What really happens behind the scenes at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2026, the world's largest construction trade show? Taylor provides a complete recap of his experience of the show in Las Vegas covering essential planning tips, the biggest industry trends like AI, and the personal moments that defined the show. As a third-generation construction business owner and podcast host, Taylor offers a unique view of the event.
Many people attend CONEXPO-CON/AGG for the massive machines and new technology and the large scale can be overwhelming and feel impersonal. Taylor reveals a different side of the event, describing it as a "family reunion" where personal connections are the main event. A surprising interaction with listeners provided him with a new sense of purpose, showing the powerful community within the industry.
Topics:
- Highlights from the show floor
- Top industry trends: AI, tech, and workforce
- The real value of CONEXPO-CON/AGG: community
- Taylor's biggest takeaway
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Episode transcript:
Taylor White: Welcome back, everybody, to the CONEXPO-CON/AGG podcast. I am your host, as always, Taylor White. You might notice that I got a little bit of a tickle in the throat today. It's because after CONEXPO, after Vegas, I came home and boy, oh boy, did I get something that knocked me down. I am on week two of that, but I'm doing my best. And we're here today and we're going to definitely talk about all things CONEXPO, things that I saw, things that I'm looking forward to. It sounds crazy, but even looking ahead at 2029, it was a lot of fun. I know that they posted the official count, but I wanted to thank you guys for an amazing CONEXPO.
I think, you know, to kind of start, maybe let me back up a bit. Maybe there are people here that are just tuning in for possibly the first time because you saw that we had a podcast when you were at the show. My name is Taylor White, I am the host. I'm up here in the Great White North in Canada, specifically Ottawa. I own a construction company and a building company, third-generation family businesses. And I've hosted the podcast for about four years now. Crazy to say that, but it's been four years. Wow.
I talk about everything construction-related. I get to talk to industry leaders. I get to talk to people that you might not have heard of that I think are just straight-up badasses and are people that definitely need to be talked to. We talk about a wide range of technology, machinery, equipment, all things kind of construction. But this year at the 2026 CONEXPO, we just wrapped it up. Like I said, it's been two weeks now since the show. It was a hell of a show.
When I like to think back on talking about the show, to go through it, I like to talk about maybe even the pre-show, how I planned going there, right? So I planned and I showed up there on Sunday. I said, I'm going to go there Sunday. We're going to have a couple of days to acclimate to the time zone difference, a three-hour time zone difference. So we allowed for that. Definitely a travel tip going to CONEXPO: show up a day or two before the show even opens up. I honestly think if you can have the luxury of going there for a couple of days before or a day before, I would highly suggest that. That is something that kind of makes a lot of sense for me because then you're kind of not overwhelmed when you get there, like, "Hey, I got to go get our badge." Because, you know, this time there's badge time, there's stuff you can do to speed up getting your badge and everything. But then, you know, you got to get all that stuff.
Taking you through the whole experience of my CONEXPO, it was a super smooth flight. Me and Jake, my videographer, we flew down on a Sunday. We got there Sunday night and we landed. A driver picked us up. Boom, you're in Vegas. You get off at the airport, you get driven away from the airport, and then you just see this, like, it was Jake's first time in Vegas. And I always tell people this. It's like a movie. You are in a movie. The buildings, the lights, the sounds, the canyon that you're in, the terrain, the mountains in the background. You start seeing things like Mandalay Bay. You start seeing them building the Hard Rock. That is insane. The guitar that the strings are looking like it's going to be coming right out of the thing. That's insane. You see the Wynn, that's where we were staying. You see all the Caesars Palace, MGM Grand. And it's kind of like this adrenaline rush, right? It's like when you land anywhere, you kind of get adrenaline. But Vegas is more so because you're like, "We are in Las Vegas."
Las Vegas is such a hyped-up place, right? Because it's so popular, it's in so many movies, people talk about it so much. And it's that way for a reason. Because there's so much going on. You can do anything that you imagine or think of. Monday, we actually rented an Aston Martin and we went out to the Valley of Fire and we drove through the Valley of Fire. It's going to be on a YouTube video on my channel, Taylor White. It was amazing. Super cool experience, would highly recommend that.
Also, if you're Canadian, pro tip: if you want to rent a car, they will not rent you a Lamborghini. I walked in there, I forget what place we went to. And we walked in and I'm like, "I want that one." And it was like a matte black Lamborghini. I forget what model it was. Insane car. He tells me the cost. I'm like, "Okay, cool. You know, you only live once, right? You're in Vegas. Okay, cool." So we line it up. "Here's my Visa, here's this." He goes, "Oh, I need your driver's license." "Oh yeah, of course." I hand him my driver's license. He looks at it and goes, "No, you're Canadian." I'm like, "Yeah." He's like, "I can't insure you." I'm like, "No way." He goes, "But you can choose between that car, that car, or that car." And one was a McLaren. Which people would be like, "Well, why don't you choose the McLaren over the Aston Martin?" But the Aston Martin Vantage, it was a V10 twin-turbo, so it had some pep to it. But the McLaren had all these kinds of decals and stickers on it, and it just kind of looked like you could tell you're driving. Like, I didn't want to look like I rented a car. So it didn't have any branding on it. So that's why we chose that. Anyways, that was a pro tip.
We went out and drove that on Monday. That's kind of just like, "Hey, we got a day before everything starts. The madness starts. Let's go experience and do something cool." And that's what I'm saying about Vegas. Vegas is like, "We want to go do this." Type it in, call the guy. If that were anywhere else, you'd be like, "We got to plan it a week ahead because then we're going to have to get this in line and get this in line and this in line." But because you were in Las Vegas, anything is doable. I literally showed up 50 minutes into it. Boom. "Hey, yeah, here's your car, here's this." And like, 25 minutes later, I'm ripping over into Valley of Fire.
So I walk into the Wynn. CONEXPO definitely treated us with some insane hospitality. I have never been to the Wynn. I've never stayed at the Wynn. I've stayed at the Venetian before. Really nice. The Wynn, though, however, totally top-tier. The hospitality from CONEXPO was amazing. They hooked us up with these parlor suites in the Wynn Tower Suites. So, like, separate entrance from the other reception. Separate elevators, actually. Then the day before we were there, 50 Cent, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, and all these guys were actually, I missed them by 20 minutes, but they were in a charity golf tournament when I did actually end up playing the Wynn golf course as well, too. That was amazing. So that was pretty cool. A lot of famous people at the Wynn.
Oh, here's a really funny David Blaine story. So I got to meet David Blaine. But this is my David Blaine story and why I think David Blaine thought that I was going to kidnap his daughter. Yes, this is my story about David Blaine. Let me explain. Okay, so it's Thursday morning. We just went out the night before to Fremont Street. We were out 'til 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., not super late, but we definitely had a lot to drink and I was extremely hungover. So we just finished golf at the Wynn. It was beautiful. Like, the most amazing experience, most amazing course. A client actually took us. The most amazing experience I've ever had golfing. I don't think I'll ever play something like that again in my life, and I'm very fortunate to be able to do that. So that was amazing. So we're done with the golf and I'm like, "I just need to eat something and I just need to chill." So I go over to the Tower Suites, I go back to where I'm going, and I'm walking behind this guy and his daughter. I could tell she was like, whatever, a 13, 14, 15-year-old. I don't know, maybe I'll Google how old David Blaine's daughter is and I'm completely off, but she's very young.
So they're walking ahead of me and there's this girl walking towards them and I see everyone looking and waving and saying "hi" and getting giddy when they pass by this guy. I'm like, "Oh, he's got to be somebody famous" because the day before this I saw Grant Cardone and I was saying hi to him. So I'm walking, follow them all the way to the elevators. Because they scanned their card to get into the elevator, I was able to get in and sneak in behind them. And let me say the preface of this by, I'm wearing dark black Oakleys, I have a dark black hat on, I'm wearing a dark black hoodie. And I'm like zombie mode. Like just mouth open, hungover, tired, not even thinking about how I'm looking to everybody else. Social awareness level zero right now. I walk up to the elevator. David Blaine hits the thing. I didn't know it was David Blaine. The guy hits the elevator button, doors open up. He gets in. I walk in behind them. I'm standing there in the elevator and I look and I'm like, "Oh, I'm on floor 34. It's already pressed. The button's already pressed. Cool." Not knowing that I just got in an elevator with David Blaine, who's famous, with his young daughter. I just walked into an elevator with them and didn't press a single button. I straight up, just zombie mode, black Oakleys. I'm standing there in the corner like this, staring at the front of the elevator buttons while they're looking at me. I don't even know they're looking at me. And I didn't press a single button when I walked into the elevator.
So we ride all the way up to 34, and I can see him kind of like, "What's going on here?" I'm still not cluing in. But then what's funny is there's a David Blaine poster in the elevator because I guess he's doing a show at the Wynn. So it's like, there's David Blaine. And I'm so tired. I'm not even saying hi to this guy, because I'm like, "Whatever. I don't even want to say hi to David Blaine right now." So then the doors open up. In my sober, not sober, but my more awake mind, I'd be like, "Oh, don't be a weirdo, because you're already weirding them out. Get out before them so they can follow you, not you follow them." But no, the door opens up. I wait. They leave hesitantly, like, he gets out, starts walking. Of course, Taylor comes out behind them. And my room's 3415. I'm down and to the left. Well, where's their room? Down and to the left. So they go left. And at this point, then I start cluing in. I'm like, "I just got in an elevator with this guy. He thinks I'm a crazy fan, right?" Like, that's the whole thing. He probably thinks I'm some weird stalker. Because I'm sure he deals with that stuff. And I didn't press a single button in the elevator. I didn't say hi. I haven't even looked at them. I've been completely mute. The doors open. I make them go out first. I follow them. I follow them left out of the thing. He looks behind me, and he's turning the corner, and he grabs his daughter and like, pulls her in. And he looks behind me, and he's shuffling, looking behind me and pulling her, and he's looking behind himself. And I was like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa." I said, "I am so sorry. I said, I just became aware of what this looks like right now. I said, my room number is 3415. You guys, stop here. Let me go ahead of you." And he just laughed. And he's like, "Yeah, no, it's okay." Yeah, he probably still was like, "This guy's a weirdo." And I'm like, "Have a great day." I said, "I know who you are, you know, big fan, and have a great day. I apologize. This is weird." And I was still not in my right mind. So I walk and I could hear him open his door, but then I didn't hear him close it because I know that he was waiting to hear me open and close a door because I could be some weirdo that just walks by and doesn't even have a room on that floor. So he's like confirming, like, "No, this motherfucker's got a room on this floor. And I got to double-check that because now he knows that I'm on this floor and he knows where I am." So that's my David Blaine story and how he thought that I was being a creep, being a weirdo, being a stalker. So that happened as well, too. And I wanted to share with everybody that story.
Beautiful place, hospitality. We show up to the room and CONEXPO, there's this beautiful box with Ray-Ban Metas in it. There's a charger battery. I always get one from them at CONEXPO time and it comes in so handy. I literally have my phone plugged into it all week when I'm there. Shirts, hats, mugs, everything, all our passes are in there. Just top-notch hospitality. They make you feel like you're somebody more than just somebody who digs dirt up here in Canada. And it was truly an amazing experience seeing that and feeling that when you first walk in.
Skip ahead. Boom. Now it's Tuesday, the show opens up. Pretty incredible. So much to see. The first thing we went to is because we had lunch with our local. So I brought one of my Cat sales reps down. I had too many cocktails when my Cat rep took us to Peoria to go look at where they make bulldozers when we bought our bulldozer. This was a year and a bit ago, and we had too many cocktails and I said, "When we go to CONEXPO, I'm going to bring you down with us." So that's why I brought my Cat sales rep with me. He came down with us. Well, we met up with some Cat people at lunch and we had lunch and we talked and we said, "Well, let's go to the Cat booth." So this is Tuesday. The first thing we did was go to the Cat booth because they had the mechanic challenge, not the operator challenge, but the mechanic challenge. And there was a guy locally, Harry, who has made it to the very end, which is super incredible. Shout out, Harry. He's amazing. So we went to go support him, watch him. So that was the first thing we did. And you're just like, "Yeah, this is what I remember." But almost kind of somewhat even cooler.
Just the sheer size. You got the SANY booth, John Deere, Cat. And then in another section where we had a panel on Wednesday was all the John Deere and all the Anaconda stuff and Powerscreen. And it was just insane, the sheer size of everything. But that was Tuesday. We went to the Cat area and met so many of you guys that listen to the podcast, which was so incredible. Met so many people that follow us on social media and just people that were just walking by talking about machinery, and it was so cool.
So first impressions were just, the energy was up. The Las Vegas Convention Center and the Festival Grounds, the West Hall, the North Hall, the South Hall, CONEXPO literally takes over it all. It was insane. And you could go there and see the whole floor. For sure that would work. You're just going to have a lot of steps going in every day. We averaged around 20 to 25,000 steps, so that was a lot. But you know what? It really kind of felt normal. You get into a groove, go to the show, get some lunch, maybe have a drink. You go back and then there's always, you know, nighttime events or stuff like that, linking up with people. I never get to link up with everybody that I say I'm going to, because it's like you have so many prerequisites. But then, you know, I did a podcast with Jimmy Starbuck on his channel and yeah, you say yes to so many things. And I definitely, next time I think I'm going to learn to just say no to some stuff and just experience more of the show, which would be really cool.
The biggest thing you see from there is the cranes and all that stuff that's all set up. But the biggest trend I think that I noticed this year that was different was definitely workforce solutions. I saw a lot of that. As far as making the workforce more equal, I saw a lot more women at the show attending the show. So that was amazing. Definitely what we love to see. I know that they had a couple of awesome panels, the Empower Her panel as well, with a lot of industry-leading women professionals in that. So that was really cool. A lot of technology and automation. A lot of talk around AI. I spent some time at the Trimble booth and a couple of other booths, and you know, the main conversation that is going on is AI. Everybody's talking about AI. And there were actually a lot of cool education sessions on that as well.
I was on a panel with Matt Stanley, Amy Underwood, the Digger Girl. Sorry, her accent is incredible. It's got to be one of the reasons why she's so famous. She's huge. She's a hit. Everybody loves her. Brian Dietz and Dirt Perfect, Mike Simon. So that was amazing. And then I actually had a podcast with Mike Simon as well. Super good guy, man. Great conversation with them. If you haven't seen that one, go check it out. We filmed it live, actually, which was really neat.
But before we talk about the podcast, yeah, the panel. The panel was really incredible. The education sessions are always available for purchase, I believe, so you can go back and watch them, too. But we talked about just marketing, social media. We dove more into some people were like, "Hey, I want to be an influencer versus just showcase my work." Because those are two different things, right? And we talked about the differences in those and how to brand those. And I'm going through that stuff right now. Like, I'm switching over to a personal brand. Ken White's still going to remain Ken White, but I want to show more about building businesses and my life, and whether it's fitness or family or building stuff on our new farm, I want to show that stuff. I think that it's neat. So we talked a lot about that, and we talked a lot about where to post, how to post, why you should post. So it was a really good discussion. So I definitely would make sure that you guys go check that out.
And then on the podcast with Mike, we kind of just talked everything Dirt Perfect, which is so cool because he's such an incredible guy. And I think what's really cool is me and Mike are similar in the sense where we're in construction, but we are completely different people. Like, he reminds me of my friend Joe, and that's what I was joking about. I didn't tell him this, but like, I always say, like, guys like Mike, don't let the outfit fool you. You know, like, he's wearing regular jeans with regular sneakers and a sweater, and he's got safety glasses on. And when I say safety glasses, like, safety glasses that you pull out of a box, you know, that are maybe $2.50 in a box that has 50 in them. But the guy's uber successful. He does very well on YouTube. He does very well in his dirt-moving business. So that's why I kind of really like the guy. And I'm so different, right? I'm a little more flashy. He talks about like, "Oh, I don't do brand deals with this or I don't like doing that." And where I'm like, "Yeah, I'd love to do brand deals and drive growth and monetize what we're doing online." Where he's like, "I just want to showcase people online and monetize it." So obviously I get paid from YouTube. But his take on everything is kind of just a more simpler, relaxed, laid-back look. But he's uber successful and super smart at what he does and he is calculated, especially with how he paces out his content. I would advise you to go listen to the podcast. I think it's really cool. But you know, I love it. I love guys like that that are just super simple and you wouldn't, you know, walking by the guy, you'd never be like, "Oh, who's that?" Like, "Oh, he's a really famous YouTuber and a super successful contractor as well," which was just really cool.
It's kind of like another thing I wanted to touch on there in talking with Mike and everything and seeing everybody, especially, you know, Jimmy Starbuck, my buddy Trent Harris. Like, I honestly, I wish all these guys lived closer to me. We had local guys here, Capital Asphalt, Chris and Kaden Benoit. They came down. It's like a big family reunion, CONEXPO, you know? And especially going up to Fremont Street, like there was a night where we were texting everybody and Trent came and my buddy Dylan Mercier, who is one of my best buds, he came. And it's awesome because we're all at this stage of our lives where we're so busy with work. So necessarily, one of us might text each other and then not respond, or they'll text me and I won't respond. And then we catch up every now and then via phone calls. But then, or I'll fly down and go see them, you know, once a year or something. But coming together and everybody congregating at CONEXPO and it being like this big family reunion is what's really exciting. And I think that's my favorite thing about CONEXPO. Is that it feels like it's a big family reunion. And that sounds super cheesy. And this is not a buzzword for, you know, when people say, "Work here because we're like a family." Honestly, CONEXPO does. And I know that next time it's like, let's get everybody from last time and add new people and let's go meet up, let's hang out, let's talk. Everybody's got their guard down. You know, everyone's just having good times. And again, there's no other way to describe it other than just like a family reunion. It's people that you haven't seen in a while. And that is definitely my most favorite thing about CONEXPO. It's the people that make CONEXPO so special.
Speaking of the people that make CONEXPO so special, there are so many people behind the scenes that make CONEXPO very special, especially in my life. And I want to thank those people, you know, Autumn, Tara, and Melissa, specifically those three people. You guys might not know at all who they are, but they help with the podcast, they help with what I do with the show. They're always giving us ideas, they're always making sure that we're well looked after and taken care of when we go to the show. They put in so much work, not just on my end, but with everything they do as far as marketing and reaching out and influencers, and it's really incredible. And outside of them, just the entire team at AEM. So many people put on the show. They start planning for 2029, like, now. Like, the next CONEXPO is already starting to be planned. That's what people don't understand. And like, when you walk around, you know, we do a small fair here, right? It's not small, you know, it's pretty awesome. But we start setting up on Monday to get ready for Friday, and the scale of that is like a pin drop of CONEXPO. So when I'm walking around there, and a lot of people might not even think about this process, it's like the amount of time it has to take to just do the fencing, the barriers, the washrooms, the badge pickup sites, the food trucks, the vendors, the booths, the machinery, the sand, the dirt, the signage that's around everywhere, the promotional stuff, the safety stuff. Incredible. The amount of time that it takes. Like, boots on the ground, there are people there like three months in advance that are just in Vegas for that long helping set up. But again, years and years of work goes into it. So shout out to the people at AEM and the team. Incredible setup, incredible CONEXPO. Definitely a 10 out of 10. You know, it lives up to the hype. No disappointments whatsoever. It just keeps you wanting to come back for more. And the people make it that as well.
So that was an amazing time. And my favorite thing being the people is obviously number one. But I would say my biggest takeaway from it, other than it being a family reunion, is it being a reunion of KWC. Selfishly, I want to talk about what was my most amazing thing. And obviously, the people from CONEXPO and AEM made this so special. But I'm going to be very honest, right from the very beginning, you know, they sent an idea. They said, "Hey, we're going to do 50 shirts. 50 only. The first 50 people that show up to your live podcast at the show will get the shirt," something like that. But there are going to be 50 Carhartt shirts with KWC on them. CONEXPO. And I'm kind of like, "Okay, you know, I haven't been posting my personal brand on my own. I'm not sure how strong it'll be." We did a thing and I was kind of, I was hesitant, you know, I'm not going to lie. I was like, "I'm not sure how that's going to pan out. How many people will want a KWC shirt?"
So we go to the podcast and, you know, there are all these people here. And I'm like, "These are here for..." which they were there for Dirt Perfect. And then we're finishing up and I said, "Oh, also, you know, we have 50 T-shirts available." And I didn't even get to finish the sentence. And about 100 people, or maybe more, went, stood up, and walked over to where the shirts were being brought out. And it was like, I just looked back, my eyes opened up and I'm like, "Wow, holy..." Like, they're just Ken White Construction Carhartt T-shirts, you know? And so all these people start lining up in a line, and then all of a sudden I have a Sharpie. And then people are like, "You signed my shirt and I got to get a picture with you." And next thing you know, I'm in a line with 100 people lined up to get these shirts. And I'm taking pictures and I'm signing every single T-shirt. I'm taking a picture with every single person. And it's getting to talk to them for a brief second of like, "Hey, you inspired me to do this. You inspired me to start my own business." Or, "Hey, I'm another family-owned operating business as well, and I'm taking it to the next level." Like, that was so incredible.
And that's what fired me up to get back here and talk to the media team because, you know, we've kind of added some people to what we're doing here and I've been like, "Guys, we need to double down on what we're doing on social media with myself and my brand because I make so many mistakes on a day-to-day. I learn so much on a day-to-day as far as growing the businesses, both in business and in personal life, like work-life balance and how do you manage that?" And being a dad of three. And I talked to so many guys as well that came up that were like, "Hey man, I got kids as well too in a business. I love whenever you start getting into and talking about work-life balance." And it was just so incredible seeing the amount of people that actually still watched or listened to the podcast, that give a shit. And that was probably my biggest takeaway. That fired me up and that inspired me. Them saying that I inspired them, they don't realize that that's all stuff that just inspired me to continue on. And that was incredible to see, really something that makes you step back and think about things in a different light for sure. So that was really incredible.
And that was selfishly my best takeaway. I mean, the people make it and being a family reunion is important, but standing in a line feeling like I shouldn't be signing 50 things and have a lineup of 100 people waiting to take a picture with me, that was crazy. And like, men, women, older, younger, my demographic was crazy. So if you were one of those people, I really appreciate it. That was amazing. And you guys made the show what it really is. Our next podcast is with Ryan Goodfellow from Rock Structures. I just saw that. So I'm super pumped to talk to him next week. So make sure to tune in for that and we'll catch you guys on the next CONEXPO-CON/AGG podcast. And I'll catch you guys at 2029. For 100% off tickets, you can use promo code TAYLOR100. Imagine. Anyways. All right, guys, you guys take care. Brush your hair.
