Plumbing

Western Pool & Spa Present Celebrating forty fifth Anniversary – PoolMagazine.com

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Western Pool & Spa Show, which has been held annually in Long Beach, California for 30 years. Last year, over 10,000 pool and spa industry professionals attended the Western Pool & Spa Show, making it one of the busiest national shows in the country.

The Western Pool & Spa Show celebrates 2 milestones

We recently had the chance to speak with Eric Nielson, Director of The Western Pool & Spa Show, on The Pool Magazine Podcast. He gave us an insight into the history behind the annual event.

“It started as a small table and has grown, and this will also be our 30th year in the city that has become our home, Long Beach. So there are two milestones that we’re kind of celebrating,” Nielson said.

“Years ago, there was a small group of manufacturers, sales reps, and a few pool guys who just got together and said, ‘Hey, maybe we should do something to educate people out there in the San Fernando Valley,'” Nielson said.

“They put together a small event in Studio City and it grew into something bigger. I think it was Ray Pak or one of the heater manufacturers who said, ‘Hey, could we maybe have one of our products on the hall?’ and that was the momentum of the exhibition space. So they started with that and then they brought in more things and it just grew and grew from there. From there it moved to the convention center in Pasadena and then we grew beyond that. Then there was a bit of time in Anaheim and now we’ve been in Long Beach for 30 years,” Nielson explained.

Check out the highlights from last year’s Western Pool & Spa Show

The Western Show has evolved and offers something for everyone

The Western Show, as it is known in the industry, has certainly evolved over the years from being traditionally known as the ‘Service Show’ to more involving the pool building side of the industry. With a wide range of educational opportunities and seminars available to participants, it also offers excellent value for participants.

The show, which runs March 23-35, is open for pool trading only. Registration is required and includes workshops on how to become a CPO, electrical and plumbing seminars, and workshops available in Spanish.

“We’re all volunteers and we’re focused on education,” said Nielson, “everything we do is geared towards being able to provide this quality education opportunity to the industry. This year we have many different courses that people can attend and use at a very reasonable price. For $115. You can come all three days and take one of the 90 different courses, including programs for Spanish speakers. You really can’t get that anywhere else.”

Educational workshops are held by Pentair, Hayward and Fluidra, as well as Watershape University, Pool Nation, Orenda Technologies, Taylor Technologies, PAL Lighting and many others. The lesson schedule and exhibition times for this event are as follows:

Thursday March 23, 2023

Education: 1:00 p.m. to 5:45 p.m
Exhibition times: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m

Friday March 24, 2023

Education: 8:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m
Exhibition times: 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m

Friday March 24, 2023

Education: 8:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m
Exhibition times: 1:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m

The Western Pool & Spa Show is giving away prize draws every hour and there is a big giveaway at the end of the event. “We’ll be giving away $20,000 in cash,” Nielson said, “In total, we also gave away almost $60,000 in prizes last year. Second prize last year we had a pump, a heater, a filter, a whole set of equipment from Pentair. We have hourly draws. This year we are working with AquaCal Autopilot. They’re donating a heat pump worth about $9,000.”

Check out highlights from last year’s big giveaway event at the Western Pool & Spa Show

The Western Show is also a great opportunity to network with industry professionals, distributors and manufacturers and learn about the latest products and innovations. For those on the west coast, it remains one of the easiest shows to get to and offers some of the best offerings in terms of pool pro education opportunities.

Pool Magazine will definitely be in the house too, so be sure to stop by our booth (#216) and pick up the spring issue featuring Lucas Congdon, host of Insane Pools and owner of Lucas Lagoons.

Want to know more about the Western Pool & Spa Show? Listen to our conversation with Eric Nielson on the Pool Magazine podcast.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button