Thanksgiving Header

November 2009
In This Issue
Check out Upcoming Events
Welcome New Members
Thank You to our Sponsors
WithIt Symposium
Giving Thanks
Adesso
 
WithIt Events

VAs/NC Region
Wednesday, December 2nd
5:00pm
Tomlinson Erwin Lambeth Showroom, 525 North Wrenn Street, High Point

Kay Lambeth, WithIt member and Showroom Managger of Tomlinson Erwin Lambeth, invites WithIt members to attend a trunk showing of Original Old World Santas.

Thanks to Kay and Rod Lambeth for their gracious invitation and commitment to our Virginias/Carolinas Chapter!!

Mark your calendar!
NY Grand Design Tour
May 15-18, 2010

 Welcome
New Members

Miranda Burnet
Four Hands
Austin, TX

Jerome Kearns
Four Hands
Austin, TX

Tricia Klagos
Superior Corporation
Elk Grove Village, IL

Anna Ogden
Four Hands
Austin, TX

Susan Pike
Four Hands
Atlanta, GA

Christopher Ritchie
Four Hands
Austin, TX

Meredith Sprinkle
Colonial Williamsburg
Williamsburg, VA

Magen Waites
Four Hands
Austin, TX
WithIt's Sponsors
220 Elm
Adesso, Inc.
American Home Furnishings Alliance
American Leather
BDI
BioH, Cargill
Brand Communications, Inc.
Broyhill Furniture Industries
Century Furniture Industries
Circle Furniture
CRYSTALLIZED - Swarovski Elements
Cutters Productions
Dallas Market Center
DeLeo Textiles
Emdee International
Four Hands
Frinier LLC
Furniture Brands International
Furniture/Today magazine
Genre Brand Communications
Harden Furniture
HB2
Home Furnishings Business
Jena Hall
Hutchison Allgood Printing
Las Vegas World Market Center
Leif Petersen Furniture
Lexington Home Brands
Melissa Galt Inc.
Natuzzi
New River Artisans
Palliser
PROFITsystems, Inc.
Sligh Furniture Company
Stanley Furniture Company, Inc.
Sustainable Furnishings Council
The Media Matters, Inc.
Tomlinson Erwin-LambethDirectional Carter
Ultrasuede
WhipSmart Creative, Inc.
Wright of Thomasville
Zeto Wine

Thank You
Quick Links

Join Our Mailing List
MEMBER CALL TO ACTION: 
Present this to your CEO, CFO, COO, IT Manager, Customer Service Manager and Corporate Strategist and encourage them to attend.



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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

As digital ecosytems create systemic shifts in the way enterprises do business, WithIt.org will host a symposium for ceos and executive teams on the topic.

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 Technologieswill examine online digital behaviors and marketer activity including key tools, tactics, terminology; leveraging sales opportunities, crafting a roadmap for implementation, who to hire or work with, how to get started.

Case Study / Strategy & Application: Ford Motor Company
Maggie Fox, founder and ceo of Social Media Group, one of the world's largest independent social media agencies and social media agency for Ford Motor Company since 2007, will present a case study on how Ford generated real ROI through their social media efforts in "setting content free." Content will include goals, strategy, staff requirements, metrics, bottom-line results, how to avoid pitfalls.

Corporate Panel, Leveraging Digital Infrastructure
Corporate panel members examine digital and social media activity in the home and furnishings marketplace. Moderated by Leslie Carothers, principal of The Kaleidoscope Partnership.

"As executives craft strategies around this new competitive view, their
decisions will have large implications in both time and money across entire
enterprises - including marketing, customer services, information technology, and well beyond," says Liz O'Brien, president of WithIt. "It is our privilege to offer this idea symposium to help CEOs and their executive teams shape corporate strategy and measurements of investment in this transformative, global, digital infrastructure."

The symposium fee is $100 for the first attendee from a company and $80 for each additional person from the same company. Sponsorships are available and include a one-hour working session with Forrester and Social Media Group, and dated Webinar rights for sharing information with client partners.


Register www.withit.org
Giving Thanks

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
--Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

We asked WithIt friends to share what they are thankful for in their business at the close of 2009.
 
I am grateful for the disruption.  It makes room for new ways of thinking.  Bring on 2010.  

Amy Kyle, Home Furnishings Business

I am  grateful for the people that I work with.  They are all very talented in their own ways and make life challenging and enjoyable.  They make one look at things with a different perspective and some awe.
Katrina Patton, Lexington Home Brands

I am grateful for economic challenges that have challenged me to think about what I'm really good at and what my BEST offering to my clients really is.
    I'm grateful for the wonderful gift of EXPERIENCE and how it sharpens my thinking and makes me better right out of the gate. (How's that for saying I'm actually glad I'm getting older?! Ha Ha!)
Susan Dosier, LKM

It terms of things I am grateful for professionally speaking, without a doubt, it is the opportunity to work with a group of true professionals. They really care about our product and the industry it serves!  
Ray Allegrezza, Furniture/Today

I am grateful for the relationships we enjoy in this industry. Challenging times give us the opportunity to support each other and shine.
Catherine Frinier, Frinier LLC
 
I am so thankful that CCS continues to have work to do in a business climate that is beyond difficult. I am thankful that the clients we advise and serve are such great people. Of course, I'm beyond thankful for a husband who thinks I hung the moon, and children that are grounded and kind. And as I continue to hear about health issues friends and family experience, I am thankful for my health.
Carla Mata-Sprinkles, Creative Communication Services

I am grateful for the dignity that so many people have shown in 2009. In this year I have been faced with fewer positions than last year and no new opportunities to speak of. The level of professionalism that those who I have interfaced with throughout this transition has been truly humbling.
Laura Levinson, Valdese Weavers

I am thankful for so much it could fill the page of the newsletter.  If I have to pick one thing that relates to the business aspect of my life it would be that I have a special honor and privilege of working with, associating with and being friends with some of the most successful retailers and service providers in the Home Goods Industry.  I am blessed that through the knowledge I have attained and share; I can and have been able to make a difference in the lives of my many clients.
    I am also blessed to be part of the association of WithIt and thankful for the friendships and contacts I have made through my membership.
   Phyllis Bosco Zaepfel, PROFITsystems, Inc.

Happy Thanksgiving