

You can also check out BC Wood’s website (www.bcwood.com) for GBM info, lists of past buyers and exhibitors, and great event photos from 2009 and 2010.

We would like to thank our partners and sponsors, without whom this program could not be delivered: Platinum Partners: Natural Resources Canada Wood Export Program (CWEP); Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd. (FII); and Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC); our Silver Partners: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) and the Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau (CSSB); and our Bronze Partners: the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and HSBC Canada. Our Corporate Sponsors this year include The Waldun Group, Howe Sound / Pallin Timber and BFL Canada Insurance Services Inc.

To those of you already registered, we look forward to seeing you on the Mountain!

For more information, please contact me at rwalker@bcwood.com  or call me at 604-882-7100.

GBM:

With the GBM now just a little over two weeks away, everything is in high gear as we put the final touches on what looks to be another great event. Living & Building with Wood (LBWW) delegates continue to sign up, speakers are putting the final touches on their seminars, and all of the exhibitors who will be participating in the LBWW program on Friday afternoon are also working on their presentations. The Friday afternoon LBWW session is new to the GBM and if everything works out as planned, it should be a great addition and a win-win for both the architects and the exhibitors.

Architect Program:

We conducted another 3 lunch & learn sessions over the past two weeks; one focusing on the Wood First Act, one on Timber Frame, and the third split between the Wood First Act and Millwork. That will be it until October as the GBM will use up all our time from now until well after the event. Having said that, we have already booked 4 sessions for October and are also working on 3 mill tours, so once the GBM is behind us, we will be back into our architect and designer program in full force.

In reviewing why there was so much activity with the A&D program during this summer which is normally a very quiet period, I believe it can be attributed to two major factors:

1. BC Wood has become more recognized in the A&D community both as a resource and a deliverer of excellent seminars – many by member companies
2. BC Wood’s expanding exposure in the A&D community along with the province’s Wood First Legislation has increased the architects’ and designers’ desire to learn more about BC’s value-added wood industry and the products we produce.

As we do with all our Wood Connections reports, we welcome your company to participate in any of the programs or if you just require additional information, please contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com . If you aren’t quite sure if architects (and contractors) should be included in your marketing activities or how to go about doing it, again, just get in touch with us. We would be pleased to provide answers to any of your questions.

Roy Manion

Global Buyers Mission (GBM):

We are now going all out on the GBM with all that is involved relative to recruiting architects, contractors, and engineers to attend. Architects pay a fee to attend, ensuring that only those who are really interested will be attending.  Developments include:

• We have sent out the invitations to the architect and designer community to attend the GBM and have already received registrations – this year everything is being done on-line, improving our response time and accuracy.
• Essentially, all the speakers for the Thursday seminars have been finalized.  We will now be working with them on their content.  We have great speakers again this year, which is important as they are a key draw for the architects and designers.
• As we began to do last year, we are now inviting contractors and engineers to the GBM.  If you have any relationships with one or more contractor or engineer firm that you wish us to approach, let us know and we would be pleased to extend an invitation.
• We have also begun the process of contacting exhibitors who wish to spend some one-on-one time with architects at their booth Friday afternoon.  We have a limited number of spots available, so if you are an exhibitor and feel that meeting with architects and designers is something that would benefit your firm, please let us know.

Architect Program:

As mentioned in past Wood Connections, we have started including contractors in our program and are now beginning the process of actually visiting them and/or setting up Lunch & Learn sessions, similar to what we have been doing for architects and designers.  Although the process is in its beginning stages, it is already paying off with a couple of leads for members of the program.

As mentioned in our last Wood Connections, we have successfully organized and delivered mill tours and seminars for some of our participating members.  One of the tours was with Unison Windows.  The event was fully booked so we decided to have a follow up tour, which is now also fully booked; once again illustrating the popularity of these types of events.

Another new program we have launched is Lunch & Learn sessions with architects and designers, specifically on the Wood First Act.  There are two key elements to the sessions: one, explaining the act and its impact on architects; and two, making the audience aware of the products in our industry that can be supplied on the projects identified by the Act.

As we do with all our Wood Connections reports, we welcome your company participation in these programs. If you require additional information about the program, please contact me at rmanion@bcwood.com.  If you aren’t quite sure if architects should be included in your marketing activities or how to go about doing it, again, just get in touch with us.  We would be pleased to provide answers to any of your questions and if you wish to, proceed in assisting you with making your company “architect ready”.