The future of housewares is quickly moving toward the smart home. With innovations from established and start-up companies, connected and smart products, once only a dream, are fast becoming a reality. The 2017 International Home + Housewares Show will spotlight these innovative housewares products in the IHA Smart Home Pavilion. The 2017 Show will be held March 18 to 21 at Chicago’s McCormick Place complex.
To be located in the Hall of Global Innovation in the Lakeside Center lobby, the IHA Smart Home Pavilion will feature up to 12 exhibitors of connected and smart products. The pavilion will include suppliers new to the International Home + Housewares Show as well as current exhibitors. Companies will be selected by a jury of industry professionals and must meet exclusive criteria set by the industry experts.
“Connectivity is being incorporated into products all around – from light bulbs to coffee brewers to thermostats to ovens – and the IHA Smart Home Pavilion will spotlight these unique products that are changing the way we interact and live,” said Phil Brandl, president & CEO of the International Housewares Association, the Show’s owner and operator.
To help identify and recruit suitable companies that offer smart and connected products, IHA is working with two top influencers in the tech industry: Carley Knobloch and Mike Wolf. They will also create Show educational presentations on smart home developments and promote housewares innovations to consumer media, Brandl said.
Knobloch is a digital lifestyle expert and a regular contributor on the Today Show and CNN. She’s also a technology consultant and host for the HGTV Smart Home, where she makes smart homes easy, approachable and fun. Knobloch also has been featured in Real Simple, Allure, Redbook and Good Housekeeping. Wolf is the creator and host of a leading smart home podcast, “The Smart Home Show.” He combines in-depth market analysis with insightful commentary on the latest news and updates in the space. Wolf has also become a leading authority on the Smart Kitchen and is the founder of the Smart Kitchen Summit in Seattle, Wash.
In additional to the pavilion, smart products will also be recognized at the Show with a category in the IHA Global Innovation Awards (gia). All Show exhibitors can enter this category through submissions in the New Product Showcase. Finalists will be included in the New Product Showcases in the Buyers Clubs and in the IHA Global Innovation Awards display in the Hall of Global Innovation. The winner of the smart home gia will be announced at the invitation-only gia gala dinner on Saturday, March 18.
Exhibitors will also be able to promote their smart home products through special signage, their Housewares Connect 365 profiles, the mobile app and Show directories.
The 2017 Show will feature more than 2,200 exhibitors from around the globe showcasing their new products throughout five expos and 62,000 total attendees. Show badge registration is now available.
Further information and the exhibitor application for the IHA Smart Home Pavilion is available at on the Show’s website, or contact Alyssa Fulton, manager, trade show sales, at 1-847-692-0125.
