Free Expert-led seminars designed to sharpen your competitive edge.
Bring a colleague or business associate to these excellent seminars and get insightful tips and expert advice to create your success. Seminars are held in the 2nd Floor Learning Forum. Arrive early at 8:30 for a complimentary continental breakfast.
Wednesday, January 20
9:00 am–10:00 am
Creative Service - How small and large companies are using innovative service ideas to drive sales and stand out from the competition
Presented by Peter Gurney and Christine Frishholz, nationally recognized experts on customer trends and customer experience management
Peter Gurney is a nationally recognized expert on consumer trends and customer experience management. Over the past 20 years he has worked with companies in the retail, hospitality, restaurant, banking and telecommunications industries to build more profitable customer relationships through exceptional service practices. His articles and white papers have appeared in numerous publications, and he has been quoted on consumer trends in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Business Week and many other media sources. Peter is the Managing Director of The Cicerone Group, a research, training and consulting firm specializing in Customer Experience Management. He currently publishes a blog called Practical Loyalty.
Christine Frishholz has made a career of internal consulting in customer experience management, process improvement, training and organizational development. She is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt, a Master Trainer, and a Senior Examiner for the Washington State Quality Award. Christine has been a featured speaker at corporate and industry events, including the 2008 Achieving Customer Service Excellence Conference, and Keynote at Microsoft’s 2005 Business Excellence Summit. Christine is co-Managing Director of The Cicerone Group.
Thursday, January 21
9:00 am–10:00 am
Big Events in Small Spaces
Mary Liz Curtin – Owner of Award-winning Leon & Lulu, speaker, consultant and writer for various publications
In-store events are big news these days. Parties, book signings, trunk shows and charity affairs bring traffic to the store, create excitement and big profits are part of the story. These parties are not just for big spaces: Shops of any kind or size can hold events with the right concept, good planning and a little preparation, and planning. Parties, book signings, contests, raffles, trunk shows and Girl's Nights Out are just some of the ideas you can use to bring those shoppers into your store.
Join Mary Liz Curtin for a fast paced and fun presentation about event-based marketing. She will give your great ideas for event, teach you how to plan them, discuss what to serve, show you what works (and what doesn't) and give you tips and tricks for getting the publicity that helps drive traffic. You will leave this event ready to open your store's doors to lots of new people and exciting events.
Mary Liz and her loving husband own Leon & Lulu, a destination furniture, gift and accessory store that hosts dozens of events annually. She is a columnist for Gift and Home Interactive and is delighted to announce the publication of her second book, "A Shopkeeper's Manual, Volume 2"
Mary Liz Curtin is passionate about independent retail. Her knowledge of all aspects of the gift, craft and home industries gives her a unique point of view, encompassing the needs of retailers, vendors and sales representatives. With over 35 years of hands-on experience in the gift and home industries, Mary Liz is an internationally acknowledged expert in independent retail and has advised numerous manufacturers on marketing, sales and management issues with her unique brand of Sales and Marketing Therapy.
Most important of all, Mary Liz is a shopkeeper. She and her husband own Leon & Lulu, a 15,000 square foot destination retail store located just outside Detroit. Leon & Lulu, profitable since its fourth month in business, is an example of building a brand in an out of the way location, using skillful marketing, terrific product and excellent customer service to attract shoppers from the entire metropolitan area and beyond. Located in an historic roller rink, it is a shop unlike any other and has won numerous local and national awards, including a Retail Excellence Award from Gift and Dec Magazine and an ARTs award for Rising Star retailer, and was named one of Home Accents Today’s 50 Retail stars in 2008.
Friday, January 22
9:00 am – 10:00am
Color and Design Trends: De-Mystifying Future Forecasts
Leatrice Eiseman, Color Consultant, Forecaster and Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute and the Eiseman Center of Color Information and Training
Are trends on a fast-forward mode, changing more rapidly than ever before? Or is the need to de-construct and re-construct, as well as a more volatile economy actually slowing down or prolonging the life of a trend? For the answers to these important questions, come join color expert, Leatrice (Lee) Eiseman (Eisemancolorblog.com) as she explains and illustrates the many influences on your typical customer.
In this informative and engaging session, you will learn:
- What is creating color and design trends
- What are the most important trends for the future
- What the color forecasts will look like (and why)
Leatrice Eiseman is a color specialist who has been called "the international color guru." In fact, her color expertise is recognized worldwide, especially as a prime consultant to Pantone, Inc. She has helped many companies, from small one person start-ups to large corporations, make the best and most educated choice of color for product development, logos and identification, brand imaging, websites, packaging, point of purchase, interior/exterior design or any other application where color choice is critical to the success of the product or environment. She heads the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training and is also executive director of the Pantone Color Institute.
Lee is the author of seven books on color, her two latest being More Alive With Color – Personal Colors, Personal Style (Capital Books, Sterling, VA) and COLOR: Messages and Meanings, a Pantone Color Resource (Hand Books Press, Gloucester, MA) that won an award from Create Magazine. The Messages & Meanings book is a companion to her earlier book the Pantone Guide to Communicating With Color. Her other books include the Color Answer Book and Colors For Your Every Mood (Capital Books, Sterling, VA), which was chosen as a Book of the Month Club selection and received an award from the Independent Publisher’s Association; also, the Pantone Guide to Communicating With Color (F&W Publications, Cincinnati, OH) which has been named by How Design Magazine as one of the top 20 books for the designer’s shelf.
Lee was included in the group of 50 top style makers for the fifth year in a row by Home Furnishings Now, the leading home furnishings trade publication. This year HFN divided the top 50 into four categories and Lee was fifth of 10 in the “Outside Influencers” category, ahead of both Steve Jobs and Rachel Ray. And recently Fortune Magazine featured her as one of the top decision makers. A little closer to home, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles Magazine named Lee as one of the top 100 people, places and things that define Seattle Design. Lee conducts many color seminars and is widely quoted in publications such as Elle Decor, Home Magazine, House and Garden, Home Accents Today, HFN, Harper's Bazaar, WWD, Glamour, Vogue, People Magazine, Self, Communication Arts, Graphic Design USA, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Ad Age, as well as numerous other trade and consumer publications. Lee has made appearances on CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, HGTV, Discovery Channel and the FOX network in the U.S. as well as abroad and has been interviewed by radio stations worldwide. Lee also selects the 10 top fashion colors twice yearly for Pantone and Women’s Wear Daily.
Monday, January 25
9:00 - 10:00am
Strategic Buying for Today’s Economy
Interactive forum featuring an expert panel of award-winning independent retailers
Hear how this group of successful independent retailers are buying right and buying smart to boost sales, please their customers, and reinforce their brands during this difficult economic climate. Learn how they are picking trends, using networking both the old fashioned way and with social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to make their store an exciting and profitable retail destination.
Join your peers, get energized and leave with priceless best practices to bring back to your store.
View videos online of past Pacific Market Center seminars by clicking here
