NeoCon is a show bursting with tradition. Favorite dinner spots and fantastic showroom parties mix with an annual meeting and event schedule to form a foundation of rituals for showgoers. Many of us have travelled from company to company, crafting a career of rich experiences that often come to a point each June at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.
And while we might make bounds and leaps between companies, the A&D and contract furniture industries have a storied history of retaining their members for the duration of their careers…some of us might even have a pile of prized Spinneybeck Leather baseballs stowed away somewhere. This year, we’re starting a new tradition at officeinsight honoring those who’ve made a habit of attending NeoCon for 30 years or more. We know we’ve missed innumerable people who qualify for this award; we’ve selected this year’s individuals in no strategic manner, but with no intention to exclude. The following individuals are this year’s officeinsight >30 NeoConers.
Anneli Collins
>Company: CRI
>NeoCons attended: 34
>Quote: “I only attend NeoCon with a martini in my hand…” (Fortunately she was at the Luna textiles party Monday evening!)
David Ebert
>Company: DFM
>NeoCons attended: 35
>Quote: “Incest at best.”
Casey Journigan
>Company: Arcadia
>NeoCons Attended: 40
>Quote: “The one thing I enjoy the most about NeoCon is the same thing that has kept me in the industry this long, and that is the people. Every year the highlight for me is seeing old friends and making new ones.”
Nancy Graham
>Company: Graham Design
>NeoCons attended: 31
>Quote: “Go Go 80’s!”
Susan Quentin
>Company: One Workplace
>NeoCons Attended: 31
>Quote: “It’s hysterical that we have to travel 3,000 miles to see our San Francisco BFFs!”
Dennis Cahill
>Company: New York Design Center
>NeoCons Attended: 36
>Quote: “Carm Carmarotto ran a large dealership in the Washington, DC market. When I’d been in the industry only a short time, I was thinking of leaving but Carm talked me in to staying. The last time I saw Carm was about six years ago at NeoCon. We talked, laughed, and I thanked him and told him how important he’d been in my life. A couple of weeks later, he passed away in his sleep. Thanks again, Carm.”
Dick Resch
>Company: KI
>NeoCons Attended: 47
>Quote: “I’ve never missed a NeoCon even though at times I’ve been sick or had to travel great distances to get here. At the first NeoCon, our showroom was tiny; only a few hundred square feet. But that tiny showroom is the space between two columns that are still part of our showroom today. Every time space has opened up on either side of us, we’ve taken it.”
Lori Sherwood
>Company: Enviroleather
>NeoCons attended: 37
>Quote: “It’s like high school, only without the bad hair!”
Jana Rabiah
>Company: Association for Contract Textiles
>NeoCons Attended: 37
>Quote: “At my first NeoCon I was with a colleague and we were the only two people on the elevator at 10:00 am on Monday…times have changed!”
John Rouse and Bob Beck
>Company: Contract magazine and officeinsight
>NeoCons Attended: >30 and 38 respectively
>Rouse Quote: “I never tire of NeoCon because of the renewal of friendships that I’ve been privileged to enjoy over the years and of course the constant stream of innovative products.
My first few NeoCons taught me that you can’t be “sociable” at every client event and be fully functioning the next day.
Last year was certainly a personal highlight as I was honored to receive the inaugural IIDA Legacy Award.”
>Beck Quote: “I love NeoCon – the whole thing. But one of my worst memories concerns a presentation to the Best of NeoCon jury. The product was a table system with legs that were “easy to remove and re-attach” and I couldn’t get the leg to go back on. I think mortified is an apt description”
Luis Mesa
>Company: Modern Closets and Doors
>NeoCons Attended: 30
>Quote: “At my first NeoCon, I was with Knoll, and we shared hotel rooms. Somebody got my name wrong and thought I was Louise, so at first I was assigned a room with a woman! But not for long.”
Arthur Sager
>Company: Quantum Strategies, Inc.
>NeoCons Attended: 35
>Quote: “I observed NeoCon over the years as an event that grew from primarily a contract furniture show heavily pushing office workstations to specifiers, to become a worldwide forum and marketing opportunity for design, products and general education for all.”