2012 Featured Sessions

BE EMPOWERED. BE INFORMED. 

Coverings is the best educational and purchasing event in North America. The FREE Featured Sessions at Coverings 2012 empowered and educated attendees in Orlando. Stay tuned for 2013 Featured Sessions!

TUESDAY, APRIL 17

 

8:30 AM–10:00 AM
Marketing an Installation Company: The Web is Your Best Marketing Tool

Moderator: Christine Whittemore, Simple Marketing Now LLC 
Panelists: Amber Fox, Wirtz Quality Installations; Martin Howard, David Allen Company; Paige Smith, Neuse Tile Service; Dan Welch, Welch Tile and Marble; Chris Woelfel, Artcraft Granite Marble & Tile

Christine Whittemore is owner of Simple Marketing Now LLC, and a proven marketing consultant with expertise in the floorcovering industry. She has been working with several tile contracting companies for over a year in assessing their social media campaigns and will moderate a discussion with these companies in which actual tile installation firms can show the audience what they are doing in this crucial area of marketing.

 

12:30 PM–1:30 PM
Future Color Trends: Fantasies and Realities

Speaker: Leatrice Eiseman, Pantone Color Institute

In order to create the “magic” in the marketplace that ultimately leads to sales, colors for 2013 will need to coax and cajole, soothe or astonish, renew and replenish. At the same time, there will be the consumer’s expectation of practicality – what colors have staying power and can be relied upon as a steadying influence in unsteady times. Skillfully balanced color palettes that play to their practical side, while satisfying their aspirations, hopes and needs for something novel will remain key to enticing the would-be consumer or client.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18

 

9:15 AM–10:15 AM
How to Prosper in the “New Normal” — Strategies for Navigating the Terrain During Turbulent Times

Speaker: Sandy Smith, Sandy Smith Seminars

Discover innovative ways of leading and thriving “in spite of” exponential change, increased customer expectations and a volatile international economy. Sandy Smith will spell out the kind of mindset and skill set required to compete in today’s “whitewater” business environment.

 

2:45 PM–3:45 PM
Mixology: Eclecticism is the Perfect Interior Cocktail

Speaker: Jamie Drake, Drake Design Associates

Join Jamie Drake FASID as he explores the trend of widely eclectic assemblages in interior design. Personality driven design is the most interesting direction of today, and the one his broad range of successful clients want. Be inspired by Jamie’s innovative style to explore new and exciting possibilities in the spectrum of hard surface finishes.

Sponsored by:  

 

2:45 PM–3:45 PM
Triple Your Profit: Stop Being a Profit Soldier and Start Being a Profit Winner

Speaker: Albert Bates, Profit Planning Group

Dr. Albert Bates, popular speaker and professional author on profit planning for small businesses, has penned a new book titled "Triple Your Profit"; Stop Being a Profit Soldier and Start Being a Profit Winner. The book is a practical business training and online template for hard working business owners and managers. Triple Your Profit is a four-part Profit Improvement System that offers a step-by-step plan to drive higher return on your bottom line. Twenty-one profit improvement exhibits will show how every concept works in your company. A planning template to quickly and easily develop a high profit plan is included.

THURSDAY, APRIL 19

 

9:15 AM–10:15 AM
Reinventing Your Organization...Tools for Leaders/Managers to Develop and Retain Talent in Uncertain Times

Speaker: Sandy Smith, Sandy Smith Seminars

Learn practical and proven methods for creating an organizational culture of "peak performers" who are highly engaged and committed to each other’s success.

 

9:15 AM–10:45 AM
Open for Business: Why Transparency is Mandatory in the Online Marketing Age

Speaker: Marty Gould, Focalize Consulting

The Internet has empowered customers. They’re now in charge, dictating all aspects of the sales process, from what they’ll pay to how and when products and services are packaged and delivered. As home buying and remodeling customers emerge from the worst recession in nearly a century, their mindsets are permanently altered. The information they seek is more than research; it’s the test they put each and every business through to see if they meet a high standard of trustworthiness. The more open the business, the more likely it will pass the test. NOTE: Marty works with many stone & tile companies and relates this important topic to our industry.

 

1:30 PM–2:30 PM
The State of the Union: Architectural Trends & Influences

Facilitator: Marc Kushner, Architizer.com

Panelists: Jason Richard Adams, Max Strang Architecture; Michael Halflants, AIA, LEED AP, Halflants + Pichette Design/Build; Jason Jenson, AIA, LEED AP, Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Inc.

Join Marc Kushner, Founder of Architizer.com, to continue the lively discussion he has created online. With panelists recruited from the Architizer community, Kushner will moderate an interactive session in which the latest trends and influences in architecture across various vertical categories such as retail, education and healthcare will be examined. It promises to be a dynamic program with an exchange of ideas, opinions and involvement from audience members, as well.