Exposition Plonning ls on the Front-Burner Now

The 7th annual NRLDA Building Materials Exposition, which will be held in San F rancisco from November 13 through the 16th, will be the largest and best-attended ghow ever produced for building materials dealers.

Everything a dealer could wish for from a national trade show will be presented, according to Thomas J. F ox, Santa Monica, Calif., general chairman of the Exposition. More than 250 exhibit booths featuring the cream of building materials a"rrd services will fill to capacity both the San Francisco Civic Auditorium and the adjacent, newly opened Brooks Hall.

In addition, the San I'rancisco municipal authorities will block off two city streets (Grove street which rrns between the two exhibit halls, and F ulton street which is nearby) to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. These streets will be used as outdoor display areas for exhibits too large to put inside the halls and for materialshandling demonstrations.

Reservations for exhibit booths two months prior to the opening time of the show already exceeded the total for last year's show, which was itself a recordbreaker.

Advance attendance registrations received from dealers are also smashing the records established in 1959. As early as September 2, seven of the more than 50 hotels and motels which are holding large blocks of rooms for lumber dealers reported they were full to capacity.

F rank E. Ileard, NRLDA Exposition attendarce chairman, explained this success as the result of both a g:eneral year-to-year increase in the pulling' power of the show itself and the unique opportunity for dealers to combine attendance at the show with a West Coast vacation.

StiU a third factor is the location of many of the world's largest and best-known lumber manufacturers on the West Coast, many of whom will hold "open house" for dealers who stop by on the way to or returning from the Exposition.

Prior to the opening of the Exposition each day (Noon on Sunday, November 13; 10:00 a.m. on Monday the 14th, Tuesday the 15th, and Wednesday the 16th), special Management clinics will be held in the Mark Hopkins and F'airmont hotels.

The first clinic, on Sunday, will be conducted by tlre Lumber Dealers Research Council. This clinic will, for the first time, offer dealers an opportunity to cover the full range of Lu-Re-Co operations in a single day.

Clarence A. Thompson, president of LDRC, will act as chairman of the meeting. He will be aided by three university professors who have been active in constnrction research for many years. These men are Professor Robert Seymour, IJniversity of Illinois, who will discuss management function in Lu-Re-Co prograrns;

Professor James T. Lendrum, University of Florida, who will outline. research prog:rams now in progress on new components, and Professor Robert O. Harvey, University of lllinois, who will discuss the fundamentals of financing, acquisition and development of land, sources of funds and controlling land uses. Raymon Harrell, executive vice-president of LDRC, will describe current research programs and Lu-Re-Co promotion plans for 1961.

On Sunday afternoon, special demonstrations will be held near the Civic auditorium on component handling. An extended question-and-answer period is also planned.

The regular NRLDA business programs will begin on Monday morning with three clinics being conducted simultaneously. Dealers will choose the one which is of most interest. The Monday clinics are:

"IIow to Sell Architects, Bullders and Contractors;" "IIow to Use Money, Machines and Manpower for Efficlont Flnanclal Mana,geme,nt," a,nd "IIow to l)evelop a Home Imprgvemont Center."

On Tuesday morning the clinics from which the dealers can choose are:

"IIow to Recrult, Traln and Compensate I+umber Yard Employes;" "IIow to Sell, tr.inance and Profit in the Seconil-Home Market," and "IIow to I)evelop Rotall Sales Power Through Better Merchan.ltsing."

A fourth clinic will also be conducted on Tuesday but, due to the special interest '"vhich this clinic will create, it is being held in the afternoon in the Civic d.uditorium rather than at the hotels which have limited seating facilities.

Thls special cllnlc ls entltled, "Labor Relotlons-lVe AII Have Thom," a,nd the featured speaker wt[ be Representatlve Robert P. Grtffin (R. Mlchlga,n), co-author of the Landrum-Grlfrn Btll (later the Labor Reform Act).

On the final day of the Exposition, the Management clinics ofiered will be: "IIow to Becapture Lost Marketsr" &nd "Ifow to Profft Frbm F'un ln tho SunSelltng Outdoor Llvlng."

In addition to the regular exhibits and Management clinics, a host of other special features will be highlighted at the show.

Among: these are the special program on "\lVood Products Promotion for Profit," which will be conducted by the National Ianmber Manufacturers Association; three special features which will provide dealers with Merchandlslng ldeas and Yard-Planning Services; and a number of Freo Tours, sponsored by the California Redwood Association and Kaiser Aluminum Building Products Division.

Many of the state and regional associations affiliated with NRLDA have developed extensive tour programs to coincide with the Exposition. Dealers and their wives who join these tours will travel to San Francisco either by air or rail. In the latter case, they can take advantage of the sidetrips to some of the major lumber mills in Washington and Oregon.

Tom F ox promises every dealer who attends a "profftable tlme at the Exposltlon anil a plea,surable experlence ln San Franclsco.tt

-Nalional Foresf Producls Week October l6-22-