Tuesday, July 10, 2012

WoodExpo Is Now The Furniture Project


Last month, the organizers of the WoodExpo at the New England Home Show in Boston contacted me with some news. They're relaunching the WoodExpo as The Furniture Project, and asked if I could make the announcement here and unveil their new website.

I'm very flattered that they've asked me to help out, and I'm glad to do it! One of my goals is to promote those helping to spread the craft. These guys have put a lot of effort into doing just that. The WoodExpo has been an excellent venue for showcasing the skills of woodworkers in the New England area, and for encouraging others to participate.

The tagline for The Furniture Project is Design, Build, Show, and that's the name of their new website: http://www.DesignBuildShow.com/.

You can find all the information about the past four WoodExpos there, all the photos, videos, critiques, interviews, and demos, as well as information about next year's event, The Furniture Project 2013

In particular, you can find the Call For Entries, where you can get information about submitting your own work for possible inclusion in the show. The deadline is January 11, 2013. There's no fee for submission or participation.

This is a great opportunity to push yourself and let others see your work, great exposure for amateurs and professionals alike. Design something, build it, and show it. Once again, it will be at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, February 21-24, 2013, part of the New England Home Show. That's an expected audience of 25,000 attendees looking for things for their homes, connecting buyers directly to makers.

In addition to show information, the website is an interactive meeting place for experienced and aspiring makers. While you're there, fill out the NEWSLETTER SIGN-UP. You'll also see the FOLLOW US ON buttons for FacebookTwitterGoogle+, and BlipTV on the bottom right corner of the page. Things are still in the final stages of completion, so you may notice some minor changes in the website over the coming weeks.

So why the change? WoodExpo was a bit of a victim of its own success. It started at the 2009 New England Home Show, showcasing the work of Thomas J. MacDonald, aka Tommy Mac, host of the PBS show Rough Cut. When the Home Show invited him back for 2010, they opened it up to everyone, and Tommy continued to encourage others to join in over the next two years.

However, the growth of WoodExpo created the potential for conflicts with Rough Cut, due to branding restrictions and contractual obligations. To avoid that, the parties involved came to an amicable decision to split off. Since they didn't feel right having a WoodExpo without Tommy's name on it, they officially retired the name for a fresh start. But don't worry, they're still going to have Tommy there, along with many other familiar faces from the past four years. They anticipate a little restructuring that will allow them to provide an even better experience with more coverage.

As with last year's show, there are two categories for submissions, an "open" furniture category, and an "interpretive" category with the theme "Cabinet-on-stand". I've always admired James Krenov's elegant cabinets on stands, as well as various tansu-inspired styles, so that's what I'm planning to build for submission (somehow I always manage to get myself into a bunch of different projects at once, all making varying degrees of progress!).

I'd like to thank the crew of Eli Cleveland, Neil Lamens, Justin DiPalma, Scott Oja, Bruce Somers, and Rick Waters, the organizers of The Furniture Project, for asking me to make their announcement. I take that as a real compliment. Now go design and build something so you can show it!

4 comments:

  1. Great news, Steve. I'm looking fowared to talking with the boys about it and can't wait for next year's show!

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  2. Thanks for the unveiling, Steve. I'll be watching for that cabinet on stand.

    Eli

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  3. Steve- sounds exciting....I'll have to start thinking....hhmmmmmm

    Rusty

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  4. It's really great opportunity for everyone who are crazy for furniture! I wish I could attend the event. Thanks for unveiling this message.

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