Bloggiversary Giveaway WINNER!

Okay, post number two:(And, yes, I know that I said I would keep post number one short & sweet, and then commenced to ramble on. Sorry.)

Photo above shows me in San Francisco, reading my blog and your great ideas!

Your generous and kind comments are below, each followed by my responses:

Bacchus said...
I'm flattered that I was mentioned in your anniversary blog! Congratulations on one year! Hope there are many more to come.I'll be at SFIGF on Saturday. Hope to see you there. If you get a chance I recommend dinner at Catch or Andalu! While I love reading about merchandising in retail, I really do miss it, what about how to apply merchandising to the home as well. I also like hearing about resources, etc for merchandising.

Bacchus, I didn’t see you at the show. And I’m bummed. I was at a few parks in San Francisco over the past few days (Yerba Buena Gardens and one atop Nob Hill), and each time I saw daddies with their darling little boy babies, I thought of you - and wondered if it WAS you!

Okay, well, I can tell you that I do indeed plan to share more on using merchandising tips for home use! (You read my mind!) And since you are SO on the same wavelength as I am right now, YOU WIN!!!!! Yep, I’ll send you the book – so email me at debi@thedecodiva.com and give me your address, and I’ll get it off in the mail to you so you can drool over the pages! (That should take care of your ‘merchandising deficiency’ for awhile!)

Got that, everyone?
The WINNER is BACCHUS from San Francisco!

OK, more comments....

Saucy said...
I suppose, Deb, the only thing I can really say about wanting that book oh so desperately, is this:Living in Central Canada, we have no Pottery Barn. You can only imagine how this drives me wild. I just love traveling with my dh, and I always check to see if there is a PB where we are visiting, and then I map my way there so we can't miss it. He nicknamed me "Barney" for a bit! That said, I pack a tiny camera in my handbag and whip it out at every opportunity to take shots when I am IN THE STORE (yes, how utterly horrible of me, I know!) and I completely justify it by making purchases and going home to re-interpret the vingettes I've seen. However, I've been ushered out of an Anthropologie or two in my day due to this behaviour. Since I've engaged in such criminal acts, could you still reward me?

Woman, you crack me up! What a pitiful plea for sympathy. You Canuks will stop at nothing to get the most most value out of the American buck…. Okay, I’ll send you a book. A Pottery Barn Book. Just not THIS book. Stand by…..

(Saucy is a friend. A devious friend, at that. And be assured that I will demand some sort of blog-swap that will reward me for my generous sharing of my own Pottery Barn library just to make her happy and stop her from ruining her hubby's trips with PB detours.....)

Denise L. said...
Congratulations on your one year anniversary! I only recently discovered your blog and started reading it. Guess I have some back tracking to do to catch up.How about some shower ideas for weddings? I didn't see anything while I gave the categories a quick lookover.

Denise, thanks so much for visiting my blog! While I do occasionally share photos of my décor for private events, I am really really really trying NOT to go that route with my business! I love doing corporate events, especially in the wine industry. But private events are just not where my heart is. So, you won’t see very many ideas relating to wedding showers here. I can, however, suggest that you check out the blogs & web sites of famed wedding designers Colin Cowie, Preston Bailey, Rebecca Cole, and David Tutera. They all contain beautiful designs, amazing photos, and LOTS of inspiration which I am certain you will love! (sorry, I don't have time to find links - but if you google their names, you'll find them!)


Cheryl said...
Deb, I like visiting your blog because you give a different view of retail that a lot of us don't realize and that is great for me because I am in the process of deciding about whether to take the leap to become a business owner and all of these 'tricks' and display ideas are an awesome help as well as being inspiring!Also, Pottery Barn? YES!...But Storage? I NEED this.Congrats on your blogiversary!

Cheryl, You are not alone…we ALL need storage help! (Especially those of us who are ….ahem….’obsessive collectors of stuff’!) Many questions arise in the minds of those contemplating starting a business of any kind, and many facets of each industry are not easily seen by outsiders. I am happy to provide 'inside info' on merchandising & display to help! May I also suggest that if you are looking for info on having your own business, and support from other women who have followed this same path, you check out a few online resources that exist for women entrepreneurs. My favorite is, of course, Women Take Wing!, of which I am a founding partner. Tho we are a new presence on the web, we are experienced and have big things in store! You’ll find a wealth of information & links on our web site at www.womentakewing.com .

Others that you can check out are:

www.ladieswholaunch.com
www.makeminepink.com
www.theblissguild.com
I wish you much success as you move forward with this decision, Cheryl. And I hope that I can be of help to you!

Lidy said...
Your blog is a treasure trove! Even though I don't have a brick and mortar store, it is just as important to "merchandise" my web pages and catagories.I will enjoy reading your posts...there is a lot to catch up on!thanks so much for sharing all your tips and tricks and knowledge. Lidy

Lidy, thank you for the compliment! I do always hope that my blog is a source of inspiration to readers. And a big standing Ovation to you, for realizing that through whatever medium you use – a brick & mortar shop or a web store, an ad, a blog, a show booth - visual presentation of your product and your business is of paramount importance to your success! As you said, merchandising your web pages and categories is vital operating procedure. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a well-designed web presentation is worth a whole lotta’ money for your business!!!

I thank each and every one of you for taking time to read my blog and leave me these wonderful comments. Blogs aren't much fun without comments, ya know?! And if you have more ideas of things you'd like to read about here, let me know!!

Re-Entry

I'm back home and ticking off, one by one, all of the things I do when I return from out of town. I want to get this first blog post done so I can get to the one about the book giveaway.....so I'm keepin' this short & sweet!

The photos here show the displays I created at the SFIGF. Above is a shot of the location: main entrance to Moscone South Hall. The one below is of my buds, the GES guys, whom I called Ben & Jerry, working for .....oh, about NINE HOURS to put together the fixtures I was to build the displays on.
They made repairs to broken parts, fashioned new parts for those that were missing altogether, and jerry-rigged some solutions to big problems. My kinda' guys, ya know? (Like I always say. "With a roll of duct tape and some hot glue, you can hold the world together!") In their case, it was duct tape, wood putty, and a boatload of screws, but they got the job done, bless their hard-working macho hearts & muscles! Then I got to paint it after they bashed it with hammers and mallets and such.

I got my hands on the fixtures at eleven AM and noon, respectively, on Friday. I cleaned & painted them, then continued sorting all of the incoming products and tent cards (which I started at 8 AM), and finally arranged the displays all. in. one. day. I finished at 9 PM. I ate trail mix and drank Starbux all day to keep going, fueled by Brian Setzer, the B52's, and the GoGo's on my MP3 player. When I finally hobbled back to my hotel by 9:30 PM, I fell into bed and rang room service. At 10:30 I called to ask about my food, since it had not arrived yet. They lost my order. OY. I finally ate at eleven fifteen PM. Okay, rant done.

So this is what the assembled fixtures looked like:

I'm a nice person, I really am. I don't like to pick on people or bash their ideas. That being said....

THIS fixture? What a complete disaster. On so many levels, it just does not work. Nine hours of assembly was the first problem....not exactly cost-effective. Then there is the unstable construction, which Ben & Jerry tried to stabilize but it still wobbled to high heaven when I touched it. There is a REASON I placed no product on the top tier. I couldn't reach it, even on a 12 foot ladder. It sits back too far from the edge of the base. And you can't place a straight ladder on the base, against the uprights - because of that wobble. (DivaDeb is not willing to break a leg for her craft. No way, no how.)

I also have an issue with the huge amount of vacant space on the bases - behind that big horizontal shelf, there is probably ten cubic feet of wasted area. And blocked space - those uprights just totally block the view of merchandise on the shelves, with little tiny spaces inbetween them that are totally unusable.

Now, maybe the person who designed these didn't understand the nature of or sheer quantity of the merchandise that would be placed on them. Clearly, they weren't familiar with the incredible beating that fixtures like this get between shows, or that these were intended to be used more than once. The MDF construction blew to smithereens after the last show (which was the first show they were used at), and the 4X4 uprights warped. So, I talked with the show director, and we will be redesigning these for maximum efficiency.

Here is what they ended up looking like with exhibitor product on them, one for Fall themes and one for Winter themes:


(You can see the space problem, right?!) I'll add some pedestal units like those we use in Seattle, plus plexi cubes, for flexible-use surfaces in several configurations on the base unit - especially in that back 'wasted' area. Those uprights will be chopped off above the second shelf, with a platform attached atop them to hold more plexi cubes. And a hidden stabilizer for the uprights will be added, to keep them from wobbling. I'll also order signage, backdrops, and overhead lighting for this at the next show, just to really set off the products as they should be.

It's never too late to fix a mistake like this. It may be expensive and time consuming at first, but it's still not a mistake. The mistake would be doing nothing in this case, trying to work with this fixture as is and investing hours of time repairing it for each show setup. Not under MY watch!!!!

((Okay, so now I sound like a complete and utter Diva, baggin' on the design that some other display stylist came up with . Sorry. I just know what works, and how it has to work for this use. This doesn't, so now I have to fix it because that's what I've been hired to do: make it work the way it's supposed to. By sharing these thoughts with you, I hope it helps you see solutions to some of your own dilemmas!))

Next post: My comments on YOUR comments, and a winner is announced!

Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs

I am proud to announce the launch of a new place on the web for women entrepreneurs...

'Women Take Wing!' Inc. is a business organization founded by three women with a passion to help others succeed. Dori Hallberg, Stephanie Zea, and I hatched this idea in March and have been working non-stop on all of the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes into starting a business. Our web site went live this morning, the first visible part of our business to take flight. It includes just a smattering of the inspiring and informative content that we have in store.

Please click here or on the logo over in my sidebar to visit our web site and blog.

Browse around our little online nest, see who we are and what we have to offer, discover some great resources, and meet some amazing women who have supported us through our formation and are now charter members. And stay tuned for more, coming soon!

Information on joining us as a member of our organization is available there, as well - for Together, we will SOAR!TM

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

On Wednesday July 25, this blog o' mine will reach the milestone of it's first year!
(Now, I realize that this may not be a big deal in the larger Bloggiverse, but in the Diva's world, it's an accomplishment worth celebrating!)

Not only are most of my projects temporal in nature - intended for a short duration and even then, they are constantly subject to change - but I tend to have this annoying weakness of not being a good 'finisher'. I lack that brain cell necessary for sustained interest. Everything has to be new, fresh, changing, all.the.time. I need visual stimulation, and I need it NOW.

Books, magazines, tv shows, shopping....always on the lookout for the next idea, the next creative impulse. An addiction, really. And so this blogging thing is just my thing: I can surf, view, read, investigate, and get inspired by new and changing info daily. Hourly, even! And I can share my bizarre ideas and projects here - where things are constantly in a state of flux, just the way I like it.

The real upside to all of this is meeting amazing people from so many varied walks of life. It is incredible to me the scope of art and creativity and lifestyles that are present in the Bloggiverse. I am awed!!! You have to know that I am completely blown away that Bacchus and MJ and Rosanna (a true celeb!) and so many other wonderful visually like-minded souls pop in here to read my thoughts and share their comments, along with my friends Amy and FABulous Jen and a few others. You really keep me on my toes! I also love that this foray into blogging - necessitating hours on the computer, my former enemy - has resulted in my learning new skills (ahem....the Diva is a formerly technologically disenfranchised woman, remember? I'm gettin' better....I have actually learned HTML code. CODE. A year ago I thought 'code' was...well, a secret code. duh.) Yes, Jen, you are right: You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!

So, in celebration of this momentous anniversary, and to say thank you to all of you who drop in and read my ramblings here, I'd like to offer a 'door prize', if you will. I've got an extra copy of this FABulous book

and I'd just love to give it to YOU!

So leave me a comment, and tell me something you'd like me to write about. It can be something to do with retail display or seasonal decorating or small business branding or....well, you tell me!

When I return from the SFIGF next Sunday, I'll read thru all of the comments, choose one that stands out (for a GOOD reason!) and announce the winner in a post here on Monday. Then that person can send me their mailing info and I'll send off the book!

In the meantime, if you are at the SFIGF this week/weekend, look me up at the entrance to Moscone South Hall. I'll be camped out there creating a display of products on either side of the doors. Saturday, I'll be there early in the morning before I walk the show, then I'm heading out to do some 'tourista' things in the city - the ferry building, the cablecars, shoppping darling indie boutiques. Eating authentic Chinese food. Tea at the St. James. This is the only vacation I get this summer - a day and a half in San Fran. Gotta' make the best of it!

And when I return, we'll do the book thing, then I'll share what I saw at the show and around the city. (Yes, that's a warning that I'll be showing you my 'vacation photos'! LOL )

Sorry, Kermit....

...It really IS easy being green!

This just arrived in my email inbox from Home Accents Magazine:

"AmericasMart Atlanta debuts its Green Product Showcase this week, offering market attendees a look at the variety of recycling, repurposing and environmentally-friendly options available in a wide range of price points and designs."

And check out 'green' lifestyle expert Danny Seo's testimony on the subject in Washington recently:Mr. Seo Goes To Washington. He's posted it on his blog, Simply Green, a fab resource for Earth-conscious lifestyle, business, and decorating ideas. I've included it in my sidebar blog links so you can easily check in with Dan-O and see what ideas he's germinating. (Pun intended!)

It's a hot topic, to be sure. I was on the phone with the marketing director for Western Exhibitors Show Production the other day, discussing the 'Green Display' I'll be designing for the Seattle Gift Show in August. Here's Earth-friendly info from Western Exhibitors Shows:

"Be Part of the "Green" revolution! As you are well aware, green is big! More companies and manufacturers worldwide are jumping on the green bandwagon. This is not just good for the environment, but it is also good for business.

The SFIGF and SGS management teams have been receiving more requests from retailers to provide a resource list of exhibiting companies that provide green merchandise. We have put together some criteria required to be included on this list. If your product meets the criteria, you may participate in a new Green resource list available to all attendees at the SFIGF and the SGS. Retailers that include green merchandise in their inventory are very observant about manufacturing practices and materials used for this type of product and are looking for green product at markets. This list of vendors will be available at all registration counters and buyer lounges.

There will also be a special Green Display located in the heavily trafficked connection corridor between North & South Halls of Moscone Center in San Francisco, and in the 4th Floor Main lobby of the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle.

For more information on these promotional opportunities, visit Western Exhibitors' web site at http://www.weshows.com/, click on the show you are interested in, and search exhibitor information. These are offered free to participating qualified exhibitors."

And speaking of that Green display, I'm searching for fireproof cork or linoleum that looks like cork to use as flooring in the 15' X 15' display space. Any ideas out there?!

Easy Topiary Idea

Last Sunday, I decorated a home & yard for a Christening Party for two darling babies - twins. One boy, one girl - so the decor scheme had to be several things: Colorful, but gender-neutral; happy; simple - so kids attending couldn't break anything, and so adults attending didn't feel like they were at the house of precious; easily set up & removed; and very inexpensive. So above, you see the outdoor area with crisp clean white and a bit of soft green & lavender splashed in. A close-up of the centerpieces: topiary form with ivy, potted white hydrangeas wrapped in white damask paper & soft green ribbons, and some paper letters (two 'J's) and crosses dangle from thin ribbons to add movement.This one is on the dining room table - shows up a bit better.
This is the entry table - I flipped one of the topiary forms upside down, made it a 'vase', and created a big 'ball' of silk hydrangeas that sits in the middle of it. Ribbons & more initials flutter from the top edge. Around the arrangement and in a white basket under the table are all of the gifts for the babies.

Now..... do you want to see how I kept this really inexpensive & disposable OR resuseable? Here are those topiary forms, before I bent & twisted them & painted them silver:Yep.....tomato cages. Cost me 50 cents each at the local liquidators. Two sizes. One can of chromatic silver spray paint. Ivy cut from my own yard. I invested a grand total of five dollars and one hour inall five of them. And if the client wants to use these again, they'll stack for storage. If not, it's not a huge waste of money or time. She had no idea they were tomato cages until I told her, either.

These 'fixtures' work excellently as ornament displays for the holidays, and for jewelry displays (esp. earrings) any time of year. You can paint them any color, wrap them with ribbons or tinsel or even lights, sit them or hang them. And they are 'Cheap, Fast, & Easy'TM - just my style!