LAS VEGAS, NV -- The opening ceremonies of the combined Kitchen and Bath Industry Show and International Builders Show (co-located for the seventh year as Design and Construction Week) highlighted innovation, education, and a commitment to excellence.
National Kitchen and Bath Association Chairman Steve Joseph addressed the 4,000+ crowd at the Westgate Resort on the 75th anniversary of the Builders Show, exhorting them to better themselves and their industry by taking advantage of the education and networking opportunities the show presented. Likewise, National Association of Home Builders Chairman Randy Noel stressed the unique role home builders and developers have to play in the social and economic life of the nation. He advised the attendees to seek out old friends to have a beer with, and to make some new friends along the way. He also suggested that comfortable footwear was the order of the day, considering how much space the convention floor (608,000 sq. ft.!) would take up.
Noel then introduced comedian Dana Carvey, Saturday Night Live alum and Emmy winner, who got the crowd laughing with call-backs to his famous characters like the Church Lady and Garth from Wayne's World. Carvey, in the course of his presentation, gave impressions of Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, Barrack Obama, Al Gore, G.W. Bush, H.W. Bush, J.F.K, Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney and more. (He even ventured on to dangerous territory by remarking how IBS is also the shorthand for a certain gastric distress syndrome, but managed to keep the crowd laughing.)
Finally, Carvey, Noel and Joseph, along with help from The Blue Man Group officially opened the show to enthusiastic applause.