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The World of Concrete (WOC) 2018 conference opened Monday at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, seeking to provide attendees with a firm foundation for all concrete and masonry sectors. The event is described by organizers as the largest World of Concrete in nine years.

CoatingsPro Magazine staff can be visited each day at booth S13150.

WOC is the industry’s only annual international event dedicated to the commercial concrete and masonry construction industries, with a stated mission to bring international buyers together with U.S. exhibitors to expand business domestically and overseas.

The educational program includes everything from interactive workshops and specialized seminars to hands-on, skill-building sessions, with a goal of equipping personnel, project leaders, supervisors and owners with the latest knowledge in all facets of concrete and masonry. Event seminars begin on Monday, while exhibitions and training workshops launch on Tuesday. All events conclude by Friday.

WOC offers 90-minute and three-hour seminar sessions, along with four-hour certification seminars. In all, there are 172 sessions for training and education at the conference, with a goal of providing safety and construction fundamentals vital to the commercial construction and masonry industries.

Educational Highlights

With ~60,000 attendees expected, the conference offers numerous networking and educational opportunities. These range from technical training sessions on the latest construction and worksite techniques to professional development workshops focused on business and management.

Subject areas to be discussed in the education program include recent safety trends and developments with U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations; technical updates; engineering; residential construction; leadership and management; general business best practices; and more.

Sessions of interest for coatings contractors may include “Hot Weather: Dealing with Concrete in Hot, Dry, and Windy Conditions.” That presentation takes place on Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. and is given by Kim Basham, president of KB Engineering.

On Wednesday, the “Understanding, Selecting, and Troubleshooting Sealers and Coatings for Decorative Concrete” session will be presented by Chris Sullivan, vice president of sales and marketing for ChemSystems, Inc., from 8:00 a.m. until 11 a.m.

And on Thursday, a discussion on “Understanding the Fundamentals of Reinforced Concrete Corrosion” will be led by Brent Anderson, the moisture control engineering team leader at Structural Technologies. That session will be held from 8:30 a.m. until 10 a.m.

The full list of educational, training, and workshop sessions can be accessed from WOC’s website.

Trade Show Floor

WOC, which held its first show in February 1975, also features a trade show — which is slated to include ~1,500 suppliers from all spectrums of the industry.

The 2018 event incorporates special product and action areas on the trade show floor, including demonstrations of a producer center; material handling; concrete repair and demolition; world of masonry; and construction technology.

Other special areas on the exhibition floor are slated to spotlight products and technologies in the decorative concrete, precast, concrete masonry, and concrete reinforcement sectors.

CoatingsPro Magazine staff can be visited each day at booth S13150, and members of the editorial team will be posting on-site videos Tuesday through Thursday on the official CoatingsPro Facebook and Twitter accounts.

For more information, contact: World of Concrete, (972) 536-6376, www.worldofconcrete.com