Dana Teague, vice president of the design group for Informa Markets, and Bart Bettiga, executive director of the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA), recently took time to talk with TILE 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 31.

“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 [Global Biorisk Advisory Council®] (GBAC) STAR™ accredited facility with the best in class ventilation systems. GBAC 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 31, 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 1 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.”

NTCA at TISE

“We are excited of what’s going on with all of the tile activity, and we can’t wait to be a part of all that’s coming up in Vegas soon,” Bettiga said. “One thing that NTCA does at TISE is have our board and technical meetings. That is going to be on Monday. All those meetings are open, and we really encourage all tile contractors to come and see what the association is about as it relates to our technical committee and technical standards.”

Bettiga went on to say that NTCA will have its training trailer on the show floor. “We will be doing some little interviews so you can see what our program is all about,” he said.

Bettiga also talked about the importance of the conference program. “One thing that our training partners did this year was to work with Informa on what content would really appeal not to just the install community, but to the people selling the tile – the dealers and the designers,” he explained. “We are working with Jennifer Farrell, a well-known designer, on two particular sessions with NTCA, ‘Designing with Skinny Tile’ and ‘Working and Designing with Geometric Shapes.’ Tile is really bringing a lot of octagons and different types of products that are somewhat challenging to the tile contractor because they haven’t seen it before. Jennifer will be talking about designing and then the tile contractors will explain how to take that design and how to incorporate it into an installation. We put a lot of thought into our conference program, and we are very excited about all that is going on.

“I would be remiss not to mention the importance of certification,” Bettiga continued. “The Ceramic Tile Education Foundation (CTEF) is a group that NTCA works very closely with and supports. There are areas at the show that will have either installation competitions or certifications taking place. I would encourage anyone interested in certification to visit that area to see what it is all about. We are really growing that program, and we are excited to be offering it on the show floor.”

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

Look for the full interview with Teague, Bettiga, as well as Jim Hieb of the Natural Stone Institute, on TILE’s website soon.