2008 Professional Builder Benchmark and AVID Leadership Conference Draws Large Crowd Despite Tough
Time for Ecomony Madison, WI- Released October 24th, 2008
Hundreds of homebuilders from across North America gathered in Phoenix on October 5-7 as Professional
Builder and AVID Ratings co-hosted the industry’s most comprehensive event of the year.
This year’s conference took place at the historic Biltmore Resort & Spa and was appropriately
themed “Tools for the Turnaround”, as it addressed the issues of preparing for business
recovery. Powerful keynotes from Terry Jones, website expert and founder of Travelocity; Tim Sullivan,
marketing guru and consultant; Neil Howe, demographer; and Henry Cisneros, former Housing Secretary
for President Clinton revitalized those in attendance. Roundtable discussions highlighted Blandford
Homes whose 2008 sales are a 100% over last year along with many other various management, leadership,
and customer loyalty topics. Other industry speakers included Albi Homes, Avalon Master Builder, Bigelow
Homes, The Drees Co., Centex (NYSE:CTX), Mattamy Homes, Minto Communities, Pulte (NYSE:PHM), Veridian
Homes, and Wall Homes.
Paul Cardis, CEO and Founder of AVID Ratings states “The conference was a phenomenal success in
that it brought the leading minds in the industry to share strategies for thriving in these turbulent
times. Great ideas were shared and spirits were absolutely renewed.”
In addition the AVID Award winners, National Housing Quality Award winners, and Builder of the Year
were all announced in a special dinner presentation.
About Professional Builder Professional Builder, established in 1936, has earned a reputation as an invaluable resource
for home builders looking for business information, product news and trend data. For more information,
go to www.housingzone.com. Professional Builder
is published by Reed Business Information, the largest business-to-business publisher in the U.S. and
part of the Reed Elsevier Group plc (NUSE: RUK and ENL), a world-leading publisher and information provider.
