February 19, 2026: Southwest Pool & Spa Show (SWPSS)
Greetings from the Southwest Pool & Spa Show,
On the residential pool service & construction side of the industry, there are a number of tradeshows that go on each year during the "off season" (winter) for the outdoor pool industry. NESPA hosts a show each January in Atlantic City (brr!), Everything Under the Sun Expo covers Florida plus a smattering of shows for regional industry hubs like the Western Pool & Spa Show in California and the Southwest Pool & Spa Show for the Southwest market, but primarily Texas.
Canada's only show of this type is the Canadian Pool & Spa Expo hosted by the Pool & Hot Tub Council of Canada (PHTCC) - not to be confused with the US-based Pool & Hot Tub Alliance (PHTA) through which many of you have received Certified Pool Operator (CPO) certification - in Niagara Falls, ON each winter.
I was invited to the SWPSS to present at the inaugural Women's Forum. I did a presentation entitled "Commercial Use of Residential Pools." I don't present at conferences often because I spend 20+ hours developing a 1-hour session, and it's just not scalable with everything else I do in the course of a week. But I'm really happy with how the session turned out, including feedback from the audience, so please look for that session on the Presentations Playlist of our YouTube channel in the next week.
The comments I hear from commercial pool colleagues regarding these trips is always "Why would you go to a residential pool show?!" with the emphasis being that residential pools are smaller, less sophisticated and have nothing to teach us commercial poolies.
As I said on Instagram, for me it's important to be a generalist as much as a specialist. At these pools shows I learn about new-to-me products like synthetic grass innovations, architectural aluminum (that looks convincingly like wood beams), water slide stair covers, inflatable spas, retractable pool covers and everything in between precisely because residential customers & businesses are much quicker to try or adopt a new product because there's no red tape.
Commercial pools are big and expensive; no pool operator or manager wants to make a $500,000 mistake and not meet the jurisdiction's standard of care by trying a product that doesn't hold up. But it's precisely because residential pools have so little legislation and oversight, it can be a great place to learn other ways of doing things... so long as we use that as a starting point.
This is going to be a controversial take, but I really don't think in 2026 your business (gym, pool, recreation center or otherwise) can afford to be closed on lesser stat holidays.
Respectfully, it's the same as a donut shop I enjoyed that recently closed in SE Calgary. I thought the donuts were great, but they didn't open until 8am on weekdays and 9am on weekends. Multiple times I finished a hot yoga class nearby and couldn't get a donut because they weren't yet open! (Yes, I realize the irony in that statement.) People commuting to work can't wait until 8am to buy coffee or donuts, they've already left for - or are at - work.
I understand wanting to control labor costs and holidays are always difficult to staff, but if your goal is to provide a service customers want, you may have to ignore your own preferences in order to be a financially successful.