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Missed previous Wood Connections issues? 

• The core components and key language of CASL  
• The impact of CASL on non-Canadian businesses and nonprofits
• What you can do today to set yourself up to be compliant with the law 
• Why all of this matters to small businesses in the context of growing your contact lists 

Click here to register 

On June 12th and 13th CAWP  invites you to two days of workshops on advanced computer-controlled fabrication of timber building components and structures. The event will discuss current and emerging technologies used to fabricate wood elements such as posts, beams, floor and wall panels and other building components. Specialists with expert technical knowledge and practitioners with significant experience using the technology will present in an informal environment that will encourage two-way Q&A and knowledge sharing throughout each day. 

Who Should Attend?

• Existing users of CNC-controlled timber processing equipment and those considering investing in such technology (for Day 2 in particular) 
• Architects, designers, and engineers wishing to better understand how digital design and manufacturing tools are impacting the design-fabrication-construction continuum (for Day 1 in particular) 

We invite participants to sign up for one or other of the two workshop days - or both - depending on their specific interests

For more information and a full agenda call 1-866-822-2297 or visit the CAWP website: http://cawp.ubc.ca/digital-design-construction-of-timber-structures-workshop-2014/

Vancouver furniture designer Brent Comber, whose elegantly simple pieces exploring the materials of the Pacific Northwest have won him international renown, has a new furniture collection that takes him back to a new art form. The collection, called Ikebana, is, as the name suggests, based on the Japanese art of flower arranging.

"Before I decided to get into woodworking full time, I thought maybe I would open a flower shop, actually. I've always liked flowers and the discipline of how they're arranged," says the man who has been dubbed the "wood whisperer".

"When I learned more about the Japanese point of view, and the discipline of ikebana, I really appreciated the negative space that they liked and also I liked the idea of honouring the leaf and the stem and the flower all with equal importance," Comber adds.

The exploration of negative space is highlighted in the ends of occasional tables, and Comber's interest in materials runs throughout the entire collection, composed of one console table, called Seika, and three solid wood pieces, called Shin, Soe and Hikae, that can be configured - arranged like flowers, in fact - in multiple ways.

The International Interior Design Association (IIDA) has named the winners of the 18th annual IIDA/HD Product Design Competition. Presented in partnership with Hospitality Design magazine, Contract magazine's sister publication, the awards recognize innovation, functionality, and aesthetics in the hospitality industry. The competition is open to exhibitors at HD Expo 2014.

Sticks and Stones Furniture received the award for Best Product Design - Outdoor Seating for their Social Circle fire pit and bench design. Coming in at just under 10 feet in diameter, this fire pit and bench ensemble sits up to six people. With its moving seats, guests can snuggle up together, or enjoy a few solitary moments alone with the fire. This solid yet comfortable piece can be installed both indoors and out. Out of doors, this piece is often seen in gardens and on patios and runs on either natural or propane fuel. Indoors, this ensemble makes for an elegant addition to lobbies and lounges, and runs with an ethanol burner from eco smart fire.

A few comments, suggestions, and ideas that may be of interest...

This past while I have been reviewing a number of marketing and sales websites that purport to connect manufacturers to buyers. Some are obviously better than others but two that I think really standout in the North American residential and hospitality sectors are Houzz and TODL.

Houzz targets the residential housing market and is a site designed to help trade professionals including builders, architects, interior designers, and home owners. This platform provides design inspiration, project advice, product information, and professional reviews to help homeowners, designers, and trade professionals turn their ideas into reality.   

Watch this quick video on how Houzz has helped companies:

TODL (Trade Only Design Library) is a portal that services professionals in the Hospitality and Design sectors. TODL has built the largest pre-qualified group  of design professionals in the world providing over 70,000 interior designers, architects, retail purchasers, facility managers, builders, landscape designes, and other professional purchasers access to more than 300,000 products for their residential, contract, commercial, hospitality, and LEED-certified projects.   

I think that it's worth your time to have a look at these sites and see if they are worth the investment. They are not for every company, and very much product dependent; however, they do provide another avenue of sales and an increased exposure of your product in the market. If you decide to go down this road, I believe that high resolution professional photography is an absolute must.

As always for more information on the US market and opportunities throughout the States please contact me at dfarley@bcwood.com  

Managing Your Trade Show Booth for an Optimal New Product Launch

Launching a new product or product line is one of the best reasons to exhibit at a trade show. Trade shows give you the opportunity for a live, captive audience, and proves an ideal way to get your product in the hands of your targeted consumer demographic. Additionally, you can gain invaluable insight directly from the crowd about what they think of your product offering.

While a product launch at your trade show booth offers an impressive opportunity for yielded results, the process still requires careful strategy and execution to ensure you don't leave business on the showroom floor for your competitors to steal. When creating your product launch strategy, follow these simple tips for maximum return on investment.

Click here to read the entire article 

This year, BC Wood is planning a return to the Mexican market to look at opportunities for BC's wood products. Mexico is a market which was showing good initial promise prior to the economic and construction downturn in the United States in 2008. Even during the downturn, Mexico's dependence on imported wood products, now at US $1.4 billion per year, has been increasing at 5.5% annually. Softwoods comprise the vast majority of wood products imported into Mexico with some hardwoods used primarily in the furniture industry (hard maple and alder are popular imports).

Almost half of the total wood imports come from the US; much of this share is vulnerable to Canadian competition. Deforestation remains a severe problem and Mexico's substandard infrastructure compels the country to rely on foreign sources of wood products. As the US and Canadian economies continue to expand, it is expected that Mexico will be forced to depend on larger and larger volumes of wood imports. In 2012, Canada exported almost $17 million of manufactured wood products to Mexico. This was an increase of 30.1% from the previous year. BC's share of this total was $6 million, a year over year increase of 49%.

BC Wood will coordinate the exhibition of member companies at the Expo CIHAC in Mexico City. Expo CIHAC is the premier event in Mexico and Latin America for the construction industry. This trade event focuses on the importers and distributors of construction and building products, but also goods that are used in industrial application like the packaging and furniture manufacturing sectors. The Expo CIHAC will be a suitable fit for many suppliers for hardwood and softwood lumber and other wood based building materials.

BC Wood will also coordinate a trade mission component post CIHAC that will take participants to directly visit and meet with Mexican wood importers, distributors, and manufacturers. Member companies that participate in this event will have an opportunity to gain first-hand market intelligence, meet with qualified buyers, and increase the sales potential of their products. For more information on CIHAC trade show and the proposed mission contact Brian Hawrysh at 604-882-7100 or by email at bhawrysh@bcwood.com.

For the first time in many years, BC Wood and members participated in the HD Expo in Las Vegas. Five member companies attended including Barker Manufacturing, Brent Comber Originals, Live Edge Design, Martha Sturdy, and Stick & Stones Furniture.

This is a very important show for our furniture and design sector as over 900 exhibitors from around the world present their products to interior design companies, architecture firms, owners, operators, developers, specifiers, and purchasers that are looking for the latest, most innovative and creative tools for their renovations and new builds. Visitor traffic was up 15% this year and some of our members even sold product directly off the floor!

"Orandajima House" Reconstruction Project

In a previous article, I briefly introduced the "Orandajima House" project in the town of Yamada in Iwate Prefecture and I am happy to say that it has now been completed. Hundreds of years ago a Dutch ship ran aground on a small island in the town's bay (now called Orandajima or Dutch Island) and the crew would have starved to death had the local people not come to their rescue. As a result, Yamada developed close ties with Holland involving many exchange programs so after the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami, a group of Dutch business people in Japan decided that they had to help the people of Yamada as the Dutch sailors were helped in the past. In consultations with town officials, the group decided to donate an after-school care facility that would also offer grief counseling for children returning to the area wiped out by the tsunami. The project was named Orandajima House.

A Dutch architect based in Tokyo by the name of Martin van der Linden took the lead on designing the building and organizing the materials. I knew him through the activities of the BC Wood design program in Japan and had pitched him on using WRC products in his Euro-modern designs. As a result, about a month after the earthquake, he approached me to see if we could supply WRC as cladding for the concrete-steel building he was envisioning at the time. We had not yet setup the Canada-Tohoku Reconstruction Project, but I told him that we would help by introducing suppliers and offering any technical assistance required. I also proposed going with a wood structure.

Even though the Dutch group began this project immediately after the earthquake, assembling the funds and developing the project took almost two years. Once they were ready, Martin contacted me again about the WRC. It was the perfect time as we were just accepting applications under the second phase of the Canada-Tohoku Reconstruction Project. They applied for funding to cover the costs of the WRC products they needed and were approved by the board in Canada.

However, the building later became a wood structure and they came back to us with additional requests for the structural components. In the end, Canada contributed not only the WRC, but also SPF, OSB, Hemlock, and Douglas Fir. For a very small portion of the total budget of $700,000, the Canada-Tohoku Reconstruction Project was able to have the facility built entirely of wood, showcase wood in a modern design, and also help the children in another community devastated by 3/11. I was very proud seeing this beautiful building completed and children already enjoying it on opening day.