If you run a fence business and you’re not going to The Fence Show in September, you’re leaving years of compressed learning on the table. Brian Frederiksen joined me on the Fencing Success Podcast for a 37-minute conversation about why the event matters, what to expect, and how to actually extract value from the three days you’re there.
About the episode
This was a Fencing Launch hosted conversation with Brian Frederiksen about The Fence Show. If you have the video URL handy, share it and I’ll embed it here. The event itself is the most important annual gathering for fence contractors in North America.
What you’ll learn in this episode
- Why an industry-specific event is more valuable than a general business conference
- The vendor relationships that get unlocked when you meet manufacturers in person
- How to plan your event days for maximum learning per hour
- The networking moves that turn three days into a year of compounding relationships
- What Brian’s seen contractors do after the event that actually moved the needle
Why industry-specific events beat general conferences
I’ve been to a lot of business conferences. Most of them sell you a generic framework that’s supposed to work for every industry. The Fence Show is different — every conversation, every speaker, every booth is about your industry. The peer group is fence and deck contractors. The vendors are the manufacturers you actually buy from. The speakers are operators who run businesses you can directly model. That specificity is what makes industry events ten times more valuable per day than a general business conference.
Manufacturer relationships are the unlock
The most underrated value of a show like this is the manufacturer relationships you build in person. When you can shake hands with the reps from your fence material suppliers, you go from being a customer to being a partner. Pricing improves. Lead times get prioritized. New product launches come to you first. Those relationships compound for years after the event — and they only happen because you walked the floor.
Plan your days
Brian’s advice that I’d echo to every first-time attendee: plan your days before you arrive. Look at the schedule. Mark the three or four sessions you don’t want to miss. Identify the five booths you need to visit. Block time for two specific peer conversations. If you show up without a plan, you’ll wander, get tired, and leave on day three feeling like you didn’t get the most out of it. If you show up with a plan, you’ll come home with 20 actionable ideas.
The networking that compounds
The conversations that turn into real relationships almost never happen on the conference floor — they happen at dinners, in the hotel bar, in the hallway between sessions. Make sure you build in time for those informal conversations. Bring business cards. Take notes after every meaningful conversation. Follow up within a week. The contractor you meet at the bar on day two might be the partner who refers you a $200k project six months later.
What contractors actually do with what they learn
The contractors who get the most ROI from events are the ones who implement one thing immediately when they get back. Not ten things — one. The owners who try to install everything they learned at the show usually do none of it because the change is overwhelming. The owners who pick one tactic, one tool, or one system and ship it within two weeks see immediate impact and build momentum for the next thing.
About the guest: Brian Frederiksen
Brian Frederiksen is one of the most active voices in the fence industry’s event scene and a steady contributor to the community of contractors who treat fence and deck installation as a serious business worth investing in.
Want to come to The Fence Show?
If you’ve never been, this is the year to go. Reach out through my Professional Network page if you want details on the lineup, hotels, or which sessions I’m planning to attend. And if you want the foundational marketing playbook to pair with what you learn at the show, watch Dollar-a-Day for Contractors.
About The Author
