The 15th Annual Best of Success event took place September 15 – 17, 2019 in South Florida. The event was held at the J.W. Marriott, Turnberry Isle. The purpose of the conference was to discuss new and improved ways to run both commercial and residential roofing businesses. Roofing contractors attended and distributors, manufacturers, and tech companies sponsored the event. Companies attending Best of Success were represented by business owners, CEOs, and top executives.
iRoofing’s co-CEO’s, Daniel Meridor and Oded Shemla attended many of the lectures on current topics in the roofing industry beginning with an inspiring talk by Charles Antis from Antis Roofing. Antis spoke about giving back to the community and getting involved with philanthropy. Sean Shapiro and Cameron Shouppe from Reliant shared interesting insights on technology as roofing contractors. Anna Anderson and Ryan Groth imparted some great thoughts on marketing. Attorney Trent Cotney, gave the attendees useful information on construction law and Victor Smolyanov from Victor Roofing had a nice take on the power of marketing in his business. Dale Childress, Founder of Master Closer Society, reinforced certain sales methodologies and helped us understand why roofing sales people lose sales. The iRoofing team enjoyed Nick Sabino’s (Deer Park Roofing) discussion on the importance of service. Cal Schreiner from Empire Roofing talked about his journey from Prologis to a commercial contractor. The day ended with a fascinating panel discussion with Jack Scalo from Scalo Companies alongside Steve Little from Kpost, Greg Wallack from Best Roofing, and Jim Ziminski from Crane Renovation Group. They talked about getting through hardships in their businesses and how the cooperation between three entities from the panel strengthened them all. Monday’s enriching sessions ended with a cocktail party during which the roofing industry’s leaders got the chance to relax and build comradery.
Tuesday, Sept 17th started with Reid Ribble of NCRA fame. He shared interesting points about his political career with the House of Representatives. He also shared some very interesting updates on the role of the NRCA in today’s roofing industry. Craig Brightup from the Brightup Group came next on the day’s agenda. He talked about seizing business opportunities. An interesting lecture by Douglas Sutter from Sutter Roofing entertained the audience with Lessons From a 4th Generation Business. Don Kennedy from Kennedy Roofing Company revealed how he changed his business by bringing his team to a higher understanding of their role in the profitability of the business as well as the advancement of the company. Sam Stille from Amstill Roofing shared how he helped turn his father’s roofing company into a leader through marketing differentiation and online presence.
The last order of the day was a panel discussion on roofing apprenticeship programs starring Kevin Kronahrens and Clay Thomas from Advance Roofing and Nicole Eisenhardt from Tecta America.
The National Women in Roofing organization staged a fun, informative affair on Sunday, September 15th featuring presenters who addressed some of the challenges and opportunities in the male-dominated construction field. “The women working in the roofing industry are doing amazing things,” said Irma Le Felt of iRoofing. “This was a rare occasion for me to meet my peers from throughout the country and learn how they are thriving in this industry.” Roofing Contractor Magazine publisher Jill Bloom is a great example of women in the roofing business. She is the founder and organizer of Best of Success!
Roxanne Matta, a software designer at iRoofing also attended Best of Success, sharing her insights on how technology is enhancing the way modern roofing contractors are running their businesses. “We received a lot of positive input about our platform’s precise estimation tool which integrates a contractor’s custom pricing with the thousands of roofing products in our app, and with the app’s aerial, satellite, drone, and blueprint measurement functionality,” said Matta.
Recognitions and awards were doled out at the summit including the 2019 Commercial Contractor of the Year Award which went to Don Kennedy of Don Kennedy Roofing of Nashville, Tennessee. The 2019 Residential Contractor of the Year Award went to Kelly Roofing, a technology contractor with iRoofing.
Joshua Gless valued iRoofing’s participation in the conference as an event sponsor. “Even though we are the leading do-it-yourself measurement, estimation, and simulation technology solution in the industry, it is always important that we build and reinforce brand recognition among the owners and leaders in roofing. Best of Success is a premier occasion for this type of exposure,” said Gless.
The team representing iRoofing learned a lot at Best of Success. “We were impressed by the cooperation that takes place behind the scenes and among some of the big contractors in the industry and we’re equally inspired to learn the techniques used by bright roofing entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. It is definitely a great place to learn from colleagues and be inspired by leaders in roofing. It is the TED Talks of our industry,” said Daniel Meridor. The event could not be possible without the vision and dedication of Jill Bloom and Marcia Wright of BNP Media and the rest of the team. See you next year!
