Western Home Furnishings Association and the National Home Furnishings Association, along with its affiliates and partners, has announced their keynote speakers for the first-of-its-kind Home Furnishings Industry Conference scheduled for April 30–May 2, 2011 at the Westin River Walk in San Antonio, Tex. The Home Furnishings Industry Conference will provide networking, leadership and educational events that will supply content for each segment of the industry. Educational headliners for the event include Bob Beckel and Cal Thomas of USA Today’s Common Ground column, Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics, and John Moore, marketing mastermind behind Starbucks and Whole Foods.
The highly anticipated Home Furnishings Industry Conference has an energizing agenda geared to help retailers move their business into the future through workshops, general sessions, after sessions, and a dynamic Expo with over 40 vendors from around the country. “As President for NHFA, I feel that the 2011 Conference in San Antonio will be the highlight of the year,” said Dianne Ray, Garden City Furniture, Garden City Beach, S.C., and NHFA’s 2011 President. “What a great opportunity for retailers, vendors and suppliers to share, learn and listen to one another on a one-on-one basis. I look forward to the conference with the opportunities to learn from everyone attending and, most of all, having fun visiting with all of the great folks who make the furniture industry a great place to work. Come join us for the most exciting and invigorating days of your year and enjoy being a part of the home furnishings industry.”
The event will kick-off with an opening keynote from Bob Beckel and Cal Thomas of USA Today’s Common Ground column. These two politically savvy and politically different analysts take their differences and find the “common ground” that unites all Americans. Although Beckel and Thomas have different opinions on almost every subject imaginable, the goal of Common Ground is to show our audience of retailers and suppliers that bridges can be forged between differences, and agreements can be made.
Another highlight on the agenda is for those interested in learning more about social media. Social media guru, Erik Qualman, author of Socialnomics, will be presenting on the implications of social media, and how businesses can tap into the power of this new marketing power to increase sales, cut marketing costs and how to communicate and reach consumers directly.
The marketing mastermind behind the Starbucks and Whole Foods brands, John Moore, will present a keynote on The Bigness of Smallness. Moore says that the smaller a business is, the bigger it must look and conversely, the bigger a business is, the smaller it must get. This paradox of growth serves as the foundation for this playful, informative presentation on how businesses can get bigger by acting smaller. Using examples of established and emerging brands, Moore will show the audience how small businesses can thrive in a crowded marketplace and how big businesses can continue growing when faced with upstart competition.
Lastly, the closing session, Diversity in America: How to Market to People Not Like You by Kelly McDonald will take actual results from the 2010 census and will show you how to market to your customers and people different than you.
Along with the amazing keynote sessions scheduled, there are numerous breakout educational sessions scheduled with industry experts presenting. Included in this line-up are: Margi Kyle, The Designing Doctor; Mark Green; The Family Business Consulting Group; Kevin Doran, R&A Marketing; Brad Huisken, IAS Training; Dave Bruno, Escalate Retail and Craig McAndrews, Mattress Firm.
The Home Furnishings Conference provides relevant opportunities to learn and allows ample time for retailers, suppliers and vendors to share thought-provoking ideas and best practices to move everyone’s business into the future.
Members of WHFA, NHFA, all of the affiliates and designated partners can take advantage of the great buy one, get one free deal. One registration of $495 must be purchased and the second person can attend for free. Additional registrations for other team members are only $199 each. This makes it easy for businesses to bring multiple people from their store and learn even more valuable tools for business.
Learn more about the Home Furnishings Industry Conference and register today at www.homefurnishingsconference.com.
About WHFA, NHFA and Affiliates: The Western Home Furnishings Association (WHFA) is the largest affiliate of the NHFA, representing approximately 1,000 independent home furnishings retailers in more than 2,400 stores in 12 western states.
National Home Furnishings Association (NHFA) is the nation’s largest organization devoted specifically to the needs and interests of home furnishings retailers. NHFA’s membership comprises 2,800 corporate entities representing 10,000 stores in all 50 states and several foreign countries.
Aspenhome: aspenhome™ has evolved over the past 31 years from a small family owned home entertainment business based in Phoenix to a full line furniture company specializing in thoughtfully designed innovative products for the way people work, play and relax at home. Recognized as a resource for functional family furniture, the aspenhome™ collection includes bedroom, dining, home office, home entertainment, stationary and motion leather seating, and occasional furnishings.
California Furniture Manufacturers Association: Since 1911, the California Furniture Manufacturers Association has been serving the interests of the furniture industry throughout California. As a result, CFMA is taking a pro-active role to keep furniture manufacturers thriving. For more information, visit www.cfma.com.
FurnitureDealer.net: The company operates more than 500 home furnishings websites designed to help consumers find big ticket furniture, mattress, appliance and electronics products online and buy through local retail stores. The company’s clients include 25 of the 150 largest independent furniture retailers in North America and five of the industry’s largest suppliers. FurnitureDealer.net is the premiere Click-to-Store™ expert in the home furnishings industry, helping retailers and manufacturers implement successful multi-channel growth strategies that convert online furniture shoppers into local in-store buyers. FurnitureDealer.net provides world class websites with detailed product catalogs, product content management, search engine optimization, email marketing, sales training and channel integration consulting.
Home Furnishings Business: Home Furnishings Business provides relevant content that matters to home retail professionals. Our current delivery options include a business & strategy magazine, a daily newsletter, a website with both aggregated and original content, a continuing webinar series, and the Furniture Forum seminar program.
Interior Design Society (IDS): Based in High Point, NC, Interior Design Society fills an important niche in the residential interior design community. IDS is the trade association that recognizes and assists specialists in all walks of residential interior design, even those men and women who might not have a four-year degree in Interior Design.
International Home Furnishings Reps Association (IHFRA): IHFRA provides education, professional standards and services, legislative advocacy and communications for our membership to remain a viable, responsive and financially secure organization.
MicroD: For more than 20 years, MicroD has led the way with innovative furniture merchandising solutions. That’s why more than 85% of the Top 100 furniture brands and retailers rely on MicroD. The result of our 20-years of furniture merchandising expertise, ePiphany combines next-generation technology with the comprehensive website design, hosting, and content management services to transform record numbers of online shoppers into in-store buyers.
Pacific Furniture Dealers: West Coast buying group comprised of 60 independent furniture retailers, usually dominant or close in their Pacific Northwest communities, hitting popular price points.
Serta: Serta is proud to be the manufacturer of the World's Beat Mattress TM. Our commitment to quality has made us a leader in the industry, and we look forward to helping you find the right mattress so you can get a better night's sleep for years to come.
World Market Center Las Vegas: World Market Center Las Vegas is an integrated home and hospitality contract furnishings showroom and trade complex. The state-of-the-art campus showcases furniture, decorative accessories, gift, lighting, area rugs, home textiles and related segments. World Market Center currently hosts the biannual Las Vegas MarketTM, the preeminent total home market along with Gift + HomeTM and Vegas KidsTM.