NELMA’s 2013 trade show exhibit schedule came to a close for the year at the recent ArchitectureBoston Expo (ABX) 2013, 
held November 19-21 at the Boston Convention Center. This was the second year of the event, which combined two similarly-formatted expositions, BuildBoston Expo with the Residential Architecture Show. More than 8,500 building construction professionals attended one or more of the 3 day Expo, with 400 exhibitors participating in this largest gathering of the design community in the Northeast.
The Expo provides a natural venue for NELMA’s outreach to architects and designers, a one-stop opportunity to promote the awareness and use of softwood lumber products manufactured by the Association’s member mills to this critical customer group.
“More and more architects are stopping by the exhibit to talk about their construction designs that include wood products from the region”, according to Jeff Easterling, NELMA’s President. “This in turn allows us to showcase our unique reference tools such as the grade swatch, pattern profiles, and online support tools for their future projects.”
In addition to the exhibit, NELMA sponsored the first-ever Media Lounge at the Expo. Thanks to the efforts of NELMA’s PR Agency, Drew Public Relations, the Association partnered with ABX Management to provide a place for editors and publishers of design-affiliated media to refresh themselves during the event. Tables within the Lounge were stocked with our primary support literature that spurred further discussion about the use of softwood products. “This was a perfect test opportunity to gauge the media response to the concept of a Lounge by local and regional press representatives,” added Kim Drew of Drew PR. “The overall reaction in the next few months will tell us if this unique NELMA sponsorship will be worth the effort at future events as a potential multiplier of getting NELMA’s message to design professionals.”
