Where Did May Go??

I've been working like a mad dog all month attempting to get imagery out to vendors -specially after Surtex & NSS.

This week much of my time was eaten up helping out Second Chance with all of their last minute collateral needs for the upcoming auction; I'll probably want to initiate a postmortem on that ordeal.

Studio Tip 1: Collateral for any event needs to be planned, devised, and designed well in advance of say 6 months or more. This gives the studio time to source paper, printers, and even ask vendors to consider pro-bono work, otherwise micromanaging the mess at the end is a bad idea -a very bad idea.

Studio Tip 2: When you plan your events out a year in advance, go to the sources at the first of the year (that's January 2nd folks) to be placed on the waiting list. Many services will provide charity work but if you're not on that list, you could be wiped off because they've either made their selections and/or have an exclusive agreement with a similar charity in the neighborhood.

Studio Tip 3: If you're new to an organization and have the opportunity to forge a new path, ask how things were done previously; not because you want to emulate them, but because one needs to know the successes as well as the pitfalls. If you have access to the original designer, get in touch with her -she can outline everything she's done to help make your job easier.

Meanwhile, here's an excerpt from our travels this month that I forgot to post...

ICFF + Surtex
Sunday flew by faster than the speed of sound. Andrew woke feeling like crap so I had to do the thinking for both of us. Luggage got packed, we missed breakfast, taxied ourselves to Javits to check our bags at the luggage corral. Shew!

We managed to walk NSS quickly and efficiently, keeping a close eye on time. We needed to find the people I needed to meet and keep those appointments made prior to the show. Managed to find [most of] my colleagues at Surtex and conducted a small personal trend report. Hey Robin! Hey Andy! Sorry we missed you!

It was great to hear that mfg were receptive to my work and I think that by not exhibiting at Surtex this year forced me to work differently than if I had -preventing me from placing my all marketing/advertising eggs in one basket. Upon returning home, we both surmised that not exhibiting was a smart move on our part.

I have to say that I got as many pre-show inquiries as I would have if I had exhibited at Surtex. While my eyes give away my exhaustion, I'm finally seeing a turnaround in spite of the economy.

Boy, I sure don't miss those overpriced, less than stellar tasting tuna sandwiches at Javits anymore!

ICFF

For some reason, we were able to get up at a reasonable hour without setting a clock this am and get to Javits. Unfortunately, we couldn't get our entrance badges for NSS because they weren't set up yet.

Travel Tradeshow Tip #1) Watch when shows begin and end at the Javits if they run concurrently. Just because the registration booth is set up doesn't mean it's comprehensive -it was only for exhibitors today.

Travel Tradeshow Tip #2) Make sure to register earlier than 2 weeks prior to the show so that you can have your passes mailed to you; these passes can get you into all 3 shows. We had to cough up $50/ea to get into walk the ICFF today -could have been free if I had been thinking a month ago! The plus side, is that as a visitor/buyer/design firm, other than an exhibitor, one gets a barcode applied to the badge so that you can have exhibitors *ping* you and send you the material you request -one doesn't have to carry it around like a beast of burden.

This show was immensely inspiring and met great product designers with whom I may be partnering in the future -depending on circumstances.

I gave Andrew the camera because he hasn't had a chance to play with it as ICFF is the *only* place folks will allow photos.

As design lovers, we loved the British design aesthetics. However, this piece was very intriguing because it looks like a digital image on the front, it's actually wood ends. We poked our pudgy fingers between the ends to confirm our eyes speculation.



For Jeanne


Bathtub Sightings

I wasn't on the prowl for bathtubs... until my feet started to ache.


Fireplace Sightings

I wasn't on the prowl for fireplaces... until I visualized myself in one of those cool bathtubs with a small inset fireplace frame on the wall... Ohhhhh, man...

Update: Rotating Fireplace Here.

PS. I'm sorry I'm remiss about product credits. We were so tired that it didn't occur to me until late tonight. If you're desperate to learn about these products, go to the site: ICFF.com for more info.

NYC: Saturday - ICFF Party at the MOMA

After completing our booth installation, we walked ICFF and I made a few good contacts with mfg who do really cool stuff. I mean, out of this world stuff that's only found in designer magazines. Hard to believe that I can be among them... collaborating.

Not knowing how big the show was, my first reaction was to walk it fast, ascertain the size and return to some of the neat showrooms that we made note of. We became decidedly jealous when we happened across this fabulous space within the show (imagine ribbons hanging from the ceiling made of car seat belt material) that were taught from ceiling to floor enclosing a wet bar -we were jealous that they had a wet bar -making this the hippest show to be scene at. Walking past, the ribbons of seat belts with channels of ghostly lighting being emitted from tiny channels in the floor made the folks sitting on benches inside appear as though they were in a hellish jail. The folks were calm, hanging out, texting their friends and sipping beers and martinis.

So exhausted, we found a little french bistro that we discovered a year ago across the hotel (we usually head to Greenwich Village -much cheaper, much more delish!) due to the nasty rain and the fact that we didn't want to head out very far and expend any more energy than we had to.

The exhaustion forced us to skip one party for which I had registered and move on to the next -our first real NYC party at the MOMA (one block down from the hotel). It's everything you imagine from the movies. Requisite black blazers for straight guys and velvet jackets for the gays. Women wore mostly black, I was the only one in a blue sexy sweater. Lifting hor d'oeurves from waiter's trays and snagging wine from the bar -it was an experience. Seriously, it was a fun party (lots of rude, tall, "I live the bulemic lifestyle, so screw you" types) as we traversed the schools of wannabes and made it to some of the fascinating exhibits.

Currently, there is an exhibit by Dan Perjovschi, a Romanian -I call 'the wall of scribbles'- that was almost 40 feet high -can't wait to upload photos- remarking the absurdity of US life.