2022 Agenda

Wednesday, August 17, 2022

10:30AM - 7:30PM

Registration & Information Desk Hours
Pick up your badge and swag bag at the registration desk at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead hotel

Conference Kick-Off: 1:00PM

General, Influencer & Brand Track Sessions                                                                                      

General Session and Influencer Track Sessions located in Grand  Ballrooms 1 & 2
Brand Track Sessions located in Buckhead Ballroom  

Brand Track Sponsored by:

1:00PM-1:45PM

General Session #1:
Mastering TikTok and Reels Trends

TikTok and Instagram Reels have moved the needle skyward on video creation and marketing. These platforms have evolved in terms of functionality and audience engagement during this pandemic era...where video connections dominated in-person conversations.  Learn basic techniques and tips that will launch your video campaigns to new heights.

Kyla Herbes
Principal, Influencer, and Interior Designer
House of Hipsters

2:00PM-2:30PM

Influencer Breakout #1:
Podcasting

As new social media platforms proliferated, multiple solutions emerged for moments when text is not enough and video is overkill; social/broadcast audio enter stage right! In this session hear from some Home Design podcasters and their studio producer about their 4-year old effort to expand their already powerful community via audio!

 

Joann Kandrac and Kelly Kole
Principals and Interior Designers, Kandrac & Kole

Podcasters, Inside Design with Kandrac & Kole

 

Brand Breakout #1:
Measuring and Improving Performance on your Influencer Marketing Efforts

Influencer Marketing, like all other marketing activity, can be optimized for performance.  Establishing objectives and employing measurement techniques will lead to performance optimization.

 

Jennifer Smiga
Founder and Creative Director
ultraviolet agency

2:45PM-3:15PM

Influencer Track Breakout #2:
Content Building For Designers and Influencers

Being strategic and proficient at content creation and storytelling is critical in today's passion economy. Cutting through the noise to build community requires a big-picture strategy. In this session, Nancy will share her expertise of building community through a brand's mission, creating a content strategy, the segmentation of content and how personal narratives can build community and trust.

Actionable takeaways

  • Standing out in the passion economy through content
  • Branding verses storytelling
  • Creating a content strategy
  • Content segmentation across platforms
  • Why content can build community

Nancy Soriano
Content Director, Perigold
Media Executive

Brand Track Breakout #2:
Working with Influencers for Long-Term Relationships

As brands continue their rapid embrace of influencers and brand ambassadors spreading their product affinities to loyal followings, it has become clear that the most powerful results are realized through long term relationships built on solid agreements. Learn more about how to organize influencers for long term engagements and why.

Long or short term, selecting the right influencers for your brand is paramount. Brand affinity and follower engagement often play into the selection process, but what else? Develop your checklist for influencer search engagement now.

Sarah Conley
Director of Social Media
ultraviolet agency

Jessica Davis
Founder, Atelier Davis
Creative Director, Nest Studio

3:30PM-4:15PM

Networking Break for All Participants

General Sessions:

General Sessions will be held in Grand Ballrooms 1 & 2

All attendees from the Influencer and Brand Tracks are invited to participate.

4:15PM-4:45PM

General Session #2: Pandemic and Post Pandemic Influencer Marketing Era

Like everything else, Influencer Marketing & brand development were impacted by the pandemic. Sensitized marketing proliferated as pandemic-driven changes in human nature and abnormal lifestyle conditions prevailed. Since the first quarter of 2020, the process of building influence online for business outcomes evolved under an organic cloak with shifts that should last long into post pandemic years. Adam will provide a 30-minute overview of the pandemic’s impact on Influencer Marketing for the design industry including:

  • Human Condition
  • Online Audiences
  • Long Term Effects On Influencer Marketing Tactics
Adam Japko Emcee Design Influencer Conference

Adam Japko
Founder and CEO
Esteem Media, Inc
Design Influencers Conference

4:45PM-5:30PM

General Session and Opening Keynote: Corey Damen Jenkins

Corey Damen Jenkins
Principal and Interior Designer
Corey Damen Jenkins & Associates

5:30PM - 5:40PM

Special Announcement from Dallas Market Center

5:40PM-7:30PM

Welcome Reception at the Grand Hyatt hotel - all participants invited to attend

Welcome Reception Sponsored by:

5:40PM- 7:30PM

Book Signing with Corey Damen Jenkins

Design Remix: A New Spin on Traditional Rooms

Author Corey Damen Jenkins, Foreword by Jamie Drake

The first book from this AD100 interior designer known for his colorful, youthful traditionalism.

Corey Damen Jenkins's bold interiors have won a devoted following. In his first book, he presents his take on classic interiors that have been beautifully reimagined for today's taste, sharing the building blocks of this fun, vibrant traditional look.

 

7:30PM - 9:30PM

Official After Party Sponsored by Lazzoni Furniture Atlanta

Join us for the festivities in our showroom!  We’ve got a jazz performance, delightful appetizers, and a thirst-quenching bar! Attend and you’ll be eligible to win one of three special gifts presented by Lazzoni:

- a weeklong stay at a seven-stars luxury  hospitality and lifestyle hotel
-a Lazzoni swivel Ena armchair
-a Lazzoni ghost artwork.

 

Thursday, August 18, 2022

General Sessions

General Sessions will be held in Grand Ballroom.s 1 & 2

All sessions on Monday are General Sessions- all attendees from the Influencer and Brand Tracks are invited to attend.

7:30PM- 7:30PM

Registration & Information Desk Hours
Please wear your conference badge for admission to the conference sessions and all
activities

7:30AM-8:30AM

Coffee with Exhibitors and Sponsors

7:30AM-8:25AM

Pre-Conference Session 1: Mentor Roundtable Q&A with Influencers

LOOKING FOR REAL INPUT FOR YOUR ONLINE STRATEGY? Ask questions of our experienced Design Influencers regarding your website, blog, social channels, strategies, and techniques. 
Meet your mentors - read more here:

Carla Aston of Carla Aston Designed
Jeanne Chung of Cozy Stylish Chic
Joy Williams of Joyful Designs Studio

Note we have an overflow session on Friday morning.

8:30AM - 9:00AM

Welcome address

Adam Japko Emcee Design Influencer Conference

Adam Japko
Co-Emcee
Founder & CEO
Esteem Media, Inc
Design Influencers Conference

Rachel Moriarty
Co-Emcee
Principal and Interior Designer
Rachel Moriarty Interiors

 

9:00AM-10:00AM

Keynote: Andrew Davis
Limit Less - How Successful Influencers Increase Revenue, Generate More Leads, and Spread Their Message in a Crowded Marketplace

If we want to grow our business, there's no shortage of advice: you've got to hustle, work hard, create content, buy Facebook ads, post on Instagram, blog, start a podcast, and create a YouTube channel. (Don't forget to do some keyword research first.) They tell us to share our knowledge and to become an expert in our field.

Here's the thing: the world doesn't need another expert.

It turns out that some of the most successful brands in the world don't try to become experts. Instead, they earn more revenue, generate higher quality leads, and build scalable businesses because they've lept from expert to visionary.

In this hilarious, fun, and inspiring hour-long keynote, best-selling author and former television producer Andrew Davis will show you the four simple secrets to getting out of Expertville. You'll learn the three-step process one woman used to leap from struggling expert to $100MM brand in less than a year.

It's time to stop building lists and start building a legacy.

Are you ready to make the leap? It's easier than you think.

Andrew Davis
Renowned Marketing Influencer and Speaker

 

10:00AM-10:45AM

Networking Break with Exhibitors and Sponsors

10:45AM-11:30AM

The Truth of Licensed Collections: The Commitment, Timeline, and Potential

Join Libby Langdon as she presents proven tips and tactics toward designing, developing, and promoting product collections based on her own successful licensed home furnishings lines. Having the right foundation, making you an appealing partner to potential manufacturers, target brands and fit, and positioning your pitch. Libby also breaks down her design process; how it starts, how the sample making process goes, different royalty rates depending on the product, legal responsibilities and what it takes to bring a complete collection to market. She also shares her strategies designing for the mass market vs. custom project pieces and offers insight on the sales and promotion the products broadening outreach with your partner in this informative, fast-paced and motivational presentation!

Actionable takeaways include:
• How to know your audience/ consumer/ demographic and their price point
• Peeling back the curtain on what manufacturers are looking for in a licensed collection
• The insider lowdown on where a collection/ designer makes money
• How to be a responsible design partner
• Ideas on where to start the design process
• How involved do you have to be in the sales and promotion of your product

Libby Langdon
Interior Designer, Author, Product Designer
Libby Interiors, Inc.

11:30AM-12:00PM

Email Marketing 101: Why Your Newsletter Matters More Than Ever

Email marketing is a fully optimized tactic that belongs in every campaign focused on community and brand building. Followers on social media are overwhelmed with a constant stream of content curated by algorithms that prioritize engagement and interaction.   Building influence with new audiences is becoming increasingly more challenging.  In this general session you will:

1) gain a better understanding  why email marketing is one of the most effective ways to market your personal and business brands

2) why email marketing generates over 3800% ROI for each $1 spent

3) how to implement an email strategy within your current content marketing efforts

Ericka Saurit
Founder
Saurit Creative

 

12:00PM-12:15PM

Special Presentation from Our Charitable Organization 

The Oasis Alliance is a DC Metropolitan-based 501(c)(3) organization that brightens the lives of trauma survivors by curating beautiful personalized interior spaces that encourage and accelerate recovery, growth, and mental wellbeing. Utilizing donated furniture, décor, and essential household goods, their mission is to create empowering, inspired spaces that feel safe and reflective of their inhabitants. Volunteer artists, therapists, designers, movers, installers, and other talented contributors form teams to accomplish the mission. While the final curated spaces are beautiful, The Oasis Alliance centers its work around dignity, equity, inclusion, and uplift.

Danielle Woodhouse Johnson
Founder/CEO/Interior Stylist
www.theoasisalliance.org

12:15PM-1:30PM

Lunch for all participants

1:30PM-2:00PM

How to Integrate Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Efforts

One of the biggest challenges in marketing is creating a robust marketing strategy that leverages the strengths of multiple marketing efforts. This presentation will show you several SEO elements that can be used in your social media efforts. We also discuss how your social media efforts can help your SEO efforts.

Session Takeaways:

  • A framework for SEO and Social Media integration
  • Data points to track your combined efforts
  • SEO best practices that launch your Social Media content creation

Joshua Monge
Strategic & Solutions-Oriented Consultant
Founder and CEO
Waymaker SEO

 

 

 

2:00PM-2:45PM

Influencer Pandemic Pivot

"The Pivot" (as it has come to be known under pandemic conditions) took on different meanings for influencers.  Book writing, new instagram strategies, innovative content forms, new platforms, expanding into or out of Home Design, and more were tested.  This panel of influencers will share their unique strategies and results and why they see it as more than stop gap measures for stemming the Covid tide.  All have successfully advanced their levels of influence and engagement over the last two years.  The panel's members will all share their specific case and answer questions from moderator Rachel Moriarty and the audience.

 

Moderator:
Rachel Moriarty

Co-Emcee
Principal and Interior Designer
Rachel Moriarty Interiors

 

Mally Skok
Palm Beach-based Interior Design and Textile Artist

Cara Woodhouse
Interior Designer, Influencer, and Principal
Cara Woodhouse Interiors

2:45PM-3:30PM

Networking with Exhibitors and Sponsors

3:30PM-4:00PM

How to Grow your Personal Brand to Celebrity Status

Celebrity interior designers are having a big moment. We saw it with chefs, and we saw it with personal trainers. but 2020 became the year for design when suddenly everyone was looking to design experts to help make their homes function 24 hours a day, and it hasn’t slowed down! TV shows from Dream Home Makeover to The Home Edit are making household names out of successful designers and experts. So how do you build and grow a personal brand as an interior designer to household name status? We'll dive in.

  • Powerful partnerships: You grow your following by other people talking about you. But how do you get people who might be considered at a higher level than you to collaborate with you?
  • Media Training 101: If your goal is to have a TV show, or even if your goal is to show yourself on video more, it’s super important that you learn how to get good on camera.
  • Using Traditional Media to Standout in a Saturated Digital World: Five years ago, it was way easier to build a brand on social media platforms. Now more than ever I am contacted by influencers looking to use traditional media as a way to make them stand out from all the online noise.
  • Opinions Matter: The best television personalities aren’t afraid to shy away from saying what they think. They have an opinion. You can do this with tact, of course, but it’s really important that you have a point of view about current events and trending topics in your industry.

 

Molly Schoneveld
President
The Storied Group

 

4:00PM-4:30PM

Influencer Insight Sessions - How to Make 25% More than Generic Affiliate Programs
Last year $55 Billion dollars worth of home furnishing products sold online. As a tastemaker and trendsetter did you get your fair share? In this session Chad will show you how to monetize your taste and following in this new influencer economy and how to grow your own brand- not everyone else’s. There’s never been more opportunities for designers and influencers to carve out their own niche online. SideDoor makes it easy and free to differentiate and gives you the tools to shop and sell products from over 200 top brands. In this session, Chad will explain the opportunities and show you how not to get left behind.

Chad Smith
Director of Sales & Marketing, SideDoor

4:30PM-5:15PM

Keynote: Jonathan Rachman 

Jonathan Rachman
Internationally Renowned Interior Designer
Principal, Jonathan Rachman Design

 

5:15PM-5:30PM

High Point Design Influencers Tour - Fall 2022 Announcement:
Ashley Grigg of High Point Market Authority and Adam Japko

Ashley Grigg
Director of Marketing and Communications
High Point Market Authority

5:30PM-7:30PM

Networking Reception at the Grand Hyatt hotel - all participants are invited 

5:30PM-7:30PM

Book Signing with Jonathan Rachman

The Garlic Peanut Story

This startlingly poignant memoir springs from a desire to pay tribute to a beloved sister. Separated by time, geography and the dislocation of modern-day life, two vastly different lives pursue divergent paths, irrevocably torn asunder by the ravages of terminal illness. Through letters written to his adopted sister’s children, we learn of gratitude for a sister whose love sustained him through a painful childhood.

All proceeds go to the children and people in need.

Friday, August 19, 2022

Influencer and Brand Track Sessions                                                                                                           

Influencer Track Sessions located in Grand  Ballrooms 1 & 2
Brand Track Sessions located in Buckhead Ballroom

                                                                                             

Brand Track Sponsored by:

8:00AM-8:55AM

Coffee with Exhibitors and Sponsors

8:00AM - 8:55AM

Pre-Conference Session 1: Mentor Roundtable Q&A with Influencers- Overflow sesion

LOOKING FOR REAL INPUT FOR YOUR ONLINE STRATEGY? Ask questions of our experienced Design Influencers regarding your website, blog, social channels, strategies, and techniques. 
Meet your mentors - read more here:

Carla Aston of Carla Aston Designed
Jeanne Chung of Cozy Stylish Chic
Joy Williams of Joyful Designs Studio

9:00AM-9:30AM

Influencer Breakout #3: Building and Managing Online Communities For Highly Qualified Leads and Faster Sales

Whether you're a large home-related brand or an independent interior designer, learn top tips for building private and/or public online communities on Linked In, Facebook, Instagram and Clubhouse that can help you generate highly qualified leads and faster sales.

 

Leslie Carothers
CEO, Savour Partnership
Founder, #DesignCoffeeChat, a Clubhouse Club
Owner, Design Happy Living, a lifestyle blog

 

Brand Breakout #3:
Pro Tips on Working with Influencers

Creating mutually beneficial Influencer partnerships has become an essential step in every brand's marketing strategy. The most important part of any collaboration Is making sure the partnership is a correct fit for both parties. This session will cover best practices, finding the correct Influencers for your brand, negotiating adequate and fair compensation, recording campaign analytics, and how to create a lasting relationship in the influencer community.
Key takeaways include:

  • End-goals for an influencer campaign
  • Connecting with potential influencers
  • Identifying intrinsic content values for you
  • Interact with your influencers' posts

 

Mollie Surratt
Co-Founder and CEO
White Label Studio

9:45AM-10:15AM

Influencer Breakout #4:
How to Land Interviews That Will Skyrocket Your Career

Why can’t top designers and PR firms send pitches that actually land press opportunities? It’s because pitch development takes thought, planning, and time. In this presentation you’ll learn why some pitches work and others never see light.

Actionable takeaways:

  • Pitching strategy and timeline
  • How to choose the right press opportunities and know when to pitch the big ones
  • Useable blank template for writing a winning pitch
  • Website review checklist for attracting press opportunities

Zandra Zuraw
Principal and Interior Designer, Little Yellow Couch
Podcaster,  Style Matters

Brand Breakout #4:
Honoring Brand Voice for Influencer and Collaborative Marketing

Jaipur Living's brand formed organically out of the company's operating model. While those operations support the company, they also serve a "cause" for creating commerce and opportunity in under-supported communities.  As an Influence Marketer, Jaipur's goal is to work with like-minded Influencers that project their own voices to their own communities on behalf of Jaipur.  Aligning with the right Influencers, who "get" the Jaipur voice, is key over the long term for great powerful Influencer Marketing.

Takeaways:

  • Determine your brand voice?
  • How to set Influencer Marketing campaign objectives that align with your voice
  • How to find the right Influencers for your voice and retain them over the long term

Sasha Wallace
Director of Brand and Strategic Partnerships
Jaipur Living

10:30AM-11:15AM

Networking Break with Exhibitors and Sponsors

General Sessions:

General  Sessions will be held in Grand  Ballrooms 1 & 2

All attendees from the Influencer and Brand Tracks are invited to participate.

11:15AM-12:00PM

General Session:  The Rise of Social Commerce and What It Means for Design Influencers 

Social media platforms are quickly evolving into social commerce platforms. The playing field and tools are changing quickly and there have never been so many opportunities for Design Influencers to grow your own brands and revenues online. Chad will help you understand why social commerce is taking the industry by storm, how to find the right channels and tools, and the best ways to measure the ROI of these programs.

Chad Smith
Director of Sales & Marketing
Side Door

Cara Woodhouse
Interior Designer, Influencer, and Principal
Cara Woodhouse Interiors

12:00PM-12:45PM

General Session and Closing Keynote: Emily Shaw

Emily Shaw, best known under her TikTok handle @emilyrayna, went viral with her series that followed her journey as she completely renovated her parents' home as a surprise over the course of one month. Her YouTube Channel and TikTok are @emilyrayna, and her Instagram is @emilyraynadesigns, are now destinations for decor and design content, budget-friendly home projects, and her series "DM DIY," where she helps solve her viewers' biggest design dilemmas. She graduated with a degree in Interior Design/Architecture and currently lives in New Hampshire.

 

Emily Shaw
Content Creator and Interior Designer
Emily Rayna Designs

12:45PM


Conference adjourns and closing remarks