New DOMOTEX Atlanta Office & NWFA Annual Meeting

New Digs for the DOMOTEX Atlanta Office & a trip to our nation's capital for the NWFA Annual Meeting

Our team here at Hannover Fairs USA, Inc. has been very busy over the last couple of weeks and we are finally settling into our new offices here in Atlanta. Although our corporate USA headquarters will remain in Princeton, NJ, the DOMOTEX team is now established within the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Southern United States (GACC South) incubator division.

The new DOMOTEX office address is 1170 Howell Mill Road, Suite 300, Atlanta, GA, 30318. If you're in the area, let me know. My contact information is below.

As you can see by the photos, we are located in a beautifully restored industrial-era building. This mixed-use building is home to retail shops on the first level and office spaces with amazing views of the city of Atlanta.

Even with all the exciting changes going on, I was able to attend the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) Annual Conference in Washington, DC last week. As most of you know, the NWFA has been an active participant of our DOMOTEX family of events [see Ed Korzak, NWFA On Why Exhibit at DOMOTEX] and I was happy to be invited to their annual convention.

The NWFA annual meeting kicked off with a pair of dueling pianos at Bobby McKey’s Dueling Piano bar just steps from The Gaylord National Resort Hotel and Convention Center where the event was held. The exhibitors seemed to be having a great time that evening and, fortunately, the exhibit hall did not officially open for business until noon the next day when the ribbon cuttiing ceremony took place.

In this photo of the ribbon cutting, you see on the left Ed Korzak, Executive Director of NWFA, and Don Finkell, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Shaw Industries Hardwood Business) with ribbon-cutting scissors in hand.

Overall the event was successful for all those who participated. There were 237 exhibiting companies with 2,514 industry attendees. This was about a 3% increase from their last year’s numbers. Some of the highlights at the event included The Wood Floor of the Year awards where nearly 100 entries from six countries, including the United States, Canada, Latvia, Egypt, Finland, and Russia were received. The NWFA also offered education programs specifically designed to meet the continuing education needs for professional designers with the ASID and professional architects with the AIA.

Congratulations NWFA for a job well done! I look forward to next year’s event in San Diego, April 26-29, 2011.

~ Katherine

Katherine León
Director of Sales - DOMOTEX

Hannover Fairs USA
1170 Howell Mill Road, Suite 300
Atlanta, GA 30318
Phone: 404.214.0432
Email: katherine@hfusa.com

Katherine León Reviews DOMOTEX 2010

We’re back after a long hiatus from the DOMOTEX blog and I’m happy to say that Rita Dommermuth has successfully passed on the DOMOTEX torch to yours truly. I have been briefly introduced to ya’ll (as they say in the south) but I don’t think we have officially met. My name is Katherine León and as the Director of Sales at Hannover Fairs, USA, I will be your new contact for all things DOMOTEX.

I hail from the NYC metro area, and was crazy enough to venture even further north to complete my undergraduate studies at Syracuse University. Over the past 10 years, I have worked in several capacities within the trade show and event industry and about three years ago, I decided to migrate south and settle in Atlanta, GA where fortunately we have not been pummeled by snow this winter unlike my colleagues at Hannover Fairs USA in Princeton, NJ.

My first introduction to DOMOTEX was this past January in Hannover and now that I have that under my belt, I am thrilled about the outlook for the coming years. We wrapped up the fair with a substantial 12% increase in overall attendance from last year and we held steady with 1,395 exhibiting companies from all over the world.

It was truly a remarkable experience to be a part of such a global and compressive trade fair that encompasses all sectors of the flooring industry. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to be a part of this tremendous event, I would encourage you to add it to your calendar for next year. Below are some of the special events on the show floor this year in addition to the innovative products that were on display:

The Carpet Design Awards – the annual awards that recognized the best in hand made carpets. Among the winners that received prestigious prizes were Chuk Palu and Jan Kath GmbH. You can view the full list of Carpet Design Award winners.

ContractWorld – located in Hall 4, attracted contractors and architects to not only receive education with the various presentations but also view quality floor covering products. The ContractWorld Awards were also presented. View the ContractWorld Award winners.

Souk Deluxe – launched this year on the DOMOTEX show floor, this allowed buyers to view the latest trends in the handmade carpet sector. Take a look at all the Souk Deluxe participants.

Forum Handwerk – Six years and counting, this area of the show floor which is also includes Skilled Trade Forum with cooperation of Boden Wand Decke Magazine, is a one stop shop for the skilled trade.

You can also get first hand reactions from our top exhibitors at DOMOTEX from various media resources.

For example, watch and listen to Dave Foster from Talk Floor get reactions from Al Kabus, President of The Mohawk Group about DOMOTEX and Mohawk’s presence in international markets.

Kemp Harr from Floor Daily also spends a few minutes with Susanne Klaproth, Director of DOMOTEX, discussing some of the highlights of the show that I mentioned above.

I also want to mention that DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR, the largest international trade fair for the floor covering industry in Asia and China, is coming up in a few weeks on March 23-25, 2010.

Our very own Jim Gould, President of The Floor Covering Institute will be a moderator for The International Wood Flooring Summit that will take place on March 24th, 2010 as part of DOMOTEX asia/CHINAFLOOR. Other panelists include Mark Elwell, Board of Director, National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) and Bill Dearing, President, North American Laminate Flooring Manufacturers (NALFA). Please click on the following link for further information about DOMOTEX asia/China Floors.

Feel free to drop me a line at Katherine@hfusa.com if you have any questions about DOMOTEX or if you would like to discuss college basketball since my Alma Mata is now officially #1 in the nation!

~ Katherine

Katherine León
Phone: 404.326.9921