IRE day one: Kicking off our roofing Super Bowl

Dozens of interviews, thousands of steps and countless memories, connections and positive energy at day one of IRE.

Editor's note: The following is a transcript of a conversation between The Coffee Shops™ crew about day one of IRE 2026. 

Karen Edwards: Wow, day one of IRE was amazing. It really was. I spent my whole day at IRE; I did not get over to World of Concrete, but the line waiting to get in the show this morning was a fabulous opportunity that James took advantage of to hand out bags, swag and information about R-Club. There were so many contractors there, and everyone was excited to go inside the show, see what's new, talk to their vendors, pick up some swag and just have a great time. Everyone is happy to be here. It could be due to the fact that is 65 degrees and sunny outside, but everyone is just thrilled to be here. This is our Super Bowl, right? This is our biggest event of the year, and to be able to be here and to have our soundstage bring the stories of what's happening at the show to everybody — whether you're here or not — that is a thrill for me.

I'm honored to be able to sit on on that soundstage and talk to our customers, our partners, our friends, our R-Club members, about why they're here, what's new. There are so many new product releases, new initiatives that are being undertaken, and it's so cool to see the industry really advance, progress and move forward into solutions and technologies that help the industry work smarter and do more with less, addressing the labor shortage, and it's just a really exciting, fun time. One of the other things that I like the most about the interviews is that people are very nervous, and being able to be say, "You're going to be great. It's just conversation. It's just you and I talking." And at the end they go, "Wow, that was so fun. I had such a good time." Being able to make them feel at ease is really great.

The Welcome Party, sponsored by ABC Supply was amazing. And then we visited Brava Roof Tile at their hospitality and Polyglass and it was just great to see everyone. People are feeling really positive going into 2026.

James Ellsworth: I had a lot of fun today helping manage the booth and direct traffic. We did about 28 interviews starting at 7:45 a.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m., and we also did one Coffee Conversations and one podcast. So a lot of skillful interviewing. We had a huge line outside our booth, which is always a lot of fun. I really enjoyed talking to the SkillsUSA teachers and state directors who came by on their SkillsUSA booth challenge where they visit the different sponsors supporting the commercial roofing competition. I had a great time handing out swag for the students around the country.

Drake Porter: Day one. Wow, what a day. I walked 16,000 steps today with Lauren doing booth interviews. Just getting the opportunity to meet partners and customers and getting to hear all the new things that they're doing with their companies and all their different products and services was great. And it was nice to actually see the faces of the people I email all the time. The First-time Attendee event was really good. We were handing out hand sanitizers to all the first-timers, and we didn't have any left. My favorite interview today was about the trash rocket with Rocket Equipment. It was the very first one we did, and I'm just amazed by this giant slide for roofing material debris. I loved it. And then I think the second best one was with Mindy at TRA Snow and Sun. It was just a really good day overall. A lot of great traffic everywhere we went.

Lauren White: Drake and I were on the show floor, and we had a lot of interviews scheduled throughout the day at IRE — we were also just on the IRE side today. And people are really excited to be here, excited to see people, they have great energy and great traffic at their booths. We started interviews before the show floor opened, and even just an hour in, people in the far corners of the floor were saying, "We have so much traffic already." So that was really great to hear, especially since we also have World of Concrete happening at the same time. It's always fun to see our partners and see what they're up to. I got to interview the Owens Corning Panther, which was very fun. It's a very animated interview on The Pink Panther side!

RoofersCoffeeShop sponsors the First-time Attendees reception right before the Welcome Party, and we saw a lot of people coming in and got to welcome them and hand out hand sanitizers to them as their gift. It was a beautiful night. The event was outside on a terrace, and we had a view of the sphere and strip at sunset. Then we went to the Brava hospitality, and I actually saw two people I had on a podcast from MRS Roof Pros. They're an R-Club member, and I just had the podcast with them last week for AskARoofer, and they found me in the crowd and we had a great conversation. They were happy to see us and excited for what else is to come with RoofersCoffeeShop and them. The Polyglass hospitality is always a party and a half. Great food, amazing music, everyone was singing along. Also a beautiful venue at the Paris at the Chele rooftop bar. We got to see the Bellagio water show, which is my favorite thing in Vegas. Overall a great day! Everybody's happy, they're having a good time and we're all looking forward to the Roofing Alliance Student Competition tomorrow morning.