Networking, learning and growing: Get the most out of your IRE experience

By Emma Peterson.

Insights from industry veterans and newcomers on building relationships and expanding your knowledge at IRE.  

The 2025 International Roofing Expo (IRE) is coming up soon (on February 19 through 21, 2025 in San Antonio, Texas) and at The Coffee Shops we couldn’t be more excited to see friends old and new there! But we also know that the biggest event of the year in roofing can be a bit intimidating, especially if you are newer to the industry or trade show experience. In this episode of Roofing Road Trips ®, Megan Ellsworth sat down with Kyrah Coker from the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) along with Sara Donneys and Tim Wyka of Mile Square Roofing to talk about attending IRE and getting the most out of the time spent there.

Tim, the president of Miles Square Roofing out of New Jersey, told Megan that IRE had a huge impact on him, especially in the earlier part of his career. He shared, “The biggest benefit I got from it was the networking. You deal with a lot of companies that are national that you talk to on the phone a lot, but you don't necessarily get to meet in person. So to be able to make those face-to-face connections was really important.” In addition to this, he pointed out that the show offers incredible exposure to all the different technology and training in the industry.  

Unlike Tim who is a seasoned IRE attendee, the 2024 IRE in Las Vegas was Sara’s first time attending. She went with support from NRCA’s Empower All scholarship program. Kyrah shared a bit about this program and why they sending people to IRE is so important, saying, “Just like the name of the event says, the scholarship aims to give everyone an equal opportunity to be able to attend IRE and have the opportunity to really be able to push their knowledge and their networking and their career that much further.” For Sara, her experience at IRE was all that and more. She explained, “After attending IRE, I feel more confident about the importance of education. I do want our supervisors, our foremen, our field workers, our managers to have access to these programs. I think that the quality of work is better when you know more about the products and process, which I learned so much about at IRE.”

Read the transcript or Listen to the entire podcast to learn more about IRE and the experience of attending!