Interior Designer Resources Directory :: Interior Design Article

"A New Feature" We Need Your Help

In lieu of the feature article this month, we wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about a new feature we are adding to designerEsources and we need your help to bring it about. We will return the feature article next month with an article on Fees and Compensation. We know you will look forward to it.

Now, to the feature we want to add. A number of years ago at an ASID National Conference, I attended a panel discussion involving a number of past national presidents. The panel discussion was: "How To Use and Abuse ASID". It was a catchy title and one of the most highly attended events of that conference. It dealt with how to use your ASID membership to extend your knowledge, your personal network and to generally get more out of your membership. As each past president spoke, it was very apparent that they each felt their membership in ASID and intense involvement had given them much more than they had given to the Society.

I have always believed that myself. From my 35 years plus involvement in ASID and my shorter IIDA membership, I know that should I need information or resources or just where to stay or have a good meal, there isn't a state in the country that I don't know someone who could give me the answers to my question. That is a powerful network that money cannot buy.

I know that if you are involved in any of the professional organizations, particularly if you have gotten personally involved, regardless of the scope, you have felt the same gift that comes from meeting other professionals in your situation. At the very least, you learn that you are not alone. Other people share the same needs and understand your position.

At designerEsources, we have spent the better part of a year collecting "known" resources for you into one single library of information. We know that we have a long way to go to get them all and we are working on it. We hope you will send us great resources you use that we do not have yet. Many of you have already done that and we appreciate it. We try to add 50 to 100 new sites each month.

However, we believe that we need to extend these resources to include "unknown" Resources all over the country. For instance, suppose you were involved in a project in Charleston, SC but you live in Indianapolis. Finding resources for upholsterers, work rooms, accessories, antiques, rugs, installation companies, refinishers, painters, faux artists, local tile and materials companies, cabinet makers, remodelers, contractors, builders, even architects, landscapers or other designers to work with locally can be a headache and take hours of your time. To be sure, you can probably find them, but can you trust their quality?

We are beginning a network of sources that are local to areas and we want your input. Who are the best sources in your area for the above topics or do you have other resources that you may know of in your area. Don't think of this as giving away your resources, but think of it as a way you too can utilize this service for yourself. In life, give something and get much more back. After all, that was the message in "How To Use and Abuse ASID".

We will build this resource by state. What we need is the name of the source, their address, their phone and fax and e-mail address, if you have it. If the source has a website, we would love to have it so we can link it to our service. Just think, a resource you can trust that has local sources you can trust.

If you would like us to include your name as the endorser, we would be happy to do so. Your local resources will really appreciate that you think enough of them to recommend them and will appreciate the extra business as well.

Eventually we will expand the service to have a question and answer section that you can request this type of information for a specific area and someone in that area can answer your question.

We are very excited about this type of feature and believe you will find it very useful. So send us as many of these sources as you feel is appropriate and we will get the "Network" started before the first of the year. Remember, these are the categories of information we think would be highly useful: Workrooms Upholsterers Cabinet Makers Contractors Antiques Sources Remodelers Installation Companies Rugs and Carpets Accessories Refinishers Painters Faux Artists Architects Landscape Architects Art Galleries, Special Artists

Also, you might include: Local resale shops that are outstanding for furniture and accessories, Lighting resources Electricians And companies who are retail who give designers a break in your area.

Thank you for your input. Let's build this network into a spectacular "Unknown" resource