For the past several years, the annual Deck Expo has alternated between venues in Baltimore and Chicago. But for a change of pace, this year the Deck Expo – also known as the R/D/J show – visited Nashville. The event was held in the Music City Center, an absolutely gorgeous convention hall that is right across the street from both the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the Bridgestone Arena (normally the home of the NHL’s Nashville Predators, but during the show it hosted the final performance in country music legend Kenny Rogers’ farewell tour with Dolly Parton). Within shouting distance is the more stately Schermerhorn Symphony Center, home to the Nashville Symphony. Just a couple of blocks away is Broadway, a street that is chockablock with restaurants and bars, each one seemingly with a live band.
The interior of Nashville's huge Music City Center, where the 2017 R/D/J show was held.
The show itself was lively, if not overflowing, with plenty of activity on both the show floor and in the classrooms (more about that in a minute). And there were plenty of new products to check out, some that I knew about in advance – like Duralife’s new Step-Clip hidden fastener system -some that were a surprise, like TurboClips, and some that aren’t even officially available until next year. Where else can you see all that at one time?
Jason Katwijk demonstrates composite decking bending techniques at the 2017 Deck Expo in Nashville.
Using social media, Jason Russell summoned a crowd of followers out of thin air on the show floor.
A panel discussion with Andy Moore, John Hourihan, Shawn Van Dyke, and Justin Fink (L to R) at the Keep Craft Alive meet-up on the show floor.
About the show floor activity … I spent a lot of time chatting with veteran deck builders like Mike Guertin and manufacturer’s reps like Jim Mailey of Simpson Strong-Tie (he had a few bones to pick with me about a recent PDB article). Dr. Decks (Jason Russell) assembled a flash mob on the show floor with his Instagram followers; I don’t even know what that means, but I was there to witness it, and Jason promises to explain what happened in an upcoming PDB article. I met up with a bunch of other deck builders too, including Jason Katwijk, who was bending boards all day every day, and who you can read about in Young Guns of Decking. And don’t even get me started about the NADRA dinner at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville … let’s just say that a good time was had by all!
Nashville contains an eclectic mix of new skyscrapers and older buildings, where the night life is concentrated.
See you next year?
