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UPCOMING EVENTS
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President's Welcome Reception
Friday, April 4
6:00-7:30 pm
Braxton Culler Showroom
310 S. Elm Street
Join WithIt's President Violette Forman to kick-off High Point Market.
Get more information at www.withit.org.
Education Breakfast
Sunday, April 6
7:30-9 am
IHFC Green Wing, 11th Floor
International Ballroom
Free to all market attendees.
Sponsored by IMC and Restonic.
WithIt Presents Internationally Recognized Trend Forecaster, Michelle Lamb
Michelle Lamb, Editorial Director for The Trend Curve™, talks about the broad influences driving future trends.
Must RSVP: Register at www.withit.org
OR email phairr@imcenters.com
Competitive Intelligence
Monday, April 7
6:00-8:00 pm
Antique & Design Center, Market Square
ADC Lecture Room
This open discussion will center on personal and innovative organizational strategies to actualize your creative visions for success.
NY DESIGN TOUR
May 16-19, 2014
This "insiders tour" of the NY Design scene will refresh and inspire your creative spirit.
This year's tour will include a tour of Brimfield's Flea Market.
More information and register-
www.withit.org.
ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE
The Art & Science of Leadership
Monday, Aug. 11 - Wednesday, Aug. 13
Marriott Buckhead Hotel and Conference Center
Atlanta, GA
$300 WithIt members $425 Guests
$150 Students
Join professional women from all sectors of the home and furnishings industries for 2 days of leadership education and networking.
More information and register - www.withit.org
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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
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Martha Clifton Product Resource Managers Valdese Weavers Morganton, NC Rob Davis Business Development Diakon Logistics Manassas, VA Hannah McCurry Junior Designer Valdese Weavers Connelly Springs, NC Lisa McMahon Principal Lisa McMahon Communications New York, NY Megan Muir Student High Point University Wayne, PA Susan Roman CFO Sleepable Sofas Ltd. Moonachie, NJ Debbie Tierney Key Account Representative AF Lighting/Interline Brands Brookhaven, NY
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Join Our List
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 THE TRIM QUEEN'S TRAVELS
| |  Maison Objet Report: Directions & Doyennes By Jana Platina-Phipps AKA The Trim Queen A visit to Paris ignites passion and creativity, no matter what season. Winter's Maison Objet and Deco Off certainly drew the kind of fiery crowd that gives the show its international reputation of forward design tendencies. Three trends in particular stood out connecting varying collections. Re-Enchantment The folks at Boboboom call the re-use of materials "Re-enchantment." I spotted upcycling up and down the exhibit halls. From modern upholstery using vintage Technicolor needlepoint, to recycled flip flops made into vibrant African jewelry, products sprouted with life anew. Artist Veronique De Soultrait launched her assemblage of crochet arts into an exquisite collection of bedding and table toppers. Inspired by "the poetic charm of the antique object," she wants to revive its lost heritage. She overdyes pieces in anthracite, ecru, navy and black, giving these forgotten remnants modern appeal. Global Hands  Crochet, chunky yarns, knots, knits, fringe, cross stitch...anything with a handmade quality was de rigeur. In this trend, design meets craft, often using the skills of another country's artisans. Three sisters from Portugal called Darono, presented their Trapp chair, an intriguing knotted and braided beanbag design based on fishing nets. The bright color assortment of cording was a magnet to their stand. Another sister team, Munio Home, uses Latvian craftsmen to create unique accessories. With sculpted wood, handwoven textiles and exquisite artful knotting, their presentation was a surprising blend of city sophistication with an earthy flair. The linen crochet bowl was a standout. Anne-Claire Petit exhibited whimsical soft objects: a record player, a sewing machine and a flower pot. Designed in Amsterdam and crocheted by women in Northern Chinese villages, the collection exemplifies global collaboration. A novel rug by The Rug Republic used chunky cross-stitch to fashion an elegant, overscaled peacock mixing saturated brights on a natural ground for drama. In contrast, miniscule silk knotted jewelry was showcased by French Aude Tahon evoking wearable art. Cobalt Blue Radiant Orchid may be Pantone's color of the year, but Cobalt cast the market in a blue hue. As an ancient pigment used in paint and ceramics, its saturation gives it a very contemporary affect, while marrying the past and present. Blue velvet bedding, giant flocked animals, and laser cut fabrics -- Cobalt was omnipresent. |
National Event
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 | | Betty Lyn Eller and Celerie Kemble during the 2013 NY Design Tour. |
2014 NYC
Design Tour
The NYC Design Tour is a behind-the-scenes look at the people and places that fuel the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of New York City. Our tour lets you experience the workplaces and creative playgrounds of companies, artists and designers who will challenge and inspire you personally and professionally. In its eighth year, the tour will feature a cocktail reception and exclusive jewelry trunk showing in a private home, a chat and book signing with acclaimed designer and President of Scalamandre, Steven Stolman and a fabulous closing dinner at the exclusive members only National Arts Club at Gramercy Park. That's just a teaser of the full agenda to come! Our tour dates overlap with the ICFF show in Manhattan, for attendees needing to attend ICFF you have the option in the agenda to attend the show on Sunday afternoon.
 | | Brimfield Antique Show |
NEW THIS YEAR - we've added a pre-tour day trip to the Brimfield Antiques Show in Brimfield, MA (for more info on Brimfield go to http://www.brimfieldshow.com )
Why New York City?
The city is right brained and left brained, a teeming repository for ideas and information providing resources and creative collaborations to each individual who scratches beneath the surface.
Who is Invited?
YOU ARE! This WithIt event is open to anyone who wants to feed their creative spirit. The tour is limited to 30 attendees, based on the order in which you register and pay on the WithIt website. Preference is given first to WithIt members.
Tour Dates and Costs:
Brimfield Day Trip: Friday, May 16
Cost: $55
This day trip is limited to 15 attendees who must register for the full tour in order to register for Brimfield.
Cost covers transportation to and from the show; breakfast and end of day cocktails. To participate in the Brimfield trip you will need to plan to arrive in NYC on Thursday evening as we will be leaving VERY EARLY Friday morning from Manhattan.
Design Tour: Saturday, May 17 through Monday evening, May 19
Cost: $400 WithIt Members $500 non-members
Cost covers exclusive cocktail party in private home; entrance fees to any museum shows on the agenda; lunch on Monday; cocktail party and dinner at National Arts Club Monday evening.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE: APRIL 8, 2014
Airfare and hotels costs are the responsibility of the attendee. If you want to share a room with another attendee, please check in with Amy Van Dorp in the WithIt office, and she can help in the communication.
How Do I Register?
For tour registration, visit www.withit.org and register online.
If you are attending ICFF, be sure to register in advance with them.
We recommend the hotels listed on the ICFF website to take advantage of their ICFF rates and for their central location and transportation convenience to most of the tour activities.
Who Creates the Tour?
WithIt members who have a love and intimate knowledge of New York City and are passionate about design on all levels across multiple industries. Your 2014 Tour Committee is Betty Lyn Walters-Eller, Jana Platina Phipps, Deborah Klein, Alicia Connolly and Katie Matushak.
In the words of past attendees...
The NYC tour was a great inspiration trip - well worth the time and money. I especially loved the retail shopping for display ideas as well as the showhouse tour and behind the scenes tour of the beautifully designed boutique hotel for design inspiration. Even as a former New Yorker, I got exposure to things I hadn't seen before!
Renee Loper, Vice President of Independent Retail Business Development & Marketing, Bassett Furniture Industries
The WithIt New York Design Tour is a unique experience. If you've never joined the New York Design Tour, be warned - it may become a habit! It seems as if the New York members save up their best kept secrets of the city and roll them out for our pleasure! Not only is the group made up of some of the most talented and generous people I've ever met but they know this fabulous city well. The May Tour is my birthday gift to myself...and when my birthday comes around in August, if I'm lucky, I get another gift from my sweet husband.
Mary Frye, Executive Vice President, North American Home Furnishings Association
The New York Design Tour is the most versatile business trip I take each year. The opportunity for professional growth via the speakers and in combination with the variety of creative ventures is unique to this WithIt tour. Whether it is listening to interior designer Celerie Kemble or going on a behind-the-scenes tour to the Crosby Street Hotel in Soho, I always find inspiration.
Jennifer Franklin, Senior Styling Coordinator, Valdese Weavers
Being on the New York Design Tour committee is a huge privilege. It grants the us the opportunity to leverage our WithIt credentials to gain entree to exclusive venues, events and meetings with influencers. This is the one time of year I set aside to take in New York's design scene to the maximum which I wouldn't necessarily do on my own. The networking, bonding, friendships and joy quotient are as inspirational as the tour itself, all of which inform my work and fuel my creativity. As long as the Empire State Building stands, I will be returning to the tour!
Jana Platina Phipps, Principle, Home Couture Collective & NYC Design Tour Co-Chair
The New York tour has introduced me to The Horses of Sable Island (beautiful photography), Urban Archaeology's creative design center and manufacturing floor, the making of handmade wallpaper for the latest Ritz Carlton in Russia and the luxury of evening cocktails in a member home above Central Park. This is an intimate group that ignites each other and builds new relationships.
Sara Lyke, Executive Director WithIt
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ANNUAL PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE
| |  WithIt Is Ready to Shine in Atlanta!
WithIt is looking forward its most inspiring and successful Professional Education Conference yet in the high-powered business atmosphere of Atlanta! Home to the international headquarters of Coca Cola, CNN, Home Depot, UPS and SPANX, Atlanta is proving to be fertile ground for recruiting a a panel of speakers that will help us grow both personally and professionally. Slated August 11-13 at the Atlanta Marriott Buckhead Hotel & Conference Center, we will be centrally located in the heart of the Buckhead business, shopping and entertainment district. Rooms are just $155 a night (single or double), and transportation from the airport is cheap and easy via MARTA. (The hotel is within walking distance of the MARTA-Lenox Station.) As an added bonus, our hotel is just steps away from Lenox Square Mall and convenient to many of the area's major attractions. The two-day program will offer industry professionals at all stages of their careers the opportunity to develop leadership skills and connect with industry peers. Titled "The Art and Science of Leadership," the 2014 event will present accomplished leaders from a variety of industries to inspire and educate. "Our program will help attendees identify and cultivate leadership attributes that are more of an art - like building rapport, influencing others and learning to 'listen to your gut' - as well as those leadership attributes that are more of a science - such as learning effective techniques for networking, managing time and priorities, and negotiating effectively," explains 2014 Professional Conference Chair Carol Gregg, president of Red Egg. "The 2014 conference will empower our attendees to return to their companies throughout the home industries with new skills and knowledge to perform their jobs better," states Violette Forman, WithIt's 2014 president and general manager of Haverty's in Monroe, La. Conference registration is $300 for WithIt members and $425 for non-members. Students may attend for $150. Registration and a link to the hotel are available on the WithIt conference page at www.withit.org. |
MEMBER NEWS
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Photo by VanderVeen Photography
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View from the Top
by Leslie Newby
Editor's Note: WithIt member Leslie Newby, owner and president of Brand Communications, Inc., a full service PR and marketing communications firm specializing in the home furnishings industry, opened a new office this month. Leslie and her team help companies tell their brand stories in a variety of media channels. She may be reached at leslie@workthebrand.com I can see Bob's Big Boy from the windows that face the conference table in our new office, located in downtown Greensboro, N.C. I'm not referring to the restaurant of the same name, which is quite possibly defunct by now. No; it's one of the chain's iconic, larger-than-life statues that someone is using to "decorate" their penthouse patio. It's quite a sight, along with the impressive Jefferson Pilot tower and other historic buildings familiar to me, right in the heart of the mid-sized southern city that I relocated to for college over 30 years ago. We're on the 9th floor of the Guilford Building, the top floor as far as occupancy is concerned, and have doubled our window exposure with the move. It's a daily treat to look away from our screens and admire the skyline, all the way out to Pilot Mountain, in fact, or to peer down and watch the goings on at street level. Perhaps, after almost 15 years spent working in the home furnishings industry, I can equate the new view to the way my perspective has broadened over that time. One important observation I've made is that while there have been good years and not-so-good years - especially in our unique slice of the consumer economy - we've always had a community of colleagues in our corner. Beyond business conditions, we've had our relationships with people. I will remain grateful to several folks, primarily women and fellow WithIt members, who have given me hope, encouragement, inspiration, referrals, jobs and paid contracts along the way, including Kimberley Wray, Kathy Wall, Martin Roberts, Jena Hall, Jane Matteson, Jay Reardon, Stephanie Lowder, Jana Platina-Phipps, Ellen Gefen, Jackie Hirschhaut, Sara Lyke, Eric Peterson, Dana Pretner-Andrew, Catherine Frinier, Karen McNeil, Caroline Hipple, Cheminne Taylor-Smith, Scott Williams, Helen Brier, Jessica Koster, Leslie Carothers, Ed Tashjian, Karen Olson, Bob Maricich, Carol Gregg, Maura Riley and so many more. Every single one has shared something of value with me, that much is clear. I only hope that I have sufficiently given each something in return, or that I'll have a future opportunity to do so. There's a lovely glow on the tall facades outside as I write this, and that seems to be a fitting sentiment as I prepare to close up shop for the evening. |
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Have a story idea for an upcoming e-newsletter? Submit your idea to our newsletter editor Kimberley Wray, kimwray@kimwray.com.
WithIt, Inc. PO Box 16264, High Point, NC 27261 Office: 2125 Eastchester Drive Suite 103, High Point, NC 27265 www.withit.org |
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