Top Electrical Conferences and Trade Shows in 2020

 

Electrical Conferences and Trade Shows and How They’re Important to Your Business

Electrical conferences are some of the top sought out professional conferences every year.  Home service professionals look to trade shows and industry focused conferences to stay up to date on education, laws, and vendor offerings. Every year, just in the USA, there are 100+ Electrical trade shows and conferences built to help you understand new processes, tools and tricks of the trade.  Local and national Electrical trade shows can be the difference to learn trade insights and product innovations. Many business owners in the Electric industry attend these conferences as an investment to keep a pulse on competition and changes in the HVAC industry.

Knowing the latest and greatest tools, supplies and vendors is only one portion of the value you can gain while attending a trade show for Electricians.  Many of the educational speakers will share tips and advice in the business-side of your Electrician company.  Understanding safety, innovation, business management, routing and managing employees are always key topics at an Electrical conference.

Staying up to date with the most recent methods, discoveries, and technology is important to any job in any industry.  To be the best, time and research must be done to increase understanding and effectiveness.  To help you never stop learning, we’ve put together the top trade shows and events for Electricians around the nation.

VIVAHR will be attending many of the electrical conferences listed below.  Be sure to come say “hi” and pick up some swag 🙂

Electrical Trade Shows & Conferences in 2020

APEC- Applied Power Electronics Conference

Date: March 15-19

Location: New Orleans, LA

APEC is a conference focusing on the practical and applied aspects of the power electronics business.  Special areas of presentation are: manufacturing, marketing, design, compliance, and equipment.  APEC boasts they have something for everyone in the industry.

Associated Builders and Contractors 2020 Convention

Location: Nashville, TN

Date: March 23 2020 – March 27 2020

The ABC Convention relaunched in 2018, and is ready to come back in 2020 even bigger and better. This is an opportunity for HVAC professionals to attend a growing convention, where educational opportunities, workshops and more are smaller and more hands-on while still delivering an exceptional experience.

ENSC- Electrical Network Systems Conference

Date: April 6-9

Location: Houston, TX

A conference for Engineers, supervisors, field personnel, maintenance leaders, and others.  Activities such as discussions on safety and equipment; finding innovative communication solutions, discussing maintenance that is reliable, and sharing ideas will take place.

2020 HPC National Home Performance Conference & Trade Show

Date: April 27-30, 2020

Location: Hyatt Regency New Orleans, LA

The 2020 National Conference is an inclusive opportunity for all involved in the industry to engage in exceptional formal and informal learning experiences that support career development, increase individual and organizational productivity, and lead programs, businesses, and organizations to achieve superior results. The conference agenda aims to provide meaningful, engaging education and dialogue for both the entry-level field staff and the seasoned professional in the residential energy efficiency, home performance, and weatherization industry.

SEPA -Smart Electric Power Association

Date: May 4-6, 2020

Location: Charlotte, NC

Geared toward Professionals in charge of distributed and renewable energy programs, to help increase performance, innovation, and collaboration as we strive toward a carbon-free future.

Lightfair Trade Show and Conference

Date: May 3-7, 2020

Location: Las Vegas, NV

The World’s largest and most comprehensive lighting conference.  Lightfair features basic lighting fundamentals to advanced, niche topics.

ASDE Seminar: In Depth of the U.S. Electric Power Industry

Date: June 23-24, 2020

Location: New York, NY

A comprehensive, two day course that will teach about the U.S. Power Grid. The basics of heat rates, spark spreads, tolling deals, generation optionality, and heat-rate-linked power transactions are also addressed.

NECA -National Electrical Contractors Association

Date: October 3-6, 2020

Location: Chicago, IL

A chance to network with others in the industry while learning about products and service solutions, NECA offers a 3 day conference that boasts as the biggest in the market.

 

 

Making The Most of Your Electrical trade show and conference Experience

• • Build your wish-list: Before you go, make sure you create your list of key questions you’re facing right now in your business, industry, team.  These can be your talking points while meeting with peers or during Q&A time at the end of speaker presentations.  It can also help keep you focused in the exhibitor area knowing who you should spend your time talking to.
  • Is there a conference app? Find out if there is a conference app.  Download it before you go to see latest announcements and potential peers, mentors you can meet up with.  The best relationships are built outside the Electrical conference.  Find out where the after parties and peer dinner groups are meeting.  WiFi is not always a sure thing at the venue.  Make sure you download the app before you go.
  • Get your twitter account ready – A lot of the conference chatter happens via a twitter hashtag thread.  Find out what the conference hashtag will be, save it in your search preferences in your twitter mobile app.  Engage.  These events are so much better when you can share what you’ve learned, insights and tips with other landscaping professionals.  Great way to see who else is attending and who you may want to follow on twitter for post-event conversations and networking.
  • Block out time for meetings.  The relationships you make will be better than the presenters message (sorry speakers! I know you agree though 🙂 Find time in the conference schedule to have one on one coffee connections or lunch meetings.  Get to know other professionals. Many people take the time to build support groups or master minds with other Electrician professionals.  Allows them to have a trusted community of contacts to share ideas and grow alongside.
  • Take advantage of the early-bird sessions.  The more well-known speakers are scheduled during the meat & potatoes time slots of the conference.  However, some of my favorite sessions during professional conferences have happened during the pre-conference time slots.  The ‘up and comers’ are speaking and put a TON into their presentations.   Don’t overlook the newbies to the speaking scene.

Types Of Electrical Conference Educational Content

• Education on Power Grids and Solutions
• Manufacturing
• Sustainability and low Carbon Solutions
• Marketing, Sales and Customer Success
• Recruiting and Talent Acquisition
• Training and Development

Each of these categories of learning content at an Electrical conference will educate around the current pain points you may be facing.  Some of the larger conferences will have breakout sessions for each of these categories, but you will gather more depth at a dedicated conference educating around a very specific niche.