Dana Teague, vice president of the design group for Informa Markets, and Jim Hieb, chief executive officer of the Natural Stone Institute, recently took time to talk with Stone World about this year’s upcoming show, which is scheduled for the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV, from February 1 to 3, 2022. A full education program begins on Monday, January 31st. 

“We are anxiously and eagerly awaiting the upcoming TISE show,” said Teague, who reassured us that exhibitors and attendees will be meeting in a safe environment. “Mandalay Bay Convention Center is a state-of-the-art accredited facility with the best in class ventilation systems. GBAC Star accreditation takes exceptional measures. Know that if you come to TISE, you will be safe. That is an important message we want to get across.” 

According to Teague, the show will have many new product introductions for close to 700 exhibitors. Education will also be an important part of the event – both in conference room sessions, as well as on the show floor. 

Moreover, there will be a Women’s Leadership Conference held on Monday, January 31st, from 1 to 5 p.m. “All women, as well as men, are welcomed to attend,” said Teague. “Also, there will be a first-timers reception. Anyone who is attending TISE for the first time, we encourage them to attend our networking event on Tuesday, February 1st from 5 to 7 p.m. “It’s a great time to meet with staff, as well as people who have been there for years, and to learn the lay of the land.” 

Natural Stone Institute at TISE

“I think everyone that has a history with this show already knows it’s a great venue for tooling, equipment, and of course, on the Surfaces/Tile Expo side, the associates have tried to gather the best of the best,” said Hieb. “One of the things we have been working on diligently is giving you more options to see natural stone at the show. When you come to see natural stone at our booth, and see about all the great programming and services that we offer, you are going to see surrounding our booth a new natural stone pavilion with a number of stone companies, not only from North America, but some internationally as well. You will be able to come to this year’s show and see more natural stone, and that should give you another reason to come to the show.”

The Natural Stone Pavilion will feature about 40 exhibitors. “What you are going to see over time, give us a couple of years, there is going to be such a stronger presence of natural stone on the exhibitor floor,” said Hieb. “If you’re a tile installer or fabricator, you want to look to this show to be a great blend of what you’re looking for. If you want to see tooling, it will be there. If you want equipment, it will be there. But also, the stone will be there. We just think it adds such a great complement and another value to why you want to come to this show. And above and beyond that, we will continue to do our great programing. With the educational offerings that are out there, you will see the traditional classroom education, but there is also the demo stage that many of the associations are helping. There is also going to be a special stone theater. So if you don’t want to get off the show floor, you’re going to have an opportunity for education as well.”

For more information about TISE 2022, visit the show’s website at: www.intlsurfaceevent.com.

Look for the full interview with Teague, Hieb, as well as Bart Bettiga of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA), on Stone World’s website soon.