Hundreds of tents and rental professionals gathered at the recently held IFAI tent expo at Daytona Beach. Members of the Tent Rental Division and other industry professionals met in person for the first time in two years, driving near-record attendance at this year’s event. Tent Expo is a leading show for the tent rental and supply industry.

Tent Expo offers a chance to connect in-person that can’t be replicated by virtual events, said Josh Kohn, CEO and co-founder, SOHO Event Rentals, Fairhope, Ala. More than 50 exhibitors were on hand to share the latest innovations in tents, equipment, flooring, furniture, accessories and more, according to a press release on the show.

The three-day Tent Expo kicked off with the annual golf tournament and a tour of the Daytona International Speedway, followed by two days of education, networking and product demos. Two tent industry leaders were also honoured with the Bruce W. Wodetzki Award. The award is named for the first chairman of IFAI’s Tent Rental Division and recognises professionals who continue his legacy of impacting the growth, direction and success of the industry. This year’s honourees were Jim Reyen, business director at Eureka! Tents, and George Smith, president and CEO of Mahaffey Fabric Structures. Education topics at this year’s Tent Expo included advice on diversifying your business and hiring, as well as tips on ballasting, an update on codes and standards and more.

“I’ve learned so much from all the manufacturers. I’ve learned the right tents, to buy. I got the TentOx from coming to this event many years ago. Coming to Tent Expo helps us learn how we can be more efficient with our labour, do more and save money. It’s coming to these events that you learn about all the different pieces of equipment and what they can do. The biggest thing is the access to the knowledge. We’re a young company. We’re first generation, so we didn’t have all that knowledge passed down,” Steven Eisenstein, president of Classic Tents & Events, Norcross, Ga said in a statement.