Last chance for early bird registration

Today, Monday February 11th, is your last chance to register for INTERIORS 08 and save up to $100 off the regular registration rate.

It’s time to make a smart investment in your professional success for 2008 and beyond.  This year’s INTERIORS, the nation’s leading professional conference on interior design, promises to be unlike any other. Along with top-notch presenters and leading-edge programs, INTERIORS will be taking you to the streets of New Orleans to immerse you in its vibrant culture and give you an insider’s tour of some of the city’s most spectacular interiors.

• Visionary Keynote Speakers
• More Student Programs
• Experiential Learning Design Excursions
• Celebration for Everyone
• Networking Events & Tours
• Community Service Project

Luxury Markets

Affluent lifestyles, once the hallmark of the elite, have now become fair game for the masses. Consumer markets in all sectors are being restructured to meet an increasing affinity for items, products and services that deliver high levels of quality, taste and aspiration. Discover how shifting demographics usher in “new luxury,” and how to tap the related markets.

Friday, March 14

Smart Trends and Context-aware Luxury
Retail Design for Luxury Brands

Saturday, March 15

Inviting to All – Luxury and Universal Design
Aiming at Affluence: Marketing Interior Design for Luxury Clients
Yacht Design and Luxury Interiors

Program Spotlight

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.

Program Spotlight

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.

Generational Impact

This is your wake-up call. The time to plan for generational change is now! Learn how you can address key generational trends, keeping your business relevant and meeting the changing needs of your staff, clients and the community you serve.

Friday, March 14

Turn Silver Into Gold! How to Profit in the Boomer Marketplace
Design Strategies for the Multigenerational Workforce

Saturday, March 15

Health & Longevity – A Wellness Retail Revolution
Recruiting, Retaining and Managing an Age-diverse Workforce

Program Spotlight

Inviting to All: Luxury and Universal Design
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. – Noon

After the onset of multiple sclerosis had changed his day-to-day living, Bharat Soli, chairman and CEO of a Seattle engineering firm, and his wife were living in a home that lacked the needed features to ease his physical challenges. Enters designer, builder and son, Sanjay Soli. In creating a stylish, upscale yet functional environment for his parents, Sol integrated a number of fundamental Universal Design principles into the architectural and interior design of the home.

Program Spotlight

Bridging The Gaps – Diversity in Interior Design
Thursday, 3 – 5 p.m.

A recent study on gender and racial inclusion found that approximately one-third of the students believed that women and “persons of color” were treated differently than the general student population. This panel will discuss these disparities interactively with participants, considering opportunities to bridge the gaps at the K–12, college and professional levels. Diversity issues in core course subjects, scholarships, gender and minority involvement in recruitment will be among the topics.

Business Expertise

You and your business can reach new heights by combining your vision, passion and industry knowledge with a better understanding of critical business principles. Learn proven ways to expand your business and increase your revenues.

Friday, March 14

Business Planning for Young Designers
Lifespace: Help Your Clients Embrace Design
Soul Proprieter 101: Lessons from a Lifestyle Entrepreneur
ASID Resume and Portfolio Review

Saturday, March 15

Designers as Gatekeepers: Work With Them So They’ll Work for You
Ethics & Legislation Roundtable
Avoiding Design and Construction Malpractice Claims
Disaster Recovery for Your Design Firm
Web Marketing Makeovers: New Tactics. Best Practices. More Leads.
Professional Contracts Increase Profitability
Successfully Integrate Your Front and Back Office

Learn From Experience

Steeped in history, New Orleans is famous the world over for its architecture, interiors and landscapes. As an INTERIORS attendee, you will have an opportunity to get an insiders’ look at some of the best New Orleans has to offer. Get behind the scenes for a hands-on learning experience at INTERIORS 08 – now accepting registration on a first-come, first served basis.

It is time to release your inner shutter bug on a tour of the oldest part of the city, with a professional photographer and local preservationist as your guide. Explore warehouses full of antique architectural embellishments, or peruse the largest collection of Southern art in the world. Walk the famed Garden District, get a behind-the-scenes look at the systems that run one of the nation’s top aquariums, get inside hospitality design at the historic Hilton St. Charles and Waldorf Roosevelt, step inside the nation’s oldest cathedral, or see firsthand the efforts underway to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

These and more experiential learning opportunities are offered Friday and Saturday afternoons for adults who prefer to learn outside of the classroom.

Program Highlights:

• Designing for All Ages: Getting Started 
• Designers as Gatekeepers
• Turn Silver into Gold
• Luxury and Universal Design
• For the Love of Color
• The Green Economy

Early registration ends February 5, 2008. Save $100! Register

Hotel discount ends February 5, 2008. Reservations

INTERIORS 08 is March 13-16 in New Orleans

We’d like to take a moment to thank you for helping to make 2007 a remarkable and rewarding year for all of us. Together, we’ve made great strides in demonstrating the power of interior design to positively influence people’s lives in public, commercial and private spaces. 

For enhancing our quality of life and serving the welfare of people in our communities around the globe, we celebrate you!

Ready to set a course for new business and financial success in 2008?  Start with plans to come together with your peers at the nation’s leading conference on interior design, INTERIORS.

Register early for the best selection!

Early registration ends February 5, 2008. Save $100! Register

Hotel discount ends February 5, 2008. Reservations

Program Highlights:

• LEED for Commercial Interiors Technical Review
• Web Marketing Makeover
• A Wellness Retail Revolution
• Context Aware Luxury
• Office of the Future
• The Human Factor

Along with cutting-edge programs, INTERIORS 08 will be taking you to the streets of New Orleans to immerse you in its vibrant culture and give you hands-on educational experiences inside some of the city’s most spectacular interiors.