Configura Invites Attendees to Experience 9th Annual CET Designer User Conference “The Swedish Way”
Sweden-based company’s annual conference returns to Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA; adds Developer Conference to slate
Configura’s 9th annual CET Designer User Conference is right around the corner – and it’s returning to the Sweden-based company’s second hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
The 9th annual CET Designer User Conference will be held Oct. 18 and 19 at DeVos Place in Grand Rapids. A pre-conference welcome event for attendees will be the evening of Oct. 17. The conference previously was held in 2013 and 2014 in Grand Rapids – the city known as the office furniture capital of the world. It has also been held in Las Vegas and, most recently, in Orlando.
“The CET Designer User Conference is several days of learning, getting inspired and meeting some very creative people. And our users are thrilled to be returning to Grand Rapids. It’s where Configura’s U.S. office is based, and many of our major manufacturer customers are headquartered in West Michigan,” Configura Vice President of Global Customer Experience Tracy Lanning said.
Color expert Laura Guido Clark will keynote the conference that’s expected to draw hundreds of design professionals and office furniture manufacturers. International Association of Interior Designers CEO Cheryl Durst will also speak at the conference.
Design for Change – keynote presented by Laura Guido Clark
Laura Guido Clark, principal of Laura Guido Clark Design based in Berkeley, California, specializes in the skin of products – their colors, materials and finishes. Her expertise extends from manufacturing work for such clients as Toyota, Samsung, LG and Hewlett-Packard to textiles and pattern design for FLOR, HBF, Pallas and Uncommon. In 2011, she founded Project Color Corps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to painting urban neighborhoods with color and pattern to convey messages of optimism and hope. Laura’s keynote will focus on how design can bring about much-needed change to an organization or an environment.
Design and Culture: A Global Imperative – presented by Cheryl Durst
Cheryl S. Durst, Honorary FIIDA, LEED AP, is the executive vice president and CEO of the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) where she leads the board and members of the organization, and champions and elevates the profession of interior design. Part of the IIDA team since 1997, Durst started her career in sales at Knoll and in marketing at The Washington Design Center in Washington, DC. She is a sought-after speaker on “The Future of Design” and other explorations into the value of design as a social, cultural and economic force. She is the creator and curator of IIDA’s innovative What Clients Want publication series that examines the designer-client relationship. Durst has been called by Interior Design magazine “an ambassador for innovation and expansion, and a visionary strategist.”
Other speakers – CET Designer experts, Configura team members and industry leaders – round out presentations and breakout sessions, including these CET Designer “power peers”:
- Tami Shulsen, Design Director at Midwest Commercial Interiors
- Lauren Adams, RID, IIDA, Design Director at The Spencer Company
- Julie McHood, NCIDQ Certified Interior Designer at Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City
- Ashley Harris, Analytical Designer at Pomerantz
- Terese Acou, Senior Scrum Master at Dematic
- Emily Drake, Partner/CEO of Flank 5 Academy
Attendees will have the opportunity to earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Configura’s sessions and courses have been approved by the Interior Design Continuing Education Council (IDCEC) for CEU credits. CEUs typically are accepted by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), Interior Designers of Canada (IDC) and the International Interior Design Association (IIDA).
Developer Conference
In conjunction with the CET Designer User Conference, Configura will also host a developer conference.
“The goal is to bring designers and developers together, so they can talk with each other about what’s possible with the software. Their conversations will be the start of new ideas and features for CET Designer,” Chief Product Officer Nicklas Dagersten said.
Both conferences will also include breakout sessions and tracks specific to space planning and design, and IT and software development.
Why attend the conferences
“Five reasons why designers and developers should attend: networking opportunities, learning best practices, shaping the future of CED Designer, earning CEUs and having fun,” Lanning said.
Indeed, fun is a big part of the agenda – and Tuesday-night pre-conference welcome events as well as a Wednesday-night party showcase Grand Rapids’ landscape and nightlife.
Free subscription to CET Designer
Attendees have the opportunity to earn a free one-year new subscription to CET Designer for each dealer that sends a user to the conference, a value of $1,000. (Extensions not included; offer applies to additional, new subscriptions only, not renewals. Limit of one free subscription per dealership.)
9th annual Best of CET Designer Awards
CET Designer users are encouraged to enter their best work created in the software in the 9th annual CET Designer Awards. There is no cost to enter. Deadline to submit entries is Oct. 7.
Categories:
Best Success Story
Prizes: $1,500 in cash prizes
Projects completed in CET Designer.
Best Video
Prizes: Cash prizes.
Fly-thru videos created in CET Designer.
Best Rendering of a Workplace
Prizes: Cash prizes.
Renderings of workplaces created in CET Designer.
Best Rendering of a Kitchen – NEW CATEGORY IN 2016
Prizes: Cash prizes.
Renderings of kitchens created in CET Designer.
Learn more
Learn more at www.configura.com/userconference.
About Configura
Configura creates intelligent space-planning software for manufacturers, dealers and designers in the Contract Furniture, Kitchen and Bath, Material Handling, Industrial Machinery, and Laboratory and Healthcare industries. The company’s software products, including CET Designer, are used by more than 10,000 people around the world. Configura Sverige AB, the parent company, is headquartered in Linköping, Sweden, with commercial operations in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Founded in 1990, Configura is privately owned with more than 120 employees worldwide and annual sales of more than $13 million USD. More information at www.configura.com.
About CET Designer
Based on technology created by Configura, CET Designer is intelligent, highly visual and intuitive space-planning software that simplifies specifying and selling of products in a variety of industries. It’s a complete solution that quickly and accurately handles every step of the sales and order process. In CET Designer, components that represent manufacturers’ products look and behave like actual products. Users drag and drop components into 2D and 3D virtual environments; behind the scenes, the software tracks components, calculates pricing and prevents user errors. Users can create and generate layouts, quotes, photorealistic renderings, movies, installation drawings, reconfigurations and bills of materials – in other words, everything needed to propose on work and place orders. CET Designer is the future of space planning. More information at www.configura.com/cet.
