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IIDA Convenes Industry Roundtable

Issues like copyright were discussed.

Laura B. Weiss -- Interior Design, 10/8/2007 12:00:00 AM

With the focus on the global reach of the interior design profession, the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) drew designers and manufacturers’ representatives to Chicago last month for its 11th annual Industry Roundtable.

For those working as designers as well as for producers, the marketplace can be fraught with issues that span national borders. This year’s annual meeting, held September 7-9, addressed some of these thorny issues.

"The focus of this year’s Industry Roundtable was on the international facet of our industry and underscored the importance of sharing knowledge between our manufacturers and interior designers," says Brian Graham, the meeting’s facilitator.

Among the topics discussed were trends in design worldwide, including protecting products from illegal knock-offs. The participants also talked about the challenges designers and manufacturers face when attempting to forge partnerships and create distribution channels abroad.

Manufacturers who convened in Chicago included: Allsteel, Haworth, Kimball Office, Luna Textiles, Masland Contract, Mohawk Carpet, and Shaw Contract Group. Among the designers representing industry specialties from health care to hospitality were: Jim Walker, Giselle Newman Young, Elise Shapiro, Deborah Loveridge, Linda Gabel, Belinda Bennett, and Holley Henderson.

IIDA offered its members a Continuing Education Unit credit based on the meeting’s proceedings, which will appear in the 2008 issue of the IIDA publication, Perspective.