WithIt Events
VAs/NC Region
READY SET HOLIDAZZLE!
A HOLIDAY EVENT WITH FOOD WINE AND ARTISTS!
Wednesday, November 4th
5:30pm - 8:00pm
Tomlinson/Erwin-Lambeth Showroom
525 N Wrenn St
High Point, NC 27262
Kick off your holidays at a great, FREE WithIt event!
Bring friends and PLEASE bring appetizers to pass.
Wine and beverages will be provided by our hostess Kay Lambeth.
Take time out from your busy schedule. Relax, share and shop with other WithIt members and new friends - (we have invited all the showroom managers from High Point Design Center.)
Get a head start on gift giving or find something special for yourself while you support WithIt.
Artists will donate a percentage of their sales to our Virginas/Carolinas Region for upcoming events.
SHOP . . . beautiful jewelry made by Mary Kay, Carli Prilliman and Maybelline Te
Holiday ornaments, bags and more gifts by Kathleen Holterman
Handmade books by Amanda Brown
red egg frames from Carol Gregg
Handbagz by Debbie Loflin
and more to be announced!
RSVP today - simplydone@mindspring.com
ATLANTA/Southeast Region
Thursday, November 19
6:30 pm
Global Living Home Furnishings- 3106 Early Street, Atlanta, GA 30305
"Planning for Growth in 2010: The Power of PR: Building your business by building relationships"Public relations is more than publicity -- it's a powerful marketing tool that can help you build influential relationships that will have a lasting impact on sales and reputation. Learn how to start conversations about your brand online, how to capture the attention of key reporters and how to turn your customers into brand advocates.
Mary Eitel is a marketing specialist with more than 20 years of experience in the home furnishings industry. She has helped companies as diverse as Shaw, Tempur-Pedic, Tiffany's and Henredon build award-winning communications programs. Mary is president of Atlanta-based MKE Communications, Inc.
Drinks and Appetizers
Free to WITHIT Members. $10 for Non-Members.
RSVP - hbrown@bluefishhome.com
|
|
Welcome
New Members
Margaret Doby
Design Success University
Denver, CO
Lizzy Freundel
Theodore Alexander, HCM Ltd.
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Faye Markert
House Details
Virginia Beach, VA
Laura McSorley
IHFC
High Point, NC
Adrian Northrup
FurnitureDealer.net
Burnsville, MN
Susan Rodriguez
Interior Furnishings Inc.
King George, VA
Linda Stansbury
LKS Creative
Greensboro, NC
Julie Smith Vincenti
Nine Muses Media LLC
Naperville, IL
|
|
Corporate Strategy, Integration & Investment in Digital and Social Media Technologies
A Unique Opportunity in Home Furnishings Leadership
1:00pm-5:00pm / Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Greensboro/High Point (Airport) Marriott, NC
The Day's Agenda:
Digital Media Overview: Forrester Research, Inc.
Emily Riley / Senior Analyst, Forrester Research, authors of:
Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
- Examining online digital behavior and marketer activity: Key digital marketing tools, tactics, terminology.
- Leveraging online behaviors and tools to create sales opportunities.
- Creating a roadmap for implementation. Who to hire or work with. How to get started.
Strategy & Application: Case Study, Ford Motor Company
Maggie Fox, CEO, Social Media Group, agent: Ford Motor Company
Setting goals and creating strategy. Structuring resources and staff. Realistic implementation cost as a percentage of sales. Bottom line results, expected return on investment. Avoiding pitfalls.
Corporate Panel: Leveraging Digital Infrastructure
Moderator: Leslie Carothers, Principal, The Kaleidoscope Partnership
Panel members dig into leveraging digital media in the home and furnishings marketplace.
Register www.withit.org |
Reflections
on Karim
WithIt's Competitive Intelligence featured Karim Rashid, one of the most prolific designers of our time, who spoke to a standing room only crowd in the Leif Petersen showroom. Karim gave a thought provoking talk on design, innovation, technology and what he finds exciting.
Here are some of the insights that WithIt members had on Karim's talk.
Barbara Miller, Barbara Miller Design
Karim Rashid believes that in today's world companies and designers must innovate or die. This philosophy is translated into the way he designs spaces and products for humans, how he integrates technology and the materials he selects.
 He sees a strong connection between humans and their designed environment going so far as to say that design shapes our evolution by moving us forward and shaping the future. He wants his designs to create an emotional experience that is not just about the object or the space but about the unique way that object or space impacts the user and their life.
Technology is a tool that empowers more people than ever before to be creative: technology facilitates a creative world. It is possible to write and publish your own work, photograph, edit, embellish and print images, produce and make available to the public music and movies. Karim believes all children are born innately creative, the minute they are given a pencil they begin to draw, each with a unique perspective of the world around them. But we lose that ability to express ourselves as adults and the digital world is opening up that creativity again.
The disposable world currently shapes many of Karim's designs. People are using items for shorter periods of time and then replacing them with the next great thing. This movement toward disposability has focused him on the materials he selects for his designs. His current self-described obsession being bio-plastics made of sugar cane, corn or other natural and more quickly bio-degradable materials.
He also sees America's "casual age" spreading around the world. The casual age started in the 80's by Microsoft's "casual Fridays" has led to a significant change in the way we live, the way we work, even the way we sit in a chair.
Maybelline Te, Snug Furniture, from her blog.
WithIt presented one of my biggest design crushes (evah!) Karim Rashid! Stephanie Lowder, Rare Bird Creative, interviewed him and it was as real as can be. I got an autograph as he drank a capuccino.
Random Notes from Karim Rashid's Interview
- design emotional experiences instead of physical
- world is more ethereal and visceral
- technology has empowered us to become creative
- design is about denoting how we live
- we live in the casual age mentally & physically
- furniture will be softer and lower
- excited about bioplastics and envisions an all plastic chair in sugarcane or corn
- 1 out of 20 people write a letter
- never checks a bag when traveling
- he never reads fiction and would rather see a film
- retail will die eventually due to the Internet
- being inspired to create is in his DNA
- innovate or die
People ask me why he is my Design Crush?
I just love his philosophy!
Sara Lyke, WithIt's Executive Director
I had the wonderful opportunity to hear a lecture by Yo-Yo Ma - "Creating a Life with Music." As I enjoyed listening to him play and talk, I realized the similarities between his creative life and Karim Rashid's. Interestingly both Karim and Yo-Yo recognized their passion for the creative at age 4.
Similarities I noticed:
- Both believe that passion and focus sustain you.
- Both are teachers.
- Both investigate the world through their craft and use it as a means of communication and a vehicle for the migration of ideas.
- Both understand their value and influence.
- Both recognize the power of new technology.
- Both enjoy a sense of humor.
- Both are confident in their field.
Thank you to both of them for bringing beauty to all.
Photos of Karim Rashid by Bert VanderVeen and courtesy of the High Point Market Authority.
|
WithIt Educational Breakfast
Standing Room Only
Tobi Fairley, Tobi Fairley Interior Design
Tobi's top social media guidelines -
1. Social media isn't for a private person - you lose control.
2. You have to take risks - you have to take a stand, be transparent, authentic. These are attractive/attracting traits for your followers.
3. You must get out there. It is like old fashioned networking, even though it is online networking, you have to be consistent; you have to dedicate time to it.
4. Become the expert - the more you put content online, the more you get found online through search engines.
5. You must give your followers a reason to come back - give real, useable information; put value out there.
6. Style and substance are no longer separate things; people want the whole package; you must practice what you preach while grabbing their attention.
Reasons why social media works so well in the home furnishings industry.
1. This is a visual industry - photos, videos tell our story well.
2. Social media allows for content creation. We don't have to wait to be discovered; we can be our own writer and editor and promote ourselves online.
3. Creativity is cool. We are looking for new, interesting people. Other iconic people (Wall Street, politicians, etc.) are no longer the most interesting or admirable.
Social media isn't a "get it done and it stays done" kind of project. It's going to keep evolving but it will still be in a similar space with technology powering it. The time to start is now! Jump in, allocate time for it and watch your careers move in ways you can't imagine.
Thank you Mary Frye , HFIA, for your notes.
Enjoy Tobi Fairley's Blog.
|
Thank you to all the supporters of Hike for Hope
 WithIt members collected donations for Hike for Hope totaling $4500.00 Thank you to all our members who donated and gave their time and energy to collect donations from colleagues and friends!
Great Job!
|
Student Mentoring at High Point
WithIt members mentored 70 students from Appalachian State University, NC State - College of Textiles, Fashion Institute of Technology, High Point University and Randolph Community College.
Thank you to Harden Furniture for hosting lunch for the students and mentors and to Greg Harden and Beth Penley for sharing "Hints for How to be Successful". Thank you, also, to our WithIt mentors.
| |
|
|
|
|
|
