Ideas and Inspiration: Make the Most of IBS Education
This article first appeared in the NAHB International Builders' Show 2025 Preshow Planner issue.
IBS Education is always a cornerstone of the National Association of Home Builders' International Builders’ Show (IBS), and this year promises more great content. With 120+ education sessions and formats for every learning style spread throughout each day of the Builders’ Show, there are dozens of sessions to meet all your needs. Build your daily Show schedule with encore or repeat sessions so you don’t miss the sessions you want to attend. Start building your agenda today!
GAME CHANGERS*
Game Changers revolutionize how you do business by providing insights and solutions from leading voices and high-profile industry and business thought leaders. NEW: We’re pairing an industry CEO with an expert from outside the industry to tailor the latest techniques, strategies and approaches to the building industry. It’s a great way to experience the best of both worlds—the business world and the building world.
Steve Young & Chris Weekley: Building Hall of Fame Leadership & Culture
Tuesday, Feb. 25 | 11:30 AM
Two-time NFL MVP, three-time Super Bowl champ and Pro Football Hall of Famer Steve Young learned first-hand about leadership and teamwork during his 15 seasons as a professional quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. Chris Weekley, president of David Weekley Homes, also knows a thing or two about leading great teams with Weekley Homes being recognized 18 times by Fortune magazine as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. Steve and Chris come together on the Builders’ Show stage to open their playbooks and share best practices for building and instilling lasting culture, guiding teams through good times and bad, working with different generations, leading under pressure, and more.
Executive Insights: Exploring the Year Ahead With Home Building’s Top Leaders
Wednesday, Feb. 26 | 11:30 AM
Wondering what the top leaders in home building expect for our industry in 2025? Want to learn the industry’s best strategies for positioning your business for the year ahead? Then you can’t afford to miss this Game Changer session! We’re bringing together top executives from all corners of our industry—small custom builders and remodelers, large public builders, suppliers, vendors, and more. Join this session for a candid conversation about the state of home building, what these execs have been discussing and seeing during their week at IBS, the ideas and approaches they plan to implement in 2025, and their predictions for how your business will be affected by everything from interest rates to the election results.
SUPER SESSIONS*
Spotlight Room, 90 minutes each
Your favorite sessions are now super-sized education experiences. Attendees of these wildly popular and jam-packed sessions discover some of the most important industry trends and forecasts.
The Outlook: 2025 Housing & Economic Forecast
Tuesday, Feb. 25 | 2 PM
Three nationally recognized economists—Robert Dietz (NAHB), Danielle Hale (Realtor. com) and Ali Wolf (Zonda)—discuss how falling interest rates will impact the housing industry. They’ll provide analyses on the broader economy, home sales and construction activity, and changes in housing inventory and buyer demographics. Get answers to your burning questions during an extended Q&A session.
The Blueprint: Design & Develop Attainable, Exciting Homes & Neighborhoods
Wednesday, Feb. 26 | 8:30 AM
Discover the intersection of design and housing affordability and attainability. This session will offer design inspiration, product examples and builder best practices for delivering desirable, livable homes and communities within reach of more families. Discover creative and consumer-centric planning techniques and flexible ways to design everything from floor plans to neighborhoods.
The Rally
Wednesday, Feb. 26 | 2 PM
Learn about and engage with the latest strategies to help you become a sales rock star. Join our panel of industry experts as they tackle topics critical for sales and marketing success, including marketing integration, how to leverage technology, advanced sales skills and more. The Rally is a must-attend, high-energy event packed with actionable insights and real-world solutions, all driven by your participation.
The Experience: Leveraging Tech & Touch for Exceptional CX
Thursday, Feb. 27 | 8:30 AM
Discover how to accelerate your customer experience (CX) in home buying with the perfect blend of cutting-edge technology and exceptional human connection. This dynamic session will reveal how artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile platforms are accelerating our ability to make home buying easier—from pre-sale to post-move-in—with innovations in the human experience that go beyond what technology can deliver alone. Through expert conversation, engaging visuals, “in the field” examples, Q&A and more, learn actionable strategies that combine the power of tech with personalized experiences to elevate your game and delight customers.
BUILDING KNOWLEDGE SESSIONS*
These 60-minute sessions in nine tracks are the foundation of Builders’ Show education. Find the best industry education from the top experts on today’s most relevant and hottest topics, such as Eight Essentials for Company Growth, Increased Profitability and Company Performance, 2025 Product and Design Trends, the 2025 Remodeling Market Outlook, and more.
PRE-SHOW NAHB COURSES**
Feb. 23 – 24
Take advantage of these education opportunities before the Show starts. Increase your skills by delving deep into industry topics such as estimating, project management, digital marketing and more—all while earning NAHB CEUs—in these one-day courses. View all 15 NAHB Courses at BuildersShow.com.
PRE-SHOW SYMPOSIUMS**
Building Science Symposium | Feb. 24 | 9 AM – 4:30 PM
Some of the top voices in high-performance building with fresh insights for construction and design on the hottest building science trends and topics are kicking off the annual national tour at the 2025 Builders’ Show. Builders, remodelers, tradespeople, architects and suppliers learn industry-leading ideas and strategies, from understanding standards and integrating performance components to providing durable, energy-efficient enclosures.
NEW for IBS 2025
Custom Building & Remodeling Symposium | Feb. 24 | 9 AM – 4:30 PM
Discover innovative, bold and dynamic business management insights for custom builders and remodelers sure to change how you approach and conduct business. These forward-looking, innovative strategies go beyond traditional day-to-day business practices to help you accelerate the growth of your business and future-proof your profits no matter what lies ahead.
Learn more and add a pre-show symposium to your IBS registration at BuildersShow.com.
LEARNING LABS*
Learning Labs are fast-paced sessions using unique presentation formats (think lightning rounds and TED-talk style), interactive technology, audience participation and more. Learn how to engage home buyers with an interactive customer journey, use the AI marketing guide (for humans), attract, train and retain your future workforce and more.
- Punch List – New trends, products and ideas come at you in rapid-fire succession as speakers share a new example every few minutes.
- 4/12 Pitch – Four speakers take the stage one at a time to share their perspectives on a topic for 12 minutes each.
- Two-Story Talk – Combines two in-depth talks into one, with each speaker exploring a distinct aspect of an issue or problem.
- Jam(b) Session – Informational interactive sessions that include lively debate, free-flowing town halls, live demonstrations, and one-on-one interviews with industry leaders.
See the full education lineup and search for sessions at BuildersShow.com.
NAHB Education is sponsored by Lowe’s for Pros.
*Requires an IBS Expo + Education Pass.
**Requires a separate registration and fee from your IBS registration. Add your ticket to your IBS registration.
