The 2013 RIA Leadership Summit and Industry Expo just wrapped up at Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, and it was quite the busy event between the expo hall, breakout sessions (many of which were standing room only) and a lot of the news that RIA members had to share. Here's R&R's official recap of the event:
Setting up the booth at #RIA2013 twitter.com/RnRMag/status/…
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 23, 2013
#RIA2013 is about to get underway. First some news....
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 23, 2013
#RIA2013 RIA leaders will be coming around during the show encouraging attendees to donate to Restoration Industry Legal Fund
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 23, 2013
For those of you that don't know what the Restoration Industry Legal Fund is, it was formed in 2012 to address legal issues that crop up in the industry. The fund is particularly relevant today, as the RIA recently filed a lawsuit against ThermaPure. Patricia Harman gives some insight on the importance of this fund in her latest RIA column for R&R and will surely continue to do so in the future. And you can read more about ThermaPure and their position in relation to legal issues in the restoration industry in Ed Cross' latest story.
#RIA2013 Also, next years RIA show is scheduled for April 9-11 at Marriott World Center in Orlando
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 23, 2013
I've been to the World Center before and it's gorgeous. Should be another great venue for the RIA to host this convention at.
#RIA2013 sweet lord. There's an Austin Powers impersonator here on the show floor. Will do my best to get photo evidence
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 23, 2013
#RIA2013 here's that photo evidence! Editor Eric Fish with the international man of mystery himself twitter.com/RnRMag/status/…
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 23, 2013
Dina Dwyer-Owens, CEO of The Dwyer Group, which includes Rainbow International, gave the opening keynote to a packed house. I had the pleasure of speaking with Dina for a story in the upcoming May-June R&R on women who are making a difference in the restoration industry.
RT @dinadwyerowens: Looking forward to giving the keynote address at Restoration Industry Assoc convention this morning.
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 24, 2013
RT @riatweets: Full house at #RIA2013 in Vegas! twitter.com/RIAtweets/stat…
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 24, 2013
Standing ovation for @dinadwyerowens as she wraps her keynote
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 24, 2013
#RIA2013 standing room only here for the keynote and first breakouts of the day. A good problem to have
— R&R (@RnRMag) April 24, 2013
There were a lot of other great events, like the Maxons Restoration projects in New York City after 9/11, which were detailed in the Thursday morning keynote. Oh, and another neat thing at the event was the $1,000 giveaways that the RIA held during the exhibition hours. It made for some pretty happy restoration professionals.
That's a wrap. See you all next year in Orlando.
