Future of Home Conference to Address the Forces of Change Sweeping the Home Industry
Furniture World News Desk on
7/2/2019
Business of Home, a news publication for the home industry, along with High Point Market Authority, announced that they will present the first-ever Future of Home Conference, September 9–10 in New York City. Featuring in-depth conversations with top design and digital leaders about the forces of change sweeping the home industry—from fast furniture and on-demand design services to the evolving preferences of affluent consumers—the two-day event will address business changes and challenges, spotlight innovation, and lay the course for a promising future.
“Through our daily reporting at BOH, we’ve seen how innovators, entrepreneurs, disruptors and investors are shaking up the home industry,” says Julia Noran Johnston, Founder of Business of Home. “Our goal is to bring some of these people to the stage, create connections, and inspire takeaways for interior designers and home brands. Our industry is experiencing tremendous growth—and the design trade should be part of it.”
Editor in Chief Kaitlin Petersen, Managing Editor Fred Nicolaus, BOH podcast Host and Columnist Dennis Scully, and BOH Contributor and former Editor in Chief of House Beautiful Sophie Donelson will sit down with thought leaders driving these trends to ask what the interior design industry will look like a decade from now and beyond—and what it means for designers and brands looking to future-proof their businesses. The conference will welcome 300 interior design and home industry professionals to an 18,000 square-foot space in Chelsea’s gallery district. The space itself will feature activations such as an “automagic” interior powered by Google Nest.
The experience will include dozens of top names on topics including cloud-based furniture, buying trends, marketing to affluent consumers, home technology, fast furniture, e-commerce, community commerce, the future of the workspace, lifestyle brands, on-demand design services, how to build a direct-to-consumer brand, how to charge for ideas, retail design and legacy brands.
“This will be the first event to address the challenges of home industry professionals at every level, from students to partners of top firms,” says Johnston. “As the media of record for the home industry, Business of Home is constantly covering breaking news, but also sharing stories about innovators who are exploring new business models and revenue streams. Our industry is so special, but it tends to be opaque and exclusive. We want to open it up, bring in fresh voices, and introduce new ways of thinking and doing business.”
The home decor market is expected to garner $664 billion by 2020, according to Allied Market Research. “With home furnishings now the fastest growing e-commerce category in the U.S., the perfectly timed Future of Home conference will offer industry pros, entrepreneurs and design lovers a deep consideration of what will evolve,” says Anna Brockaway, Co-founder and President of Chairish.
Information about the conference will be continually updated at
www.futureofhome.com; speakers will be announced throughout July. General admission tickets are $695, or $215 for BOH Insiders. Major conference sponsors include High Point Market, Google Nest and Benjamin Moore. Additional support comes from Currey & Company, ArtOrigo, Chairish, Sotheby’s Home, Artemest, and Universal Furniture. Partners include the D&D Building and the Decorative Furnishings Association.
About Business of Home: For 10 years, Business of Home has been the leading publication covering the home industry, delivering timely and credible business news, analysis and insights to a dedicated readership of home industry professionals—residential, contract and hospitality designers, retailers, makers and manufacturers, executives and entrepreneurs. BOH has built a national and international subscriber base of more than 39,000 professionals, for whom it is the go-to source for meaningful industry reporting, trade show guides, job openings, event listings, expert sourcing, educational seminars. Its tagline, “Home is Everywhere,” emphasizes that home, the fastest-growing category in the economy, encompasses all of the spaces—private and public—that surround us.