A couple of days before I left for Bangkok I flew to LA at the invitation of Debra Gold. Debra has been involved with buyer education programming for 18 years. That’s one reason why she was hired by the LA Mart to work on a number of projects. Among them was the first-ever Buyer’s Forum event, held during the Gift and Home Market on July 23, at which I spoke about home furnishings trends.
I had a wonderful time meeting and visiting with the high end retailers and select journalists who had been invited to attend my luncheon seminar. Together, they were a great audience with insightful questions and observations. And I truly enjoyed Debra Gold. She is a dynamic woman who will make a real difference to the LA Mart.
Debra wrote a note to thank me for my presentation. It made me feel so good that I just had to share it:
Dear Michelle:
A belated but sincere thank you for the superb job you did as a keynote speaker at the inaugural Retailer’s Forum event held during the July 2005 Gift & Home Market at the L.A. Mart.
You are such an excellent, engaging, and enlightening speaker! Your presentation was focused, compelling yet easy to understand, brilliantly conceived, beautifully delivered (despite the competition with the food servers…) and truly useful to those attending. All of the editors who attended took the time to tell me how helpful your presentation had been, and for three days after the event, I kept being stopped in the L.A. Mart hallways by delighted retailers exclaiming just how much they enjoyed your event.On behalf of Michelle Ovalle and the rest of the L.A. Mart team, thank you again for your wonderful performance. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you again in the near future!
Most cordially,
Debra Gold