Presentation: "Difficult Conversations: Transforming Problematic Situations into Relationship Strengthening Opportunities"
Presented by: Angela Merola
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: Welfare (W)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.2)
Do you dread having these uncomfortable conversations with your clients so much that you decide that "absorbing" the cost is easier than having the conversation? Generally, designer professionals don’t have formal training to handle these conversations and yet they impact profits and are as important as the artistry of design. If done with confidence, ease and effectiveness, a designer can move smoothly through projects. In this economy, it’s essential to have the tools and the confidence to easily handle any conversation so that you can accept any project.
As a life/business coach in the design field, Angela provides specific tools to help designers, architects and IPs find their style to confidently defuse any difficult conversation or situation. In this highly interactive presentation, Angela will share verbiage and phrases that shift the conversation from adversarial to partnership for resolving the issues, reducing stress and creating another opportunity to strengthen clients’ respect and trust in the partnership. Learning tools to handle these energy draining situations allow designers to spend more time "designing" and less time stressing about how to have a difficult conversation! Paper and a pen are recommended and hand-outs will be provided.
Presentation: "Client Magnet(ism): Tools for Attracting Clients"
Presented by: Angela Merola
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: General (G)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.5)
Magnetism is one of the strongest forces in human nature that contributes to all things we choose. Be it a spouse, employee, doctor, hair stylist, friend, and yes, an interior design professional! What is client magnetism? It is the clarity, belief and excitement of your “secret sauce” and expression of your gift as a design professional. This is transformed as magnetism that exudes allure, appeal, charm, charisma and pulls clients into wanting what you have to give. Clients have an extraordinary ability to quickly eliminate designers who cannot make obvious, fast connections between their problem and your ability to provide the best solution. Through authentic magnetism, you can be compelling, and quickly gain their trust that you are the right match for them (be it from your web site, Facebook, or face to face). How do you get magnetism? Some people have it oozing from them naturally. Others have to work at it. In this presentation, you will use 3 easy steps to find your exclusive “secret sauce”. You will understand your value from your clients’ eyes, who your “tribe” is and begin a client profile. And finally, you will walk away with a new internal spark of magnetism and a new perspective on how to translate that into all forms of communication.
Presentation: "Practice Makes Perfect: Business Tools for Success" 
Presented by: Donna Vining, FASID, IIDA, RID, CAPS
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: Health/Safety (HS)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice: Proposals (8.7)
This session will address the tools that are essential for ANY effective design business. Participants will learn the importance of contracts, letters of agreement and proposals. Actual examples will be cited, as well as the differences and merits of these invaluable business tools. Past participants of this course have cited it as one of the best and most informative seminars they have attended. And while the subject matter is serious business, the presenters guarantee the audience will have fun!
Presentation: "21 Results-Driven Strategies for Growing Your Business"
Presented by: Jane Pollak, CPCC - Certified Professional Co-Active Coach
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: Welfare (W)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.2)
Ready to take your business to the next level? Need a short course in managing your day-to-day operations? Looking to stay motivated? Jane's workshop is a velvet boot camp" for business owners wanting a firm yet gentle push to the next level. No entrepreneur should be without this well-rounded set of strategies for improving profitability and achieving success. From marketing and branding to networking and prospecting, this workshop provides real-world tips and techniques for accelerating your business success. Discover new attention-getting marketing resources. Determine the best tactics for establishing and maintaining customer relationships. Experience a facilitated mastermind team to form and build alliances. Laser focus on your daily plan Increase your visibility Find and utilize ongoing support for your business Upgrade your professional image Set and achieve higher goals.
Presentation: "Managing Your Design Business: Time, Client Concerns, Closing Contract"
Presented by: Jody Sievert
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: Welfare (W)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.2)
This designer workshops address the challenges facing designers today. The intention is to provide designers (at all levels of experience) with cutting edge skills to be effective in the current marketplace as evidenced through quicker client decisions. Included in these workshops: -Structing your time by Dollar Producing Activities Covey's Quadrant II -The 6 steps process to managing client concerns and customer service issues—Closing made easy!
Presentation: "The Sole Practitioner as a Thriving Enterprise"
Presented by: Johanna Hoffman
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: Welfare (W)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.2)
This workshop is designed for professionals who have chosen to practice as a sole practitioner and who recognize the need for support. Topics covered include: Focusing on what you do best. Maximizing valuable billable hours and avoid wasting time on administrative chores. Building an effective support network.. How to recognize when you should hire your first employee instead of just outsourcing. Program provides: An understanding of their value as a professional Sole Practitioner and of the value of the unique services they provide an understanding of how to structure their practice so that it is enjoyable, rewarding and profitable. An awareness of the various areas of practice management and of the key factors they need to address within each area. An awareness of the importance of financial management and of the basic tools that help practitioners "get a handle on the numbers" Suggestions and tips for improved networking and marketing. Suggestions and tips for selecting the appropriate practice environment. An understanding of available options for support: outsourcing and hiring part-and full time help.
Presentation: "Leading Your Firm to Profitability While Enjoying Your Life"
Presented by: Juliana Catlin, FASID
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: Welfare (W)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.2)
Join Catlin for this step-by-step plan to leading your firm's team to better profit margins and finding a personal balance in the process. Participants will address » How to improve your leadership skills, how to encourage any group to share a common vision and how the value of loyalty and leadership is a key element to success » How to partner your firm into success » Searching out the right team with common values and goals to make your firm more valuable to your clients » Staying the course and squashing negativity in the workplace » Selecting the right clients and saying "no" to the wrong clients » Dealing with difficult situations and clients » Finding the right solutions and learning how to communicate through problems » Establishing customer excellence as a standard » Knowing your skills and admitting your weaknesses » Improving your profitability by balancing your life » Understanding growth and how to grow without losing personal service.
Presentation: "Financial Management for Design Firms: Accounting and Taxes"
Presented by: Rick Gilman, CPA, CITP and ASID Industry Partner
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: Welfare (W)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.2)
This class discusses the the various accounting/tax matters that effects a design firm, from software programs designed for you and how they assist in gathering the information to how they are used to prepare financial statements, to understanding the difference in cash basis accounting/tax to accrual method. The handling of client's retainers and deposits, how state income and sales tax will effect you as a designer when working in other states, and creating a hourly burden rate so the designer can determine a proper hourly "selling rate" will also be covered.
Presentation: "From Crisis To Opportunity: How to Attract Your Ideal Client or Job" 
Presented by: Liesbeth Trappenburg
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: General (G)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.8)
When nothing is certain, everything is possible! Learn how to reframe economic conditions as an opportunity to reinvent and reposition your “brand.” Attract (NOT desperately search) your ideal clients or job. Discover a bigger picture of your business/career and create new strategies for an inspired action plan.
Presentation: "Brand Distinction: The Dynamics of Building a Powerful Brand" Presented by: Mark Fernandes
Available CEUs: 0.2 Basic
Designation: General (G)
Subject Index: Business & Professional Practice:Design Practice Management (8.8)
Your brand matters. It impacts the decisions you make, how you interact with your clients, your creative output, and how you are perceived in the marketplace. Through powerful storytelling, compelling case studies of iconic brands, and interactive exercises, conversations and Q&A sessions, Mark Fernandes demystifies the complexities and benefits of architecting a strong and resonant brand. In this course you’ll learn how to leverage your inherent creativity to craft your brand fundamentals, how to effectively increase the reach, relevance and endorsement of your brand, how to influence others to be passionate stewards of your brand, and ultimately, how these strategic and conceptual exercises will transform your business.