I have spoken this week to many of my colleagues who are taking advantage of the year-end quiet to catch up on a few things in the office. I am doing likewise, getting through all the mail, reading and messages that have piled up while I have been in Europe and preparing our newest product for our subscribers (Once Around™: Europe at Christmastime, our new CD trend report featuring pictures of retail in Paris, London and Hamburg will be ready to ship in a few days; you can pre-order with Cathy DeBono).
I know I am experiencing a false sense of calm and a temporary one at that. That’s because on January 9, the annual merry-go-round of domestic trade shows and foreign fairs begins in earnest. This year’s schedule means three trips to Europe and four trade fairs there within 33 days for me. This is the tightest schedule I can remember.
While I am in Paris (for Maison & Objet) and Frankfurt (for Heimtextil, Christmas World and Ambiente – the Messe Frankfurt fairgrounds are shown at left), The Trend Curve™ will have editorial correspondents in Cologne (for imm), New York (for the International Gift Fair and Accent on Design) and Las Vegas (for the Las Vegas Market). It’s quite a schedule for all of us.
Meanwhile, I was asked to give a talk at the Las Vegas market by my dear friends at Accessory Merchandising, a trade magazine about the decorative accessory business from Vance Publishing. I’ll be speaking in the South Pacific Ballroom at the Mandalay Bay hotel at 9am on February 1, 2006. If you are at the market, please stop by and say hello.