CONFESSIONS OF A HOME SHOW JUNKIE, VOL. 1: PETER SIMPSON

Flashback - The Vancouver Home + Design Show 2008

There’s a little term that we like to throw around the Vancouver Home + Design Show office: “home show junkie.” We save this descriptor for a select group of people – those that have been around our shows longer than we can remember, and who we couldn’t ever imagine throwing one without!

So, it’s only fitting that we launch this weekly feature, Confessions of a Home Show Junkie, by introducing you to Peter Simpson, who takes responsibility for coining the phrase years ago. Speaking of not being able to imagine a show without someone, this is our last show with Peter. After many years at the helm of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association, Peter is retiring at the end of this year. It’s hard for me to put our relationship with Peter into words – he is our biggest champion, our most enthusiastic exhibitor and consumer, and above all, a wonderful friend. While he will certainly be missed, we simply don’t think he’ll be able to quit his home show habit cold turkey! Something tells me he’ll be around for a long time yet…but in the meantime, we offer him a heartfelt thank-you for all he’s done. A true leader in our industry and a great example of what it means to be a supporter, through-and-through. We wish him all the best as he enters this new phase of his life.

CONFESSIONS OF A HOME SHOW JUNKIE: PETER SIMPSON

Name:  Peter Simpson

Occupation:  President and Chief Executive Officer

Company/Organization:  Greater Vancouver Home Builders' Association

Website:  www.gvhba.org

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/gvhba

Twitter:  @GVHBA

How many years have you participated in the Vancouver Home + Design Show: Since its inception, including two name changes.

Describe your involvement: GVHBA is a proud show partner/sponsor/participant. We take part in the stage presentations and showcase the superb renovations and new homes completed by our association members.

How did you originally get involved with home shows? I have been a home show junkie all my life. I'm like a kid in a candy shop when it comes to home shows. I first attended the National Home Show in Toronto as a child and I have been enthusiastically attending home shows ever since, including shows in London, England and throughout Canada and the U.S.

Describe the Vancouver Home + Design Show in five words or less: Home heaven under the dome.

What does the term 'home show' mean to you? To me, a home show is a one-stop showcase for everything in and around the home. I always leave the show with one or two great ideas I can incorporate into my own home. The Vancouver Home + Design Show [www.vancouverhomeshows.com] also offers engaging entertainment and the best home-related education around.

What's the best item you've ever purchased at a home show? Squeeze mops. I couldn't resist the two-for-one deal. And they still do the job.

What is your favourite part of a home show? The variety of the products and services on display, the unbridled enthusiasm of the exhibitors, and the people watching. You can't beat it!

Tell us about your best home show memory: My lovely wife, Carolyn, and I got married at the home show in 2006. Everyone thought we were actors from a wedding-planning company. There is nothing like getting married in front of 13,000 of your closest friends and relatives. Our families embraced the concept and it was a glorious day we will remember forever. Mike Holmes even mentioned us during his stage presentation later that evening. The bonus is we get to spend every wedding anniversary at the home show.

What's the craziest thing you've ever seen/experienced at a home show? It would have to be our wedding, although I would use the word creative, not crazy.

What are you most looking forward to at this fall's Vancouver Home + Design Show? Just experiencing all the sights and sounds again.

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Our friends from the GVHBA will be on-site at the Vancouver Home + Design Show, offering consultations and expert advice in the GVHBA Renovation Zone. Stop by to say hello!



 

Happy weekend, everyone. See you Monday!