I was one of the lucky people at the HD Boutique show in South Beach last week to attend the semninar on Radical Innovations. There were 4 innovative hotel design projects highlighted for this seminar. The story boards for all four were located outside the meeting room where attendees could browse each project before entering the seminar. Two hotel projects were honorable mentions and the other two were the finalists for a $5,000 award that was granted at the end of the seminar based on the results of the participants votes.
The Posiedon Undersea Resort was the winner of the award and rightly so. A lot of thought has gone into this hotel design including ways to float this underwater hotel above a coral reef.
The French designer, Jean-Claude Carme started out building submarine parts and also worked with Jaque Cousteau. The concepts that go into submarine design are what drive this hotel design. The rooms are pods that are bouyant and float above the coral reef located beneath it. The rooms are a spacious 550 s.f. each. and boast all the amenities you would expect from a 5 star resort. There is also an underwater restaurant. And, guests can pilot their own 3 person submarine!
The hotel is yet to be built but already has 12,000 guests waiting at $15,000 per person per night. Guests can only stay 2 nights underwater and the rest of the week in a hotel on the resorts privatey owned island located in Fijian waters.
How safe is it? Well, shortly after purchasing the island a Tsunami occured nearby as a result of an underwater earthquake. The owners soon learned that a deep trench undersea provided a barrier so that the wave from the tsunami was weakened before reaching the island resulting in just a 3" wave by the time it reached shore.
To learn more about this exciting resort visit their website at http://www.poseidonresorts.com/
Beautiful Sarasota
Condo at Ritz-Beach
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Eco-Friendly products
Having gone to two trade shows in two and half weeks that had to do with interior design products I was impressed that there is much more emphasis placed on eco-friendly products, procedures and projects.
Products
I spoke with a wallcovering manufacturer who told me that the way they have addressed the issue is by letting the buyers return the unused product for recycling. The manufacturer will recycle the wallcovering rather than having it put in the trash.
There are new eco-friendly foams for bedding and pillows also. Low voc paints that we can use in our homes and businesses.
Most of us now know of eco-friendly flooring products such as bamboo and cork.
There is a conference on Green + Design in Atlanta on October 1-2 with 4 distinct areas of design; Commercial, Hospitality, Retail and Residential. There will be seminars directed at each of these distinct areas as well as product exhibits. To learn more about this conference and expo you can visit http://www.greendesignexpo.com/.
Practices
Not only are there products available to the consumer that are eco-friendly, there are aslo practices that businesses can put in place that are environmentally friendly. For example, restaurants can opt to put practices into place such as sorting recyclables from garbage and composting food waste. They can choose products wrapped in non-bleached papers and they can pressure suppliers to use packaging that is less harmful to the environment. They can also put symbols next to the items on their menus that are eco-friendly like vegetarian items.
Retail showrooms can use more effecient lighting and bulbs, and again eco friendly packaging.
Commercial offices can use light harvesting techniques, purchase furniture that is eco-friendly with little or no off-gasing, and cooling with water features.
Consumers can help by placing an emphasis on frequenting establishments that make a consious effort to go-green.
Projects
I attended a seminar at the HD Boutique trade show in South Beach titled Radical Design. There were two finalists that had created innovative hotel design projects and were trying to win a $5,000 prize for their ideas. The runners up were Carly Cannell and Linda Wallack of Weetu Corp, a new company that was formed just 1 month prior to the contest. These two women came up with the idea to radically redesign exhisting road-side motels/hotels of the 50's and 60's with a decidedly retro themed brand called the MoMotel. Their intent was to remodel existing motels rather than tear them down completely. They would reconfigure the floorplans to offer 3 different sizes, create an experience for budget concious travelers and use eco-friendly products. You can learn more about their concept by visiting www.goweetu.com.
Products
I spoke with a wallcovering manufacturer who told me that the way they have addressed the issue is by letting the buyers return the unused product for recycling. The manufacturer will recycle the wallcovering rather than having it put in the trash.
There are new eco-friendly foams for bedding and pillows also. Low voc paints that we can use in our homes and businesses.
Most of us now know of eco-friendly flooring products such as bamboo and cork.
There is a conference on Green + Design in Atlanta on October 1-2 with 4 distinct areas of design; Commercial, Hospitality, Retail and Residential. There will be seminars directed at each of these distinct areas as well as product exhibits. To learn more about this conference and expo you can visit http://www.greendesignexpo.com/.
Practices
Not only are there products available to the consumer that are eco-friendly, there are aslo practices that businesses can put in place that are environmentally friendly. For example, restaurants can opt to put practices into place such as sorting recyclables from garbage and composting food waste. They can choose products wrapped in non-bleached papers and they can pressure suppliers to use packaging that is less harmful to the environment. They can also put symbols next to the items on their menus that are eco-friendly like vegetarian items.
Retail showrooms can use more effecient lighting and bulbs, and again eco friendly packaging.
Commercial offices can use light harvesting techniques, purchase furniture that is eco-friendly with little or no off-gasing, and cooling with water features.
Consumers can help by placing an emphasis on frequenting establishments that make a consious effort to go-green.
Projects
I attended a seminar at the HD Boutique trade show in South Beach titled Radical Design. There were two finalists that had created innovative hotel design projects and were trying to win a $5,000 prize for their ideas. The runners up were Carly Cannell and Linda Wallack of Weetu Corp, a new company that was formed just 1 month prior to the contest. These two women came up with the idea to radically redesign exhisting road-side motels/hotels of the 50's and 60's with a decidedly retro themed brand called the MoMotel. Their intent was to remodel existing motels rather than tear them down completely. They would reconfigure the floorplans to offer 3 different sizes, create an experience for budget concious travelers and use eco-friendly products. You can learn more about their concept by visiting www.goweetu.com.
Un-Branding: The New Trend
I attended the HD Boutique show in South Beach last week and one interesting trend that came out of it is "un-branding". The reason behind it is this, some chain hotels or lodging venues and chain restaurants are exactly the same no matter what their location is. You know exactly what it's going to look like. P.F. Changs restaurant is a good example, I love this restaurant and I know exactly what it's going to look like no matter if I'm in Tampa, Naples or Orlando. The same goes for lodging, there are numerous hotel chains that offer the same design in every city.
"A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to the product and serves to create associations and expectations around it." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/brand. Business owners have been told for years to create a brand association for their products. Indeed, Starwood Hotels just hired their new CEO Frits van Paasschen, based on his branding experience - he has no lodging experience. I happen to be a member of Starwood resorts. I know that when I stay in at any Sheraton I will sleep on a SweetSleeper bed, heck, I bought the Marriott Bed and all it's bedding after staying at a Marriott Renaisance resort! I remember staying at a Westin resort and all the sand in the ashtrays were stamped with a symbolic "W".
So what's all the talk about un-branding now? Not to worry, your marketing dollars did not go to waste. Un-branding is about giving the location or setting of the venue much more consideration in the design. Restauranteur Jeffrey Chodorow, of China Grill and Social restaurants, spoke to us about taking the important elements that you find in both Social restaurants; game room, pool table, lounge seating, etc and keeping those elements but creating a design that is site specific and takes in the elements of its surroundings. Karen Daroff of Daroff Designs said the same thing when she spoke of spa design. When creating a new restaurant or spa or hotel regardless of whether you've created your own "brand" aesthetic, the design of the space should encompass the key elements of it's surroundings; mountains, desert, red rock canyons, water, white sand beaches. Miami = Art Deco, beaches, water, Arizona = desert, cactus, Idaho= mountains, stone, evergreen trees. Indeed Social in Miami is white on white, with chrome and clean lines. Social in Hollywood is actually Morrocon inspired. But in every Social restaurant you will find a game area and pool table and other elements connected with being in a Social restaurant.
What they are saying is keep the elements that are unique to your brand, but give leeway for designing for the location. A white on white, with chrome contemporary restaurant in the wild, wild west desert of Arizona would feel out of place. Wouldnt it be great if your destination hotel was designed with the destination itself in mind? If the hotel sprung from the landscape.
"A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to the product and serves to create associations and expectations around it." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/brand. Business owners have been told for years to create a brand association for their products. Indeed, Starwood Hotels just hired their new CEO Frits van Paasschen, based on his branding experience - he has no lodging experience. I happen to be a member of Starwood resorts. I know that when I stay in at any Sheraton I will sleep on a SweetSleeper bed, heck, I bought the Marriott Bed and all it's bedding after staying at a Marriott Renaisance resort! I remember staying at a Westin resort and all the sand in the ashtrays were stamped with a symbolic "W".
So what's all the talk about un-branding now? Not to worry, your marketing dollars did not go to waste. Un-branding is about giving the location or setting of the venue much more consideration in the design. Restauranteur Jeffrey Chodorow, of China Grill and Social restaurants, spoke to us about taking the important elements that you find in both Social restaurants; game room, pool table, lounge seating, etc and keeping those elements but creating a design that is site specific and takes in the elements of its surroundings. Karen Daroff of Daroff Designs said the same thing when she spoke of spa design. When creating a new restaurant or spa or hotel regardless of whether you've created your own "brand" aesthetic, the design of the space should encompass the key elements of it's surroundings; mountains, desert, red rock canyons, water, white sand beaches. Miami = Art Deco, beaches, water, Arizona = desert, cactus, Idaho= mountains, stone, evergreen trees. Indeed Social in Miami is white on white, with chrome and clean lines. Social in Hollywood is actually Morrocon inspired. But in every Social restaurant you will find a game area and pool table and other elements connected with being in a Social restaurant.
What they are saying is keep the elements that are unique to your brand, but give leeway for designing for the location. A white on white, with chrome contemporary restaurant in the wild, wild west desert of Arizona would feel out of place. Wouldnt it be great if your destination hotel was designed with the destination itself in mind? If the hotel sprung from the landscape.
HD Boutique Show in South Beach
I attend the HD Boutique show in Miami every year. I love hospitality design and since I specialize in vacation homes and rentals I think it's important to stay informed of what is happening in hotel design. This show is sponsored by Hospitality Design magazine and just like the magazine the show continues to grow each year. Four years ago I walked the entire show in half a day - this year it took 2 days. Every year brings dynamic speakers on cutting edge topics.
I truly believe that hotel design is at the forefront of residential design. People stay in these incredible, luxurious hotel rooms and want to replicate that experience within their home. When I design a vacation home I want people to feel at ease the moment they step in the door, I want to "wow" them. I want them to feel like the place is worth every dime they are spending to be there - and more. I want them to tell their friends.
When I attend this show I get to see the products that will be in hotels, I form relationships to purchase the products at cost, I attend seminars to hear from people about what to look for in the future, how a concept was formed and what went into implementing it, I like to hear from the experts about what is important to them, maybe there is something I should be thinking about more seriousely, and I get to learn about the differences in a variety of products.
This year I saw a lot stronger emphasis placed on eco-friendly products. I saw a trend by the hotels and restaurants of un-branding, and they had very good points for this. And I saw dramatic concepts for hotels in the future.
South Beach is the perfect location for this show and staying in the area is priceless. There are dozens of trendy boutique hotels in this area, all within walking distance. During the day we would go to the show and at night we would walk to a few hotels in the area and check out the design of the lobby, restaurant, bar and pool areas. We would spend time in the spaces and experience them for ourselves. One night the group got split up temporarily and a couple of us spent some time in the lobby of one of the hotels (I think it was the National - not sure, too many cocktails) that had numerous classic chair designs, so we tried each one out for comfort. It was fantastic! One of my favorite hotels was the DeLano! I could not get enough of this hotel, it was so comfortable to lounge in. Another night I dragged the group to the Sagamore Hotel because it houses the restaurant/bar Social and the following day I would be attending a seminar hosted by the owner and designer of the restaurant. It was really incredible to have visited the space and then listen to what went into creating the space.
HD Boutique is about hotel and restaurant design now and in the future and South Beach is the perfect backdrop for this event.
I truly believe that hotel design is at the forefront of residential design. People stay in these incredible, luxurious hotel rooms and want to replicate that experience within their home. When I design a vacation home I want people to feel at ease the moment they step in the door, I want to "wow" them. I want them to feel like the place is worth every dime they are spending to be there - and more. I want them to tell their friends.
When I attend this show I get to see the products that will be in hotels, I form relationships to purchase the products at cost, I attend seminars to hear from people about what to look for in the future, how a concept was formed and what went into implementing it, I like to hear from the experts about what is important to them, maybe there is something I should be thinking about more seriousely, and I get to learn about the differences in a variety of products.
This year I saw a lot stronger emphasis placed on eco-friendly products. I saw a trend by the hotels and restaurants of un-branding, and they had very good points for this. And I saw dramatic concepts for hotels in the future.
South Beach is the perfect location for this show and staying in the area is priceless. There are dozens of trendy boutique hotels in this area, all within walking distance. During the day we would go to the show and at night we would walk to a few hotels in the area and check out the design of the lobby, restaurant, bar and pool areas. We would spend time in the spaces and experience them for ourselves. One night the group got split up temporarily and a couple of us spent some time in the lobby of one of the hotels (I think it was the National - not sure, too many cocktails) that had numerous classic chair designs, so we tried each one out for comfort. It was fantastic! One of my favorite hotels was the DeLano! I could not get enough of this hotel, it was so comfortable to lounge in. Another night I dragged the group to the Sagamore Hotel because it houses the restaurant/bar Social and the following day I would be attending a seminar hosted by the owner and designer of the restaurant. It was really incredible to have visited the space and then listen to what went into creating the space.
HD Boutique is about hotel and restaurant design now and in the future and South Beach is the perfect backdrop for this event.
SAR - International Congress
I was fortunate enough to attend the first annual SAR (Sarasota Association of Realtors) International Congress this past week. It was held at the Lakewood Ranch Country Club and many of the sponsors had businesses at LWR. The purpose was to inform realtors on how to do business with other realtors in other countries around the world. There was an economist that gave his professional opinion about where the real estate market really is and where it is headed. He backed it up with graphs and good resources. It was very enlightening and more positive for our area than negative although the general consensus is that we will still go through another 6 months at least of slow growth.
This seminar was two days for me (some realtors were there for three days). I was the only Interior Designer there and my purpose was to meet new realtors, inform them about my business services and suggest that I could help sponsor one of their overseas trips if they were to include my promo materials with theirs. I met many people who were open to the idea and want to explore it more.
There were many speakers who talked to us about how they do business in other countries, what to plan for and things that you might not think about when doing business in a foriegn country. It was suggested that you should focus on one country, study the culture, learn how to do business in that country and become an expert on that country. Better to focus on one country than to try and do it all everywhere. There was a panel of people from other countries and people who do business in other countries and they answered questions about what it is like in each particular country to do business in the real estate market. It was incredibly informative. There was also information about resources, and websites and programs that you can use to market abroad. They talked about making contacts abroad with other realtors and creating business relationships.
We also got to tour the Lakewood Ranch area on a guided tour bus. We stopped at some Pat Neal homes where they served lunch, then toured model homes at the Lake Club where they served us dessert!
The staff at the Country Club served up the most fantastic meals during the entire 3 day event. We took home goody bags filled with information on LWR and the sponsors and many promo items.
This seminar was two days for me (some realtors were there for three days). I was the only Interior Designer there and my purpose was to meet new realtors, inform them about my business services and suggest that I could help sponsor one of their overseas trips if they were to include my promo materials with theirs. I met many people who were open to the idea and want to explore it more.
There were many speakers who talked to us about how they do business in other countries, what to plan for and things that you might not think about when doing business in a foriegn country. It was suggested that you should focus on one country, study the culture, learn how to do business in that country and become an expert on that country. Better to focus on one country than to try and do it all everywhere. There was a panel of people from other countries and people who do business in other countries and they answered questions about what it is like in each particular country to do business in the real estate market. It was incredibly informative. There was also information about resources, and websites and programs that you can use to market abroad. They talked about making contacts abroad with other realtors and creating business relationships.
We also got to tour the Lakewood Ranch area on a guided tour bus. We stopped at some Pat Neal homes where they served lunch, then toured model homes at the Lake Club where they served us dessert!
The staff at the Country Club served up the most fantastic meals during the entire 3 day event. We took home goody bags filled with information on LWR and the sponsors and many promo items.
designers daily blog 9/22/07
I've done 3 trade shows in 2-1/2 weeks and have tried to use this weekend to catch up. The first trade show was in Orlando for a Furniture and Accessories show. The current economy had a terrible outcome on this show as there were very few companies on display - apparently many have gone out of business, and very few attendees - perhaps for the same reason. Nonetheless I made a few very good contacts for purchasing direct with the manufacturer so I was happy.
The second show was for Sarasota Association of Realtors - International Congress. I attended this event because I want to make new realtor contacts, and especially those focusing on the international client. It was an incredible 2 day show, I met some great people, and it was worth every cent. I learned so much and it really put a bug in my hat to become an international realtor.
The third show was for HD Boutique in South Beach. It stands for hospitality design for hotels and restaurants. I attend this show every year and am never disappointed. I am excited about all that I learned and have a few great news article ideas from it. Usually I stay with my friend who is a designer in Ft. Lauderdale but this time I got a room at a trendy boutique hotel - The Catalina and she met me there for both days. It was crazy, the hotel is very trendy, it was voted best place to model watch in '07. And true to its name there were half a dozen models checking out monday morning when I arrived. Many of the shows attendees were also staying at this hotel so I made lots of friends right away. The convention center was 2 blocks away and South Beach was 1 block away. I arrived monday, met about 6 people from the show, Elizabeth showed up and we walked to this street that has a bunch of restaurants and outdoor seating, it was awesome and the restaurant we chose had the best manager, we had a great night. The next day, we went to the show, walked half the floor and went to a seminar on spa design. That night we met at the bar and there was a tradeshow party across the street, that was a total rip off $90 for the tickets and you get all you can drink but the food was a cold veggie and dip buffet! The waiters walked around with skewered meat appetizers but were few and far between so for $90 I had two drinks, and three bite sized pieces of meat! A few of us decided to go find a better place to eat up the street, as we were walking by the Ritz Carlton there was an event happening at their restaurant and we were trying to read the sign to see what it was, when someone tapped me on my shoulder, I turned around and Channel 10 news camera was in my face and the newswoman was handing me a postcard with a painting of a bunch of naked people and in front of the painting was a bunch of naked people, she asked me what I thought about it and I asked "the painting or the orgy?" she said you tell me and I said "I dont know, is it art or is it an orgy?" she asked "would you participate?" and I said "no", then a long pause and I said "at least not for free" (that's what a couple of drinks will do). Then she asked one of the guys with us and he said he would do it but he had to leave for Chicago that day. So, we were probably on the evening news but we were'nt inside to watch so I'll never know.
The next day I walked the other half of the show floor and attended a couple of more seminars. One was on Dramatic Design which was a contest for someone to comeup with a design for a hotel in the future and it had to be feasible. There were 2 finalist, both had really good ideas and I expect to see both completed in the future. The audience got to vote who the winner was and they got$5,000. It was such a compelling seminar that nobody wanted to leave when it went over its alloted time. I voted for the posieden project which is a concept by a french man on an underwater hotel - it is so incredible I really hope it gets built although right now it's at an estimated $15,000 per person per night room rate. He's got it booked for the first 3 years once its completed. There was a panel of 5 judges within the hospitality industry that got to ask questions. Some of them were kind of lame. After that seminar I walked into the other seminar on the restaurant chain Social. The owner and the designer were there explaining the concept and implementation of the restaurant and now they are going to launch a hotel with the same name. They were unorganized speakers but they were still intriguing because the ideas are really exciting. I've decided to write seperate blogs on the things I learned because it would be too much for one blog.
Saturday I had to go through 5 bags of flyers, magazines, business cards and ads from the three shows so now I am in the process of flipping through the magazines. I hope this all goes to good use someday.
The second show was for Sarasota Association of Realtors - International Congress. I attended this event because I want to make new realtor contacts, and especially those focusing on the international client. It was an incredible 2 day show, I met some great people, and it was worth every cent. I learned so much and it really put a bug in my hat to become an international realtor.
The third show was for HD Boutique in South Beach. It stands for hospitality design for hotels and restaurants. I attend this show every year and am never disappointed. I am excited about all that I learned and have a few great news article ideas from it. Usually I stay with my friend who is a designer in Ft. Lauderdale but this time I got a room at a trendy boutique hotel - The Catalina and she met me there for both days. It was crazy, the hotel is very trendy, it was voted best place to model watch in '07. And true to its name there were half a dozen models checking out monday morning when I arrived. Many of the shows attendees were also staying at this hotel so I made lots of friends right away. The convention center was 2 blocks away and South Beach was 1 block away. I arrived monday, met about 6 people from the show, Elizabeth showed up and we walked to this street that has a bunch of restaurants and outdoor seating, it was awesome and the restaurant we chose had the best manager, we had a great night. The next day, we went to the show, walked half the floor and went to a seminar on spa design. That night we met at the bar and there was a tradeshow party across the street, that was a total rip off $90 for the tickets and you get all you can drink but the food was a cold veggie and dip buffet! The waiters walked around with skewered meat appetizers but were few and far between so for $90 I had two drinks, and three bite sized pieces of meat! A few of us decided to go find a better place to eat up the street, as we were walking by the Ritz Carlton there was an event happening at their restaurant and we were trying to read the sign to see what it was, when someone tapped me on my shoulder, I turned around and Channel 10 news camera was in my face and the newswoman was handing me a postcard with a painting of a bunch of naked people and in front of the painting was a bunch of naked people, she asked me what I thought about it and I asked "the painting or the orgy?" she said you tell me and I said "I dont know, is it art or is it an orgy?" she asked "would you participate?" and I said "no", then a long pause and I said "at least not for free" (that's what a couple of drinks will do). Then she asked one of the guys with us and he said he would do it but he had to leave for Chicago that day. So, we were probably on the evening news but we were'nt inside to watch so I'll never know.
The next day I walked the other half of the show floor and attended a couple of more seminars. One was on Dramatic Design which was a contest for someone to comeup with a design for a hotel in the future and it had to be feasible. There were 2 finalist, both had really good ideas and I expect to see both completed in the future. The audience got to vote who the winner was and they got$5,000. It was such a compelling seminar that nobody wanted to leave when it went over its alloted time. I voted for the posieden project which is a concept by a french man on an underwater hotel - it is so incredible I really hope it gets built although right now it's at an estimated $15,000 per person per night room rate. He's got it booked for the first 3 years once its completed. There was a panel of 5 judges within the hospitality industry that got to ask questions. Some of them were kind of lame. After that seminar I walked into the other seminar on the restaurant chain Social. The owner and the designer were there explaining the concept and implementation of the restaurant and now they are going to launch a hotel with the same name. They were unorganized speakers but they were still intriguing because the ideas are really exciting. I've decided to write seperate blogs on the things I learned because it would be too much for one blog.
Saturday I had to go through 5 bags of flyers, magazines, business cards and ads from the three shows so now I am in the process of flipping through the magazines. I hope this all goes to good use someday.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Designers Daily Journal 9/12/07
Ok, so I sort of dropped the ball with the blog for a few days. Here's the catch up. Thursday evening the people I thought were going to hire me decided to cancel our Friday shopping trip because they saw a model done by another designer and wanted to meet with her. This was fine because I had to fit them in on Friday to begin with. So on Friday I got ready for our family trip to Orlando for the Rock the Universe Christian Concerts at Universal Studios. We played all weekend in Orlando because it was my birthday and this is what we do for my "national holiday" as I told the kids. Monday I had blinds installed at a condo I finished up earlier in the year and I also met with the tile guy and the plumber at the "never ending job" I am currently trying to wrap up. I dont like the little straggly things that happen at the end of a job because I have to put so much of my time into it and the clients dont really want to pay for that time since in their minds the job is done. So, I took care of some small items then had to come back the next day to meet the electrician to hang the new chandelier. Found out that my usual electrician has a serious medical condition that came up over the weekend so he's laid up - I really hope he gets better because I've been working with him for four years and he's the best and I would feel horrible if something happened to him. I also learned that one of the contractors I'm working with lost his father to a motorcycle accident. They were very close and we are praying for his family as well.
Today I met with my artist friend to discuss the artwork for an upcoming condo remodel. I love being able to customize the artwork and she has great prices. The clients will get a unique piece and yet pay only what they would pay for mass-produced art. I'm really excited about the art that I chose. Next it was on the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance luncheon, the first one Ive been to and it had at least 200 people. I am really enjoying this group. Afterwards I stopped at Chasen Ried because one of the owners asked if I was interested in a job there, not knowing that I had my own business, but I like to introduce myself to people in the industry regardless if we can work together now or not. Turns out they needed a designer and I happen to know of one that is looking for a job. Then I finished the day with my evening Spanish class. Who knows I could be speaking Spanish - in 5 years! It seems overwhelming! But I will get it - eventually. Tomorrow I have my first Sarasota Association of Realtors event and am looking forward to making new contacts.
Today I met with my artist friend to discuss the artwork for an upcoming condo remodel. I love being able to customize the artwork and she has great prices. The clients will get a unique piece and yet pay only what they would pay for mass-produced art. I'm really excited about the art that I chose. Next it was on the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance luncheon, the first one Ive been to and it had at least 200 people. I am really enjoying this group. Afterwards I stopped at Chasen Ried because one of the owners asked if I was interested in a job there, not knowing that I had my own business, but I like to introduce myself to people in the industry regardless if we can work together now or not. Turns out they needed a designer and I happen to know of one that is looking for a job. Then I finished the day with my evening Spanish class. Who knows I could be speaking Spanish - in 5 years! It seems overwhelming! But I will get it - eventually. Tomorrow I have my first Sarasota Association of Realtors event and am looking forward to making new contacts.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Designers daily journal 9/6/07
First the good news: I had a great meeting with a specialist in Search Engine Optimization at the Small Business Development Council in Tampa today! He really knows his stuff and it was easy to understand and follow along. I told him that I wanted to get my website to the first page of the searches without having to pay for it (sponsored search). We looked at my website and he gave me lots of ideas on what I can do to get it to the first page and also other ways to create a more user friendly website. I came away with lots of ideas and cant wait to get started. It's going to take a good amount of time to write the new copy so I need to dedicate that time in my schedule.
Now the bad news: The couple that I had planned to furnish their new rental decided to not rush things and wait to make a decision. Of course my first instinct is to ask myself what I did wrong. But that's a bad mindset and entirely unjustified so I am working through it and know that whatever happens it's for the best. I hope they are not going to go for those other designers that the property management company also refers. They use the cheapest products and there is no talent to their designs at all. I guess you get what you pay for. It's like free advice...it's worth every penny you paid.
I practiced my spanish tonight with my kids who are also taking spanish this year. Its becoming a really fun family affair. My son laughed because mom has homework!
Now the bad news: The couple that I had planned to furnish their new rental decided to not rush things and wait to make a decision. Of course my first instinct is to ask myself what I did wrong. But that's a bad mindset and entirely unjustified so I am working through it and know that whatever happens it's for the best. I hope they are not going to go for those other designers that the property management company also refers. They use the cheapest products and there is no talent to their designs at all. I guess you get what you pay for. It's like free advice...it's worth every penny you paid.
I practiced my spanish tonight with my kids who are also taking spanish this year. Its becoming a really fun family affair. My son laughed because mom has homework!
Designers Journal 9-5-07
I helped an older couple from Savannah arrange their furnishings in their new home. They are really a lovely couple to work with. As with most men, the husband was most concerned with his sound system and making sure it worked to it's best ability. This posed a challenge as his Bose speakers have a speaker in the back that is supposed to bounce off a flat surface (usually a wall) the speakers also could not be place closer than 18" to the t.v. This created a challenge because they have a lot of eclectic pieces of furniture and I wanted to put things on an angle rather than have everything up agains the walls in a rectangle. So we struggled with it for about 45 minutes trying different arrangements and I could tell he was very aggravated with the way the arrangement didnt accomodate his speakers. So, knowing that if I didnt make him happy the whole design was at stake, I tried an arrangement that worked for the speakers and I found a way to still get some items on an angle. It wasnt the optimum result but we were all happy with the end result. Even though I know how to make it look good, if the homeowners cant live with it than it is worthless, they have to be happy first.
I started my spanish class tonight. I learned a lot, it seems impossible to learn right now. There's a married couple in the class that dominate the class and constantly switch the focus of what is being taught. I'm pretty sure one of us will kill them before the class ends.
How do you say "Get a rope!"
I started my spanish class tonight. I learned a lot, it seems impossible to learn right now. There's a married couple in the class that dominate the class and constantly switch the focus of what is being taught. I'm pretty sure one of us will kill them before the class ends.
How do you say "Get a rope!"
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Designers Journal 9/4/2007
I spent the weekend catching up on paperwork and focusing on marketing products. I ordered postcards for a mailing I'm going to send the residents of one of the larger properties I've done work in. I also ordered postcards to drop off at the realtors offices in Lakewood Ranch. Each set of postcards was specifically tailored for the clients I'm wishing to reach. On LBK the post card has a testimonial from one of my former clients who has 2 units at the property. At LWR the postcards focus on theme designed rooms such as childrens rooms, game rooms, home theater rooms - I have some really awesome products for theme rooms and want to focus on that more.
Today was supposed to be a day of catching up on shopping for some smaller items for some clients but I got a call from a couple that was referred to me by one of the property management companies and the only time I could fit them in was today so I met with them and we decided to work together furnishing their condo to get it on the rental market. They are really a lovely couple. Thank you God for always sending me the nice people!
Today was supposed to be a day of catching up on shopping for some smaller items for some clients but I got a call from a couple that was referred to me by one of the property management companies and the only time I could fit them in was today so I met with them and we decided to work together furnishing their condo to get it on the rental market. They are really a lovely couple. Thank you God for always sending me the nice people!
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