I went to IBEX

The International Boatbuilders Conference and Expo is a trade event that brings the boating community and industry together every year. This year it was held in Tampa a week after Hurricane Irma reeked havoc for just about all of Florida and beyond. The show almost didn’t happen, but Tampa seemed to escape a lot of the effects that the storm brought, so the show went on.

The Hurricane

The hurricane was a hot topic and there was a special roundtable event where industry and legal experts would explain just what one needs to do in the event of a storm like this to get all of the insurance money they can for their destroyed docks and boats. It’s something I would never think about living up here in the north east, but damn, it is a real thing and the speakers were experts in that subject matter.

The Show

I had heard of IBEX over the years because my dad, a Coast Guard Vet of 27 years, would bring it up from time to time. He knew I worked for a company who ran a few boating specific trade events so he would always ask me, “You going to IBEX?” Different company Dad. He would keep asking anyway. So fate jumped in and I ended up being this years show videographer. I’m glad I did. It was such a cool show and I ended up capturing over 200gb’s of video. I even got to go out on a few high powered boats. Sorry for the selfie, but I don’t get many opportunities to get a photo of me on a boat in Tampa.