By Donna Heiderstadt
“KBIS is the Super Bowl of what we do and companies bring their A Game,” said Suzie Williford, NKBA’s EVP and Chief Strategy Officer, as she welcomed attendees to the Best Booth Awards at KBIS NeXt Stage on Thursday. KBIS 2023, she noted, had more than 500 exhibitors and Design & Construction Week, the co-location of KBIS and International Builders’ Show (IBS), attracted more than 100,000 housing and design professionals to the Las Vegas Convention Center, making it one of the largest show ever.
Booth Awards Criteria
Williford was joined onstage by Jason McGraw, Group Vice President of Emerald, and Charles Pappas, Sr. Writer for Exhibitor Magazine, who visited the booths over the show’s first days to select the five winners. “It was very, very difficult,” Pappas told those awaiting the big reveal. “I travel around the world to shows and the booths here were a world-class experience.”
Pappas also shared the criteria used in the judging process, which included:
- Do you even have to go into the booth to get a sense of the brand?
- Is there a “threshold effect” whereby you feel as if you’re stepping into a different world?
- Is there a journey or story they are telling?
- Can they demonstrate their product for real?
- Are there identifiable or even intangible details that stick with you?
And the Winners Are…
Which six booths at KBIS 2023 met those standards? Williford announced the following winners:
Best Small Booth
(100–900-square feet)
Best Medium Booth
(901–3,000 square feet)
Best Large Booth
(3,000 square feet +)
Honorable Mention
Best of Show
Kickstarter Award Winners
Williford was also on hand to recognize the winners of the second-annual KBIS 2023 Kickstarter Awards, which invited new brands and companies to pitch their product or solution to a panel of three judges in a bid for a prize of $5,000 and industry recognition.
The first Kickstarter winner from KBIS 2022 in Orlando, Alisha McFetridge, CEO and Co-founder of RainStick Shower, was invited onstage to share her experience. “The Kickstarter Award did kickstart our business,” she told those gathered. “My advice to those competing this year: Take advantage of it by letting people know you were in the Kickstarter Zone.”
The judges who visited the five finalists in the Kickstarter Zone, located in the West Hall, were Lorenzo Marquez, NKBA’s 2017 Chairman; Ebony Stephenson, Owner of Designs by Ebony; and Maria Stapperfenne, Tewksbury Kitchens & Baths.
And the 2023 KBIS Kickstarter Award winners are:
Runner-Up
People’s Choice
Grand Prize Award
Apply to the Kickstarter Zone
For information on being part of the Kickstarter Zone at KBIS 2024 in Las Vegas, check NKBA’s Kickstarter application page.