Master Your Future: Research Trends and Forecasts
Friday, 10:30 a.m. – Noon

Each year The Greenway Group slices and dices global design and construction trends in dozens of different ways. An ASID exclusive, Jim Cramer presents the most recent environmental scan of the interior design industry. Hear current and practical market information for designers and companies looking to get proactive and take their business to the next level. Attendees will gain insights from an overview of the market, analysis of the competitive environment and forecasts of future opportunities. Walk away knowing the trends to watch in 2008.

ASID: Designing For All Ages – Getting Started!
Thursday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

This interactive one-day workshop will guide you through the steps needed to integrate lifespan design into your practice. Attendees will learn about the needs of an aging population and how design can meet the needs of this market, sources for specialized materials and products, how to team with other experts and professionals, and how to target your services to various market segments.

Design Within Reach
Saturday, 4 – 5 p.m.

When Hurricane Katrina swept across the Gulf Coast, two thirds of the Calhoun Photography Studio work and entire Calhoun residence were lost. Mr. Calhoun, 51, and Ms. McCormick, 48, both photographers who grew up in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward, chronicled the everyday life in Holy Cross neighborhood, a historic landmark district wedged between the Mississippi River levees and the Industrial Canal. Now hear how Architecture for Humanity, House by House, the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans Shelter Architecture and many others are helping Keith and Chandra to rebuild.

City of the Future: A Design and Engineering Challenge
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – Noon

Chicago’s UrbanLab is the national winner of The History Channel competition “City of the Future” that challenged the nation’s top designers, architects and engineers to design their city 100 years from now. By 2106 UrbanLab believes water may be the new oil. Their winning entry envisioned Chicago as an environmentally holistic urban center replenishing Lake Michigan, the largest concentration of fresh water in the nation. Felson will present the amazing project that led UrbanLab to success.

Disaster Recovery for Your Design Firm
Saturday, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

What’s worse than a disaster? How about doubling your disaster with a disastrous set of discovery plans, policies and procedures? The fact is that nothing sharpens a disaster plan more than suffering a disaster as these presenters know first hand. What steps can you take to improve your planning and procedures and prevent preventable disasters? While no plan can account for every contingency or be totally bulletproof, this session provides important steps that will help you make time for disaster planning and avoid adding insult to injury when your life and livelihood are at stake.

Call it “ReGreen” – Sustainable Residential Renovation
Thursday, 10 a.m. – Noon

The demand for environmentally responsible residential renovation has never been greater. Over the past two decades, the residential remodeling market has expanded by leaps and bounds as the median age of the existing U.S. housing stock has topped 30 years and financing options have brought costs within reach. In just 10 years, nearly 30 million homes have undergone renovation and remodeling projects exceeding 10 percent of the total home value. Research shows the $220 billion spent by homeowners on improvement projects in 2005 accounted for over 40 percent of all residential construction and nearly two percent of the U.S. economy. In answer to the market demands, ASID and USGBC have partnered on the development of best practice guidelines and targeted educational resources for sustainable residential remodeling projects. Participants will learn how ReGreen will increase understanding of sustainable renovation project practices and benefits among homeowners, residents, design professionals, product suppliers and service providers to build both demand and industry capacity.

The Safe Home
Saturday, 4 – 5 p.m.

Residential interior designers are often the first professional to arrive and the last to leave their clients’ projects. During that time, they have the responsibility to share invaluable information that preserves the health, safety and welfare of each individual who uses the home. This information translates, not only into carefully designed, selected and placed finishes, furnishings and fixtures, but also into well informed grateful clients who understand what comprises a safe home and how to preserve it into the future. Learn the “steps to safety” and how to sustain good health, reduce injury, and maximize security – while supporting efficiency and providing aesthetic and physical comfort. This course is an introduction to the instructor’s recently published book for ASID, The Safe Home, Designing for Safety in the Home.

How Green Materials Influence Your Future
Friday, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

There are a proliferation of green materials on the market today. How do you tell what a green product is, and what is missing from a product that makes it green. The USGBC has just issued their LEED for homes protocol. What should you know about other rating systems? Will LEED for Homes hold sway over other protocols? What about green product certfications? Jon Dougal will demonstrate what products are green and why they can and do influence your future in residential interiors.

Recruiting, Retaining and Managing an Age-diverse Workforce
Saturday, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

The greatest challenge on the radar scope these days is how to find sufficient candidates to fill job vacancies. It is only going to get worse as Baby Boomers begin retiring in droves. If that isn’t enough, there are now four distinct generations in the workplace. And, each of those generations are very different from the others. This program will help managers and HR professionals learn what makes each of the generations tick, learn what they are looking for and what can be expected from them in the workplace. Learn to recruit, retain and manage the most age-diverse employee poll in our nation’s history.

Business Planning for Young Designers
Friday, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

It’s reasonable to say that the reasons most designers have for entering the profession have little to do with the skills and knowledge needed to operate a practice. What many young designers discover when opening a business is the common disconnect between those characteristics that make a great designer and those that make a great business person. What if the obsession that drives most designers could be harnessed to craft a compelling and successful business model? Knowing yourself well is the best way to determine what clients make the best fit. Understanding your company brand allows you to identify good clients. How many times have you submitted proposals for potential work where the client decides if the fit is right? This session turns the table on that kind of thinking and presents a strategy for identifying the characteristics that will help young designers identify and target the perfect clients and secure that work.