Tag Archives: Tobi Fairley

Highlights From the Business of Design Conference In New York City

New York City

One of the coolest things about my job is traveling to the Business of Design Conferences twice a year. A week ago Judy and I headed up to New York City for three days to gain master level training about the business of design. I feel as if I am back in school at these conferences. I love it! I have my laptop in hand and quickly take as many notes as I can, in hopes of bringing these thought provoking strategies and business practices back to the rest of the team for implementation.

Judy and I heard from many speakers, including the 4 below: Tobi Fairley, Steve Nobel, Adam Japko and Pam Danziger.

Speakers at Business of Design Conference 2010

Tobi Fairley talked all about the endless possibilities of having online conversations through social media and how online influencers can create a viral success for you and your business. Building an online media presence takes time and a lot of patience.

Steve Nobel gave us great insight into the consumer and the luxury market as a whole from fashion to interior design to the luxury lifestyle itself.  How do we become the best interior designers we can be? Not only do we need to be educated in our products, but also understand our clients’ purchasing preferences while effectively communicating the value of living well.

Adam Japko was the king of SEO. His focus was on content marketing and gave advice on what we should be doing to leverage our social media content.

Pam Danziger presented research findings on the luxury market and talked in-depth about consumer psychology. This information helps us understand our clients and howe we can best serve them.

Thank you to all the guest speakers your expertise.

David Shepard with Loni

Some of the fun stuff included David Shepherd, CEO of Designing Profits, Inc. giving a kiss to the “Business of Design” Service dog, named Lani. Since the Business of Design conferences started 6 years ago, David has donated 10% of all our conference profits to sponsor a rescue dog through the Quest Foundation. It takes 10,000 to train a whole dog and this conference we finally got our DOG! It was a wonderful surprise during the final hours of the conference.

Thanks David!

 

Judy & Hilaire Are In-Route to NYC

TimesSQ_V1_460x285Joe Buglewicz

Judy and Hilaire are in route to NYC for the Business of Design 2010 conference from Designing Profits, Inc. They always come back energized! This conference is the equivalent to receiving ivy league business school training. They learn new high-level business strategies, hear from inspirational speakers within the interior design industry, panelists and of course network with other successful interior design firms from all over the country.  

This time around they are going to hear keynotes from Tobi Fairley “one of the Top 20 Young Designers in America for 2009,” luxury experts Steve Nobel, Pam Danziger, and  Adam Japko.

Hilaire will keep you updated throughout their trip. They might even squeeze in a few hours to shop or site see!

BrooklynBridge_V1_460x285 Alex Lopez

images: 1.  Joe Buglewicz  2. Alex Lopez

2010 Spring High Point Market Trends & Favorites Part 1 of 2

Twice a year the team heads to High Point Furniture Market. It is just like Fashion week in NYC or Paris but with furniture. For a week High Point is the mecca capital for all things furniture, fabric and every home accessory you can think of. On Monday we spotted many trends. Here we have narrowed it down to our 7 favorites for 2010!! Lauren was our official trend-spotting photographer. 

Design Lines Team on the High Point Bus

The team on the High Point shuttle.

Trend # 1 – Turquoise & Shades of Blue as predicted.

(Lee Industries High Point Showroom) 

Design Lines at Lee (4)

Trend # 2- Painted Furniture in brightly colored hues.

(Stanley Showroom -Coastal Living Collection)

Stanley 2010 high point painted furniture

Painted Chests-Stanley

Stanley 2010 high point painted furniture (2)

 

Trend #3 Unique Wood Finishes

Ashley, Judy and Brittany experiencing a wood finish on a tri-fold table from Stanley’s new European

Farmhouse Collection (think Michael Thonet)

Design Lines at Stanley High Point Furniture Market 2010

 

Design Lines Stanley High Point Furniture Market (2)2010

 

Above: Stanley’s Modern Craftsman Studio Collection, we especially love this sawhorse table.

 Here Brittany sits on a sofafrom the McAlpine Home collection-perfect for a formal living room while a MacRae table graces the floor.

 Design Lines at Lee (2)

Tomorrow we’ll share more from our market trends. Expect purple, animal influences, trellis and floral sofas (yes, you heard us) In the meantime here is a review on Market from:  Apartment Therapy.

Award Winning Interior Design | Raleigh, NC