Tradeshow Report

(July 2009)

NeoCon World’s Trade Fair 2009 Recap

The traffic at NeoCon World’s Trade Fair 2009, held at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart June 15 – 17 was noticeably light. Official post-show numbers confirmed that there were 36,853 attendees, lower than the 50,000 Merchandise Mart properties expected. However, Mark Falanga, Senior Vice President of MMPI, said, “The positive response from this year’s NeoCon demonstrates that tens of thousands of architects, designers and facility managers are actively engaged and that the contract furnishings industry remains strong, despite uncertain times.”

Though the lines for the elevators were more manageable this year, the buzz within the Merchandise Mart made it evident that vendors and attendees alike were ready to impress, be impressed, and experience great design. As a possible result of the struggling job market for interior designers and architects, the attendee demographic - just by walking the show floor -trended towards the younger end of the spectrum including the presence of many students and local designers. And with the innovative use of fashion and pop cultural-inspired booths, showrooms and social media, NeoCon delivered a fresh, yet still green message.

Armstrong Commercial Ceiling and Walls drew attendees into its “Rock the House” booth with pulsating music and nightclub-inspired lighting. By collaborating with other members of the EMerge Alliance -- an open industry association promoting the rapid adoption of safe, low voltage DC power distribution and use in commercial building interiors -- Armstrong introduced unique product offerings that received a positive response from both architects and interior designers. Its DC Flexstone Ceiling System and Green Genie sustainable project calculator were awarded Best of NeoCon Gold.

In December 2008, Mannington Commercial tx:style competition called on certified interior designers and architects with no more than seven years of experience to design a carpet pattern worthy of a full-line production. After an overwhelming response of more than 440 entries and registrants on the competition’s voting site who cast over 460,000 votes, the winner was announced in Mannington’s showroom at NeoCon. Meagan Webb’s “Squareberry” design took the top honors and will be developed in the coming months for an early 2010 launch.

Knoll, manufacturer of innovative and modern workplace furnishings, introduced the Generation by Knoll™ chair at NeoCon to positive reviews. Touted as “the first office chair that lets you sit how you want,” Generation is a representative of elastic design, meaning it is a product that responds to the user rather than having the user make adjustments to the product. It is also the first chair to be rated SMaRT© Sustainable Platinum, the highest level of the consensus-based sustainable product standards administered by the Institute for Market Transformation to Sustainability (MTS). SMaRT has been adopted by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Rating System, Sustainable Furniture Council, Wall Street Capital Markets Partnership and Fireman's Fund, among other organizations.

Haworth’s 23,000-square-foot LEED Gold-certified showroom was a vision of sunny yellow with an open layout. Visitors were encouraged to test out the furniture and relax by the reflecting pool. This was definitely one space that was difficult to bypass when walking through the halls. Each year the showroom is refreshed with a new look without making changes to the architectural platform, exhibiting Haworth’s dedication to being a provider of beautiful, effective and adaptable workspaces.

Crossville, manufacturer of premium porcelain stone tile, was another company with a music-inspired booth. From wearing tattoos that said “Crossville Rocks” to concert-type light scaffolding as structural elements, Crossville instilled a fun vibe to its products and space. Its UltiMetal tile product, born from a marriage between metal and its traditional porcelain stone, won a Best of NeoCon Gold award.

Social media was also in widespread use during NeoCon 2009.  Designer Pages, in collaboration with MMPI, launched the first Twitter contest for the A+D industry by using the hashtag #NeoCon09. Live streams of the content were displayed on large flat screens throughout the Merchandise Mart on each show day, and chosen “citizen bloggers” walked the show floor to report on the highlights through Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. Seeing the real-time updates of NeoCon happenings was a great motivator to visit more showrooms, meet more people, and fully experience the product offerings available.

The Best of NeoCon®, presented by Contract magazine and co-sponsored by Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., IIDA, IFMA, McMorrow Report.com, honored the best new commercial interiors products in categories from Alternative Office to Workplace Technologies. The video of winners can be viewed at www.contract-network.com.

For more information about NeoCon tweet Steve Kleber @stevekleber. And don’t forget to check out www.kleberandassociates.com regularly for our ongoing industry tradeshow reports. 

                 << Older                                                                                  Newer>>