Coverings ’17 Offers Free Educational Sessions for Fabricators

coverings-2017This year’s Coverings event is set to take place in Orlando on April 4-7. The World of Tile & Stone in Your Hands is the theme and Coverings has invited speakers who passionately care about their craft and are eager to share what they have learned from their own experiences. There will be a variety of free technical and practical education sessions created specifically for stone professionals.

Free Sessions for Fabricators Include:

Critical Changes to Industry Standards, Guidelines and Best Practices – Subjects such as changing industry standards and guidelines, improved testing capabilities, new products, technologies and techniques available will be discussed by a panel moderated by Eric Astachan of the Tile Council of North America.

Crossing the Bridge to Natural Stone Tile Installations – Chuck Muehlbauer, Technical Director of MIA+BSI, will discuss the similarities and differences between installing natural stone and ceramic tile.

Silica Exposure and Employee Safety in the Stone Industry – How the stone industry is addressing the OSHA silica rule change and what fabricators are doing now to reduce silica exposure for their employees. Speakers include: Jim Hieb, CEO of MIA+BSI; Mark Meriaux, Accreditation/Technical Manager of MIA+BSI; Jonathan Mitnick, Vice President of CCS Stone; and GK Naquin, President of Stone Interiors.

Stone Trends: A Historical Perspective – Vince Marazita, President/Owner of Stone Trends International will discuss the use of natural stone as a well-accepted building material.

State of the Industry – Impact of the Natural Stone Promotional Campaign – A panel moderated by Jim Hieb will discuss the how the campaign has received positive feedback.

Managing a Family Business – Tony Malisani, Owner of Malisanin Inc. will moderate a panel discussing the challenges and best practices of working in a family owned business.

Perspectives in Benchmarking – Duane Naquin, Owner of Stone Interiors will speak about the significance of understanding what metrics are important and how to measure your company.

Attracting More Designers to Your Showroom – How to Deliver CEU Courses – Sarah Gregg, CEU Administrator at MIA+BSI, and Rob Bacon, Stone Sales Specialist at Daltile will discuss how to expand your company’s reach to architects and interior designers.

Natural Stone Supplier-to-Buyer Manual: Creating International Standards for Importing and Exporting – The standards and guidelines of importing and exporting will be discussed by David Carnevale, President of Carnevale & Lohr.

Women in Stone Speed Mentoring & Leadership Workshop – Speakers at this workshop include: Kathy Spanier of Coldspring; Allyson Humphries of MS International; Kim Dunais of Miller Druck Specialty Contracting; and Lucy Sorentini of Impact Consulting, LLC.

Fabricator Appreciation Day Tour: New and Innovative Products from the Marketplace (Pre-registration required) – An interactive tour with speakers Tony Malisani and GK Naquin.

Fabricator Appreciation Day Luncheon: Build a KickA$$ Culture and Watch Your Profits Soar (Pre-registration required) – During this keynote address, building a team that creates a culture of success will be discussed. Learn how to outline your company’s mission and communicate that mission so everyone at your organization is on the same page.

For more information about Coverings educational sessions click here.