Wallcoverings Assn. Presents Awards, Hosts Educational Workshops for Industry
The Wallcoverings Association (WA) last week held its 2018 Annual Meeting in Clearwater Beach, Florida. The Annual Meeting drew more than 150 wallcoverings distributers and suppliers to the Opal Sands Resort, where attendees experienced two and a half days of dedicated networking and curated education.
In addition to dedicated networking, the Annual Meeting offered an impressive main stage lineup, including talks from motivational speaker Chip Eichelberger of Big Speak; insights into the future of the hospitality industry from Rouse Media President Glenn Haussman; an update from Vinyl Institute CEO Dick Doyle; a compelling talk on the multi-generational workforce by Phil Gwoke of BridgeWorks; and a 2018 trends forecast from Interior Design publisher Carol Cisco.
Sunday’s opening networking reception brought attendees together for cocktails and conversation. Monday evening honored two influential figures in the wallcoverings industry. During a dedicated dinner, the WA honored Gary Morris, founder of Eykon Design Resources, with the President’s Award, and Janice Hofmann, President of Creative Strategies Public Relations, with the Service Excellence Award.
WA Executive Director Matt Bruno also unveiled a redesigned website, with the WA’s 2018 goal of promoting the beauty and experience of wallcoverings taking center stage to define commercial and residential spaces. “The new look and feel of our website communicates what we envision for the WA and the industry as a whole, as we look to the future,” said Bruno. “We have worked to position our website as a resource hub for the industry. With our new design and increased ease-of-use, we feel we are poised to deliver on our commitment to wallcoverings.”
For the first time, Annual Meeting attendees had the opportunity to reserve pop-up meeting rooms in which they held individual supplier meetings. The chance to meet one-on-one is a unique aspect of WA’s Annual Meeting and allows for meaningful connections to be made and maintained year-over-year.
The 2019 WA Annual Meeting will take place January 26 – 29 at the Key Largo Marriott in Key Largo, FL.
About the Wallcoverings Association
The Wallcoverings Association (www.wallcoverings.org) is a member-based, not-for-profit organization focused on manufacturing, distributing and overall sales within the wallcoverings industry. It is active in developing and maintaining industry standards including industry average Environmental Product Declarations and the NSF/ANSI 342 third-party certification. The WA provides a vehicle for communication across segments of the wallcoverings industry, while educating consumers, designers and specifiers about the use of wallcoverings in the commercial and residential markets.
