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The 2008 Kitchen/Bath Industry Show and Conference (K/BIS) will take place April 10-13 at the McCormick Place in Chicago. This year's show will gather more than 900 exhibitors to show off their products and services for more than 40,000 national and international dealers, designers, architects, distributors, retailers, home centers and other attendees.

The theme for K/BIS 2008 is "Setting the Tone," as the show provides the most comprehensive and expansive showcase of kitchen and bath products, services and trends. The show will host and feature a showcase of innovative ideas and continued learning, and will also provide attendees with a chance to catch a number of displays and demonstrations, keynote speeches and conference sessions, NKBA professional development courses and interactive roundtable events.

To help prepare for the show, K/BIS Connect is available online at the show's Website, www.kbis.com. This tool provides a user-friendly, interactive floor plan as well as an integrated agenda planner to help attendees plan their show, balance time and allow users to see more booths and spend more time with exhibitors.

SPENDING TIME ON THE FLOOR

While planning out your K/BIS experience, choosing your conference sessions and scheduling your networking opportunities and other events, be sure to leave yourself enough time to see everything that's happening on the show floor, too.

The show floor and exhibition hall will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Friday, April 11, and Saturday, April 12. On Sunday, April 13, the floor will be open to attendees from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. (The Lakeside Center will be open at 9 a.m. Friday through Sunday.)

The New Product Pavilion will showcase the newest innovations on the show floor. Other new pavilions to see include the Multi-family Pavilion, which will showcase design ideas for one of the fastest growing industry trends, and the Custom Build Pavilion, one of the most popular attendee segments.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES

Big names and industry icons will bring their expertise to the 2008 show as K/BIS continues to "set the tone." As the annual destination for kitchen and bath information, K/BIS is a unique learning and networking experience, giving attendees numerous strategies to expand and renew their businesses.

This year will offer conference sessions and roundtable discussions led by industry experts and celebrities. Attendees have access to conference sessions that cover topics from sustainability and kitchen architecture to executive mental fitness, internationally-influenced urban design, client budgets and more.

Bringing celebrity appeal to the show, the conference will focus on new custom design trends, the changes in the kitchen and bath industry, cutting-edge technologies and other hot industry topics, and as a special treat, at the NKBA Center Stage, attendees can find a special presentation by Ace of Cakes' Duff Goldman, as well as Patti Weaver's Green Products-Just What Resources Are Out There and Denise Turner's As the Colors Turn–2009 Color & Design Trend Forecast.

A few highlights from this year's conference schedule include:

• Kitchen & Bath Makeovers, Sunday, April 13, 10:30 to11:30 a.m.: Candice Olson, host of HGTV's "Divine Design" and one of North America's leading professional interior designers, offers a tour through some of the dramatic kitchen and bath transformations featured on her top-rated series.

• Implementing Sustainability, Friday, April 11, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.: What constitutes a sustainable approach to kitchen and bath design? This workshop, presented by Jonas Carnemark, Certified Remodeler (CR) and Certified Kitchen Designer (CKD), takes an in-depth look at what it means to be sustainable in this industry. Find out what companies across the country are doing to implement environmentally sensitive design and construction and learn the tips and tricks that can help you develop a consistent policy of environmental stewardship within your company.

• Integrating Architecture into Kitchen Design, Saturday, April 12, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.: Today's ultimate kitchens have a variety of different architectural details incorporated into them in order to give a client the beautiful, dramatic kitchen they dream of. Architects are adding more archways and higher ceilings to make the kitchen look larger and more welcoming, while using windows to brighten them with more natural light. This session is presented by Dominick Tringali, AIA, founder and president of Dominick Tringali Architects and sponsored by Art for Everyday.

The K/BIS NKBA Roundtable Events are also returning this year. Allowing for an open dialogue and numerous networking opportunities, each set of moderated forums will focus on seven industry topics of today.

Following are this year's industry roundtable schedule and topics.

Saturday, April 12, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.:
• Design Trends – Unique Material Combinations
• Technology Use in Kitchens & Baths: Look How Far We've Come
• Sustainable Design: Functionality & Pricing
• Urban Design with International Influences
• Outdoor Spaces in Challenging Environments
• Surviving the Current Housing Market
• Setting the Standard: Sustainable Design & Remodeling Standards

Sunday, April 13th, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
• Outdoor Spaces & Lighting
• Sustainable Kitchens & Baths: How Green Is Green
• Luxury Market: Present & Future
• Media Influence – Timelines & Client Expectations
• How to Expand Beyond a Regional Market
• More Bang For Their Buck: Client Budgets
• New Business Moving to Profitability

K/BIS 200 will also feature the NKBA Annual Business Luncheon, providing attendees with still more networking opportunities. The lunch will include a presentation on, "The Changing Face of Today's Customer: Think Globally to Sell Locally." The presentation from Doug Lipp, internationally-acclaimed expert on customer service, leadership and diversity, discusses immigration trends, today's consumer and the connection to your business. Learn the ways that companies such as Procter & Gamble, Intel and Disney have adapted to the global marketplace and how you can benefit from those lessons. The luncheon will be held on Saturday, April 12, from noon to 1:30 p.m.

With so many events and attendee opportunities available this year, the K/BIS Show 2008's return to Chicago is expected to be better than ever, "Setting the Tone," for the industry and providing a showcase of innumerable innovations and ideas for everyone in attendance.