• EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW
• COUNTING DOWN TO SURTEX 2010
• UPDATES & UPGRADES
• MEET THE MANAGEMENT
• EDITOR'S INSIGHTS

2010 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

1. How to Find, Interact & Work with Manufacturers Who
   License Art
2. Trend presentation

1. Legal Workshop Part I: Contracts and More
2. Legal Workshop Part II: Protecting Your Artwork
3. Leveraging the Economy to Enhance Your Business
4. Trend presentation

1. Keynote: Keeping Your Art Fresh, Productive And Trend-Right
2. Point of View: Retailers Share Their Thoughts
3. Using the Internet & Social Networking Media to Grow
   Your Business

Registration for the full Conference program package is available in advance for $700 and includes free admission to the show. A half-program package of five sessions is $300, also available in advance. Once the show is open, registrations for individual sessions will be accepted, space permitting.

For more program information, visit surtex.com and read On the Surface for further announcements about speakers and topic details.

MEET THE MANAGEMENT

STEPHANIE LEON-SANTIAGO:
SHE'S MANAGING EXHIBITOR MARKETING IN THE
SHADOW OF THE STORK

Don’t look for Stephanie Leon-Santiago at SURTEX this May. Never mind that she’s spent the entire past year getting things ready for the show – organizing exhibitors, creating manuals and webinars, managing the SURTEX website. She’ll miss out on the actual production.

But that’s okay with her.

Along with her day job as the Exhibitor Marketing Manager, Stephanie has been working full time at her other job, adding another member to the family that already includes three-year-old Sienna Rose. The race is on and Stephanie is happily resigned to letting the stork win. By the time SURTEX opens its doors at the Javits Center on May 16, the son she and husband Anthony are expecting should be just a few weeks old. He’s due on May 4.

"So this year, unfortunately, I will not be able to attend the show," Stephanie says. But her influence will be felt in everything from the bold new design of the branding program to the marketing materials she develops for exhibitors. A three-year veteran at GLM, Stephanie started her career in the publishing industry after winning a master’s degree in publishing, sales and marketing from Pace University. Her undergraduate studies – at SUNY at Purchase College – earned her the BA in journalism she put to work, first in sales for Country Home magazine, then as a coordinator in sales and marketing.

Daughter Sienna Rose’s birth prompted a brief new career – full-time mom, Stephanie reports. The family was then living in White Plains where Anthony is dean of Advisement for Berkeley College, White Plains campus. GLM is also located in White Plains, and the rest is history on Stephanie’s resume.

Joining GLM as Exhibit Sales Coordinator three years ago, she was promoted to her current position in the fall of 2008 with expanded responsibilities that include not only SURTEX but also the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show, and the National Stationery Show, which runs concurrently with SURTEX.

What does she do in her "spare" time? Stephanie just smiles when you ask, but she has answers: "Read, travel, and spend time with friends and family"…which is exactly what she’ll be doing as the SURTEX show unfolds this spring.

EDITOR'S INSIGHTS

EDITOR'S REPORT: RETAIL PICTURE THAWING, CONSUMERS WARM TO 'COMFORT FOOD' DESIGNS

Editor and industry savant Warren Shoulberg has comforting words for retailers still struggling through the Great Recession.

"Meatloaf and mashed potatoes," he says with his trademark twinkle. "Or whatever is the equivalent in home furnishings."

Editor and associate publisher of HFN, the venerable home furnishings newsweekly that’s a must-read for anyone in the industry, Warren took a break, literally, from the round of January trade shows he covers, back-to-back, in Atlanta, Frankfurt, and Paris, to assess the state of the industry for On the Surface.

His report is tinged with optimism, however warily. "There are indications that things are picking up," he says. "Stores are ordering again. They have to. There’s nothing left on the shelves to sell."

What stores are ordering fits Warren’s menu for the recovery. "’Comfort food’ design. It’s what the masses are after. They want to hunker down, be comforted. Which pretty much rules out minimalist modern."

The Codeword is Casual

What the attitude rules in, he says, is everything casual. "Casual Country, Traditional Casual …pick your own adjective to fill in the blank after ‘casual.’"

Still, there are new design ideas emerging that promise to enliven the home furnishings market, Warren reports. Metallics are gaining importance, this time on the warm side," he says. "Silver’s run has peaked; now we’re seeing gold, bronze, copper. In fabrics and furnishings, as well as accessories."

Prints Are Reappearing

Also noteworthy, prints are picking up after a decade when Warren says they were "the kiss of death. Maybe it’s the natural cycle bringing them around again, but we saw prints in High Point (the giant furniture show) and in the textile market. Vera’s come charging back into business. Ditto, Marimekko (the Finnish designer famed for color-drenched prints)."

Both are widely recognized names in the licensing industry. Name recognition is one key to successful licensing, Warren points out. Another is exclusivity. "Retailers will pay for good design when it comes with exclusivity," he says. "If it’s good design and it’s exclusive to them, then they’re always hot to trot."


Editor’s Note: Hear more of Warren Shoulberg’s industry insights during SURTEX, where he will be a Conference speaker on Monday, May 17, talking about "Leveraging the Economy to Enhance Your Business."

COUNTING DOWN TO SURTEX 2010

It’s January and marketing/public relations veteran Kay Degenhardt asks:
“Once you’ve got your media kit covered, do you know what to do next?”

To do this month:
Make a media kit that attracts attention. Know how to follow through when it does.

By now, I hope you’ve designed and produced a cover for the press materials you’ll be giving out at SURTEX 2010 – something brilliant that reflects your individual taste and style, quite literally, from the outside-in.

If your kit cover really works, an editor should get a good feeling for your art from the moment he or she picks it up. In fact, just getting an editor to pick it up in the first place is a major triumph, so think curb appeal, think color, think out-of-the box. Definitely think out of the envelope: your media kit should be easy to grab and peruse – no sealed envelopes. Few editors will bother looking to see if there’s something of interest inside.

The cover of your kit has to call to them from out of the crowd. Some thoughts: a glossy kit cover in bright orange filled with flowers from your new collection, with your studio name stenciled down the right margin of the front cover. Or, say your collection is devoted to small-scale decorating. Reflect it by making your press kit a stack of business-sized cards on a key-ring, each card printed with a hint of your designs.

Whatever enticing device you come up with, make sure you’ve put your contact information on every page, every photograph and promotional piece. Pages can fall out of a folder, photos can detach from their captions, CDs can slip from their covers.
Editors in a hurry have no time for identity crises: tape or print captions on the back of each photo, print IDs directly on discs, label each page of copy with your name, phone number, and e-mail address, so it’s always easy for the media to get in touch with you.

At the same time, it’s critical that you follow-up with every editor/reporter you meet. Don’t expect them to track you down. Pick up the phone, thank them for taking time to meet with you, and let them know you’d be pleased to send your information…even if that means sending it again. A nuisance, maybe, but worth it. Remember, editors are sought after by hundreds – it not thousands – of resources every day, every month, every year.

Big companies, small start-ups, independent designers like you – everyone is after what that editor can give them: precious space. And that space can equal profits for you. It can make you a heckuva lot more valuable to potential licensees. It can create a desire for your work in the consumers’ mind.

So let’s say you luck out with an editor and a national magazine wants to do a feature story on you. Here’s where you really have to step up to the plate. Meet all deadlines. Provide all the materials they need. Make yourself available on their terms, not yours.

And when the story comes out, be quick to buy loads of copies and set up a nice big fat file of your article. You’re going to find ways to get all the mileage you can out of it. That kind of exposure is worth more than gold…well, you’ll find out.

Most important: write a thank-you note to the editor. Then keep in touch with him or her as time goes on. Take press contacts very seriously: they are worth a fortune.

I can’t wait to see your press materials at SURTEX in May. Any questions meanwhile, drop me an e-mail at katiedegen@yahoo.com.

A CLOSE-UP ON CONFERENCE

We asked conference speaker Suzanne Cruise, owner and president of Cruise Creative Services, to preview the points she’ll be covering in Core Basics of Art Licensing, Part II (Sunday, May 16, 11:30 am -1 pm). Here’s some of what you’ll learn:

1. How to assess your work.
    
2. What makes work ‘right’ for art licensing?
    
3. How to pull a library/portfolio together to make a strong presentation.
    
4. What’s the current state of retail and how does it affect the artist and agent, as well as the manufacturer?
    
5. Is an agent necessary? How to succeed if you’re going it alone. How to know if a potential agent is a good fit by asking the right questions.

UPDATES AND UPGRADES

ReSource: The new ‘nuts and bolts’

A first-time-ever new feature on the SURTEX show floor, the 2,000-square foot ReSource section will feature the latest technological and business solutions artists and designers need to turn their studios into a functioning, cutting-edge business.

Created to serve the applied art industry, the new area will be valuable to both exhibitors and attendees, offering new software, new hardware and web-related tools, plus publications, trend services and reference materials. There will also be one-on-one product demonstrations throughout the show.

In addition to supplying new tools for creativity, the innovative section is expected to stimulate new ideas, according to Penny Sikalis, vice president and show manager.

As she points out, "Savvy designers are always interested in claiming the newest technologies and finding creative ways to transform them into the fresh images of the future."

Designext: March 10 deadline for the Student Design Competition.

It’s 25 years old, but everything’s new about the annual International Student Design Competition for 2010, including the deadline for submissions – it’s been extended to March 10. Honoring outstanding art and design students for exceptional surface design work, the competition has been re-named – it’s now designext – and re-worked – its aim is to bring the winners into the design industry itself.

This year’s challenge is to create a minimum of six original surface designs (max is nine) that can be used in a residential interior five years from now, in the year 2015. The focus is on fabrics, wall and floor coverings, and various accessories.

"We’re encouraging students to be creative, inventive and dramatic, at the same time, keeping in mind the designs’ viability in the marketplace," said GLM VP Penny Sikalis, SURTEX show manager.

Four initial winners will be SURTEX guests for a five-day stay in New York, while their projects are on-display for the thousands of industry leaders attending the show. In addition, their portfolios will be professionally critiqued and presented to SURTEX participants.

Ultimately, one Grand Prize $1,000 winner will be selected on May 17. He or she will also receive special mention on the SURTEX website for a year, and letters of recommendation to prospective employers.

"The Student Competition has been a popular feature for 25 years," Penny points out.
"But this year we’ve refocused it to give the winners meaningful exposure to the business of art and design licensing."

NYNY: A Helluva Town…

Start making your plans to see all the sights your schedule can stretch to while you’re here for SURTEX. Sites to check out in advance are a click away on the SURTEX website at www.surtex.com. Ditto for a guide to good restaurants, and local train, bus, and subway information. You can even preview New York’s weather conditions. And did we mention getting the lowest possible rates on New York City hotels?

SURTEX-AT-A-GLANCE

MAY 16-18, 2010
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center,

New York City

1. The only trade show dedicated to the sale and licensing of original art and design.
2. Previews color and design trends for 2011 and beyond.
3. Attracts nearly 300 exhibitors and 6,000 attendees from all over the U.S., and some 40 countries in Europe, Scandinavia, and the East.
4. Now conveniently located on one contiguous floor, directly adjacent to the National Stationery Show®.
5. Runs concurrently with the International Contemporary Furniture Fair®, also in the Javits Center.
6. Managed and produced by the trade show experts at GLM®, LLC.
7. Visit www.surtex.com.