The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) and the Kitchen & Bath Industry Show (KBIS), the destination for kitchen and bath design professionals, today announced changes to the KBIS Virtual experience. Because of technology issues that could not be resolved in a timely manner, the show floor experience featuring the KBIS exhibitor booths has been postponed. The NKBA and KBIS are investigating alternative solutions that may allow the exhibitor experience and booth activations to be relaunched. The situation evolved rapidly, and rectifying the challenges at-hand proved more complex than anticipated. Access to KBISConnect.com has been closed. However, KBIS Virtual programming continues as scheduled and can be accessed at https://nkba.org/kbis-2021-conference/.
“After a deep dive into the exact sequence of events and consequences that occurred, we have learned that these are unresolvable technical difficulties,” stated Brian Pagel, EVP, Emerald, which produces the show. “The servers that house the platform are down, requiring that we close access to the exhibitor booths. Looking forward, we remain committed to exhaust all efforts to ensure a successful future experience. We understand the gravity of the situation for our exhibitors and attendees, as the KBIS platform is critical to accelerate their business for the year.”
Suzie Williford, EVP and Chief Strategy Officer of the NKBA, which owns KBIS, stated that the NKBA Voices From the Industry conference and Design + Industry Awards event, as well as the KBIS NeXT Stage and Pavilions programming, will continue as scheduled, but will move to NKBA.org. Updated communication with event reminders and links will be sent to all attendees.
“The kitchen and bath and design and construction industries are healthy and vibrant, despite all the challenges of 2020, leading into 2021,” Williford added. “Businesses are still strong and we look forward to celebrating together in Orlando, Fla., in February 2022.”
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