The Pacific Coast Builders Conference strives to offer substantial content to all builders, not just those on the West Coast. As trends tend to start on the West Coast and bleed into other areas of the United States, it’s a good investment for home builders and designers to attend the trade show and conference held May 29-June 1 in San Francisco.

This year PCBC has added some great new programs and incentives for attendees. One such program called the High Five Team Discount recognizes companies operating under tight budgets. “We want to make sure companies can still afford to send their staff to PCBC. [The High Five Team Discount] allows companies to send five staff members for the cost of three. We developed the program in the hopes that companies wouldn’t have to sacrifice sending staff to the educational opportunities which are critical in a changing market — not to mention the benefits of networking with colleagues and peers,” says Rémy Frank, director of marketing, PCBC.

Another new element this year is PCBC’s Young Leaders Program which recognizes leaders in the industry who are under the age of 35. “The interesting thing about Young Leaders is that we are going to be looking to our new young leaders to form and formulate this program,” she says. “We are going to help launch the program and help create a foundation. Then we’d like to see our up-and-coming Young Leaders take over and lead the program. We’ve offered Young Leaders a discounted registration so we can make our conference accessible to them.”

Successful returning features include the Cool Products Competition where exhibitors submit new products to be judged by registered attendees. The top 20 products are chosen: 10 consumer-focused and 10 industry-focused winners. Those products will be highlighted in different areas of Moscone North, South and West exhibit halls. (Winners not available at press time.)

The Builder-to-Builder Green Summit is another feature returning for its second year. “It’s a one-day conference on Tue. May 29 that leads into PCBC. We have some great keynotes such as Sarah Susanka, FAIA, author of The Not So Big House,” Frank says. “We’ll be showing attendees the nuts and bolts of building high-performance homes and ways to stay competitive in a green market. We’ll have three keynotes and a facilitator for the day.”