ITSS Miami 2005: Education

February 4, 2005

   The Miami Beach Convention Center, in this resort’s famed South Beach area, will be the site of the first ITSS event in the southeastern United States. The independent event, not affiliated with a trade association or supplier, will also be held in New York and Las Vegas later in the year.
   Admission to the ITSS Miami Beach show will be free for companies and individuals affiliated with the stone and tile industries.
   More than 150 companies are participating in the event as of mid-January, according to show officials, with a final tally likely well above 200 by the show’s opening
   The event will also feature an educational program, free to attendees, designed and produced by Fred Hueston, president of the National Training Center for Stone and Masonry Trades (NTC). The preliminary lineup of seminars include:
   • Stone Fabrication Forum (beginning and advanced techniques sessions);
   • Stone Restoration Forum (in Spanish);
   • To Seal or Not to Seal;
   • CNC – When and Why;
   • Engineered Stone and Quartz Surface Fabrication and Restoration;
   • Modular Granite System; and
   • Insuring Workplace Safety.
   ITSS organizers plan to target fabricators, importers/distributors and others involved with day-to-day work in stone, as well as architects, general/installation contractors, engineers, interior designers and kitchen/bath firms.
   The ITSS Miami Beach show also receives the endorsement of the North American Stone Machine Association (NASMA), a non-profit organization of capital-equipment companies that was formed to advance a number of agendas from shipping, safety procedures and standards to selecting trade shows for support and exhibition in the United States. The founding members of NASMA are AGM, Bergman-Blair Machine Corp., Breton S.p.A., CMS North America/Brembana, Marmo Meccanica, Salem Stone, Stone Boss/International Machine Corp., Euro Stone Machine – a division of Pyramid Supply and Z. Bavelloni.
   ITSS Expos is also a charter member of the new Global Stone Show Group with the London Stone Show. The group will work together in partnership with the three ITSS shows, the London Stone Show and the Dublin Stone Show
   ITSS hours at the Miami Beach Convention Center are 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on all three days (Thursday-Saturday). Admission is free to members of the stone and tile industry; registration is either onsite, or in advance through the event’s Website.