ALEXANDRIA, VA – Gibson Guitar CEO Henry Juszkiewicz and HGTV celebrity designer Lori Dennis were among the featured speakers at the International Wood Products Assn. (IWPA) convention, held March 28-30 in Indian Wells, CA. The annual event drew 270 industry leaders from 25 countries, a 10 percent increase over last year's attendance.

Other speakers at the event included Lynn Michaelis, current RISI economist and previous chief economist with Weyerhaeuser; and several U.S. government and international speakers, including the Hon. Tan Sri Bernard Dompok, the Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities.

A half-day workshop on Lacey Compliance and presentations on global efforts to advance tropical forest management by the Tropical Forest Foundation and what can be done to enhance global marketing of hardwoods by the National Hardwood Lumber Assn. rounded out the IWFPA's three-day program.

World of Wood 2013, IWPA's 57th Annual Convention, will be held April 17-19, 2013 at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, BC.

IWPA Elects New Officers

Replacing Alan McIlvain as IWPA president for 2012/2013 is Warren Spitz, president, CEO and founder of UCS Forest Group of Companies in Toronto, Canada. The Board of Directors includes: Elizabeth Baldwin (Metropolitan Hardwood Flooring); Cindy Bergin (Newman Lumber Co.); Chris Connelly (Wood Brokerage International); Geoff Doudera (Liberty Woods International); Craig Forester (Rex Lumber Co.); Carl Gade (The Penrod Co.); Paul Gates (Tradelink Wood Products); JoAnn Keller (Holland Southwest International); John Hedin (Columbia Forest Products); Livy Haskell (Lumber Liquidators); Kenny MacMaster (Argo Fine Imports); Alan McIlvain (Alan McIlvain Co.); Bronson Newburger (Clarke Veneers and Plywood); Hugh Reitz (PRS Guitars); Greg Simon (Far East American); Warren Spitz (UCS Forest Group); David Weed (Robert Weed Plywood); and Gregg Wilkinson (Bridgewell Resources).