Best Building Conferences for Construction Sales Teams

Building Conferences and Construction Trade Shows for Estimators, Salespeople, and Business Developers

Building conferences and construction trade shows are not just great for networking, but essential for the education of your salespeople, estimators, and business developers. These construction events include sessions on best practices, training, and lessons learned. In short, education that your sales team would not be privy to… unless you have both the expertise and experience to share! 

If you’re looking for construction conferences 2022 or construction trade shows 2022 to send your sales team to, look no further. Our article focuses on construction industry events that provide opportunities specifically for construction business developers, salespeople, and estimators to learn from and share with others. The construction trade shows are listed in chronological order. Check out the tracks that apply. And sign up!


Building Conferences - Advancing Preconstruction

Advancing Preconstruction Building Conference

June 13-15, 2022
Las Vegas, NV

As far as building conferences go, this is North America’s largest preconstruction and construction estimating conference. Also, if you’re looking for construction trade shows in Las Vegas, Advancing Preconstruction should be number one on your list. While this is not a construction estimating conference in itself, there are many tracks of interest to construction business developers and estimators, such as:

Day 1 

  • Estimating Track 
  • Specialty Trades Track

Day 2 

  • Case Study Breakouts 
  • Market-Specific Networking Opportunities
  • An Estimating Track 
  • Technology Presentations

AIA Conference on Architecture

AIA Conference on Architecture 2022

June 22-25, 2022
Chicago, IL

As one of the best yearly construction trade shows, the architecture and design event of the year returns to Chicago. With the city as your backdrop, explore architecture’s ability to drive new thinking in areas like design and sustainability. You can also earn your HSW, GBCI, RIBA & AIA LUs for the year.


The National Association of Women in Construction Annual Building Conference

2022 NAWIC 67th Annual Conference

Aug. 17-20, 2022 
Minneapolis, MN

The National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) provides education, community, and advocacy for women. Designed for all women in construction, the 2022 annual conference offers keynotes and panels on industry diversity and awareness, as well as leadership training. This year, one of the best building conferences for women includes three educational tracks, jobsite tours, and networking opportunities with fellow women in the business.


2022 SMACNA Annual Convention 

September 11 – 14, 2022
The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, CO

SMACNA represents a broad spectrum of contractors who use sheet metal to fabricate and build architectural, ductwork, and HVAC metal systems in industrial, commercial, architectural, and residential markets. The agenda for this building conference and construction tradeshow includes construction business development sessions and forums.


CMAA Building Conference

CMAA National Conference

October 9 – 11, 2022
Marriott Marquis, San Diego Marina, San Diego, CA.

CMAA’s event includes a comprehensive construction trade show, general and breakout sessions, and the annual industry recognition awards. For example:

  • Best practices used to complete successful projects and programs
  • Lessons learned from complex projects and programs
  • Inspiring leadership, partnerships, and talent management
  • Developing a diverse, inclusive, equitable, and professional workforce
  • Key issues facing the industry
  • Environmental impacts (sustainability, community, safety, etc.)
  • Innovative solutions to old problems
  • Industry trends (technology, economic, political, etc.)

Advanced Sales Management Seminar

Advanced Sales Management Seminar

Oct. 20-21
Charlotte, NC

While this is not a building conference, the Associated Equipment Distributors (AED) seminar earns its position on our list and is worth attending. This sales seminar is intended for sales managers who have been in that position for a few years and are looking to up their game. For example, attendees will learn through a mix of hands-on, lectures and role-play exercises.


Chicago Build 2022 - Building Conference and Construction Trade Show

Chicago Build 2022 – Building Conference and Construction Trade Show

Oct. 13-14, 2022
McCormick Place, Chicago, IL

Chicago Build is the largest building conference and construction trade show for the Midwest with two days of content, including marketing tools, business skills, and innovation workshops. However, suffice it to say, this event covers diverse and in-depth topics and showcases innovation. These topics allow anyone in the construction industry to stay ahead of the curve, not just sales professionals and estimators.


Greenbuild International Conference and Expo

Greenbuild International Conference and Expo

Nov. 1-3, 2022
Moscone Center
San Francisco, CA

This building conference and construction trade show is of interest to estimators and sales representatives who operate in the Green construction space. This year the event presents an expanded take on what it means to build green, for example, it will include topics such as building greener communities, better workplaces, social equity, sustainable solutions, etc.


DBIA Building Conference and Construction Tradeshow

Design-Build Conference & Expo

Nov. 2-4, 2022
MGM Resort, Las Vegas, NV

Are you a senior estimator or sales executive in the design-build construction industry? Then the topics covered at this event are of interest to you. For example,

  • best practices with a focus on lessons learned
  • managing risk and expectation
  • team collaboration developing a successful acquisition strategy

World of Concrete 2023 – Building Conference

Jan. 16-19, 2022
Las Vegas Convention Center

The World of Concrete is one of the most robust building conferences and construction trade shows for the concrete trade segment. It provides business development and estimating professionals in the concrete trades with the connections, intelligence, and opportunities that help customers grow, do business, and make better informed business decisions.


NAHB IBS
Jan. 31-Feb 2, 2023

Las Vegas, NV

NAHB IBS is one of the largest building conferences and construction trade shows specifically designed for home builders. This National Association of Home Builders event includes business management and sales and marketing tracks.


Construction Institute Summit - Building Conferences and Construction Trade Shows

Construction Institute Summit

March 2-4, 2023
St. Louis, MO

The theme of the CI Summit is Creating Connections – Building our Infrastructure Together. This building conference will provide insights on the latest techniques, technologies, and strategies used by owners, engineers, and also contractors to manage risk and to deliver their projects.


International Roofing Expo

March 7-9, 2023
Dallas, TX

If you operate in the roofing segment of the construction industry, this is one of the best building conferences and construction trade shows you can attend. It is your chance to school yourselves in marketing and sales as well as estimating and take a deep dive into the construction sales process. Tracks like General Business, Leadership, Money Matters, and of course Sales/Service provide valuable content for construction sales professionals and estimators.


New York Build 2023 – Building Conference and Construction Trade Show

Mar. 8-9, 2023
Javits Center, Manhattan, NY

New York Build is the largest construction and design show for New York and the Tri-state area. 

It provides attendees with two days of content, including marketing tools, business skills. In addition, this building conference offers innovation workshops that may be of interest to construction sales professionals and estimators. However, suffice it to say, this event covers diverse and in-depth topics and showcases innovation that allows anyone in the construction industry to stay ahead of the curve.


Associated General Contractors of America Convention

March 13-16, 2023
Wynn, Las Vegas, NV

Sales professionals and estimators alike can brush up on their knowledge of the construction industry while connecting to new opportunities through face-to-face networking.


ABC Convention – Building Conference and Construction Trade Show

Mar. 15 – 17 2023
Gaylord Palms, Orlando, FL

This is one of the most important building conferences and construction trade shows you can attend. This construction event presents thought-leader content focused on helping contractor members improve their businesses and also their bottom lines. It also recognizes construction achievements. We will keep you posted here, but you may want to save the date for the 2023 event in Orlando!


Atlantic Builders Convention - Building Conferences and Construction Tradeshows

Atlantic Builders Convention – Conference and Expo

March 28 – 30, 2023

Hosted by the New Jersey Builders Association (NJBA), ABC is the largest construction trade show in the Northeast. This building conference features hundreds of exhibits showcasing the latest products and services to a large and diverse audience of decision-makers. Construction sales professionals and estimators can take away up-to-date information about the latest market trends, government policies, and technical developments.


Groundbreaking Women in Construction Building Conference 

May 11-12, 2023
San Francisco, CA

Groundbreaking Women in Construction is another building conference that focuses on women in the industry. Develop your leadership skills, expand your network, share and learn from peers, and also build on your successes and one of the biggest building conferences for women.


CFMA Annual Conference and Exhibition

Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) Annual Conference

July 15-19, 2023
Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Aurora, CO

Construction sales professionals and estimators can leverage this event to become more savvy from a  financial perspective. Furthermore, they can make new connections…


CONSTRUCT AEC Education and Expo

TBD

CONSTRUCT is an AEC educational program and exhibition that brings together the different disciplines within the construction industry to collaborate. For example, construction sales professionals and estimators can greatly benefit from a program that includes standards and best practices, industry trends, and emerging technologies.

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In Conclusion

Whether you are a construction salesman, construction business developer, or construction estimator in the AEC industry, there are tracks at the building conferences and construction trade shows we’ve covered here that will serve you and your company well. And what’s more, the networking, broader education topics, and innovation you are privy to at these events are also of value to you as a construction professional who is interested in advancing their career and supporting their company to become a leader in the industry.

Many, if not all, of the content at the conferences we have listed here include tracks on how technology can serve construction companies, be it with bidding, project management or accounting software, 3-D printing, BIM, or a customer relationship management (CRM) system. 

For construction sales teams, the best way to set sales goals and track progress is by using a construction CRM or a sales management solution that fits the construction process. Even though small companies may think that spreadsheets are acceptable, they lack crucial functionality and robustness. In today’s digitized world, it is quite fast, easy, and inexpensive to implement a software system.

How to Support Your Construction Sales Team with Technology

Let’s take some of the iDeal Construction CRM features as an example:

  • Manage All Your Bids, Leads, and Opportunities in One Place
  • Manage All Your Clients and Contacts in a Single System
  • Bid Multiple Clients for One Project
  • Create Professional Proposals in Minutes, Even Multiple Proposals at Once
  • Track Your Sales Pipeline Effectively
  • User Follow-up Automation so You Follow-up with Your Clients Consistently
  • Make Informed Decisions with Built-in Construction Reports

Pricing is very affordable. But see for yourself. Test drive all the features at your own pace without incurring any fees or obligations!
Wishing you more leads, clients, and jobs going forward!


Further Reading