Total Solutions Plus unites the tile industry

As I attempted to navigate around the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, I began to reflect on the name of the event – Total Solutions Plus – that I was attending for the first time. It seemed like a strange name for a tile-industry event and it made me have this thought: “If they were handing out solutions, perhaps somebody could offer a route from the self-parking lot to my room in less than 10,000 steps.” As it turned out, those were not the types of solutions being offered.

Total Solutions Plus (or, TSP) is a unique event and unlike any trade show I have ever been a part of before. I suppose “trade show” is probably not even the correct term to describe it. The stated purpose of this event is “to annually bring the ceramic tile industry together to network and learn from each other.” Trade shows are about booths and products where industry organizations tack on meetings because they know most of their members will be there. TSP is an event where the industry organizations come together specifically for meetings and a brief “trade show” is tacked on at the end.

The Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA), the National Tile Contractors Association (NTCA), the Tile Council of North American (TCNA) and the Tile Contractors’ Association of America (TCAA) are the four industry organizations that collaborate to bring us Total Solutions Plus. These organizations represent every level of the industry and the event provides one of the most unique settings in the flooring industry. While each of these organizations may, at times, have competing interests within the tile industry, all of them recognize the vital role each plays as well as their shared responsibility to promote and protect the industry.