Once again, the industry’s largest conference and exhibition of contract furnishings for the design and management of the built environment, namely the NeoCon® World’s Trade Fair, premieres its latest “wares” at the Chicago Merchandise Mart throughout the days of June 14-16. NeoCon is North America’s largest conference and exhibition of this type and is one of the longest running trade shows in Chicago.

For most in the trade, NeoCon is where the design world comes together for three days of pure energy, bursting with new thinking, new resources and networking opportunities.

What specifically draws more than 40,000 industry professionals from around the world? The professional  opportunity to experience thousands of new products from more than 700 of the world’s top manufacturers in commercial, residential, health care, hospitality, institutional and government design products, all debuting at this year’s show. Products span a wide range of categories including: architectural products, artwork and accessories, building products and services, fabric, floor coverings, furnishings, kitchen and bath, lighting, outdoor furniture, stone and tile, sustainable design products, technology, textiles and wall coverings.

Additionally, the quality education seminars at NeoCon are renown, bringing together notable industry experts to share their insights, trends, and actionable strategies, providing interested attendees the latest information to take back home for successful outcomes.  More than 150 CEU-accredited seminars, industry association forums and keynote presentations, give architects, designers and facility managers the opportunity to discover the newest trends and techniques from some of the top-names in the industry.

Movers n’ Shakers Keynotes
NeoCon always features top-name keynote speakers each day of the conference, and this year their agenda includes Michael Graves, architect and founder of Michal Graves & Associates and Michael Graves design group; Majora Carter, former executive director and founder of the non-profit Sustainable South Bronx; and Yves Behar, industrial designer and founder of fuseproject.  Specifically the breakdown is:

Majora Carter, sponsored by Allsteel, presented by IIDA.
Majora Carter was the executive director and founder of Sustainable South Bronx, a non-profit which was one of the nation's first green-collar job training and placement systems housed in one of the most environmentally and economically challenged parts of the country. This pioneer’s new way of thinking green will be addressed with “Green the Ghetto and How Much it Won’t Cost Us.”

Michael Graves, sponsored by Paoli, presented by ASID.
With his keynote address “A Grand Tour,” Michael Graves gives a short biographical history, which will center on key influences in his career. He will also touch on his life as a “figurative” architect and what that means to his buildings and his art.

Margaret McCurry, presented by Fine Design®.
Selected by Architectural Digest Magazine as an AD100 Top Designer for 2010, Margaret McCurry believes that when it comes to designing homes, big isn’t necessarily better. Her keynote presentation “Inside Out,”  reveals her various award winning residential design projects from coast to coast and around the inland sea.

Yves Behar, sponsored by Herman Miller.
Many consumers want products to be about personal expression and the leading edge of innovation while reflecting our 21st century values. Yves Behar’s addresses “Design in the Age of 360°”  to explore how the new role of a designer is to create, and sometimes arbitrate, between the elements of contemporary culture. 

SPECIAL HI-NOTES
 
BELIEVE 2010- SEE 2020
The DIFFA/Chicago Gala inspires a “Perfect Vision by 2020” by rallying supporters to BELIEVE and SEE a future without AIDS. More than 500 designers, architects and design industry leaders will join to support and celebrate progress towards finding a cure.

COOL, IIDA 
COOL is the IIDA annual interior design black-tie awards gala, which celebrates the winners of the 37th Annual Interior Design Competition and the 18th Annual Will Ching Design Competition. A special evening of interior design excellence, with cocktails, awards, dinner and dancing.  And this year, a special display showcasing one-of-a kind fashions, created by IIDA Chapters. 

BIFMA
Members of the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA International) and invited guests will attend this year’s meeting to hear BIFMA’s annual state-of-the-industry and state-of-the-association reports.

NOT TO BE MISSED FLOOR EXHIBITS

Vitra Neocon 2010 Exhibition
European design enters the South Lobby of The Merchandise Mart as Vitra promotes its ‘total environment’ concept with partners Verpan and Kasthall. Exciting spaces, both intimate and ‘street café,’ are created with Vitra furniture, designed by the renowned Bourellec brothers, Jasper Morrison, and Van Severen. These are arranged in areas defined by dramatic flowing fabric panels from Switzerland’s Creation Baumann and rugs by the Swedish Kasthall company. The Danish company Verpan increases the drama with its stunning light fixtures.

FashioNext Fuses Textiles, Furniture, and Fashion Design
On the First Floor, North Central Lobby and sponsored by Brentano and Chicago History Museum’s I Do! Chicago Ties the Knot wedding-themed exhibition, established fashion designers create a garment using interior design textiles provided by Brentano. The NeoCon display adds furniture to the mix, producing an exhibition that celebrates the creative worlds of fabrics, fashion and furniture by combining both traditional and imaginative application.

Nomkhubulwane
At the Mart’s South Drive Entrance, and sponsored by InterfaceFlor, partners: The Human Elephant Foundation, Imagine Chicago, The Wild Foundation, Nomkhubulwane (pronounced Nom-koo-bull-wah'-nee), a life-size elephant is made from recycled materials, stands more than 10 feet tall, weighs 1.3 tons, and graces the entrance to Neocon 2010. Internationally renowned sculptor, Andries has created 17 of these majestic life-size elephants and launched the Human Elephant Foundation to use them to accelerate imagination around issues of ecology, migration, conservation, industry and sustainability.

Interior & Sources Materials Pavilion
At Market Suites, 8th Floor, Suite 8-3130 and sponsored by Interiors & Sources, the concept addresses: At the rate new materials, finishes and applications are developed; it's hard to keep up with what's new, cool, "green" or even practical. In the I&S Materials Pavilion, organized with the help of Material Intelligence and Think Materials, designers will find samples of furniture and architectural surfaces that will add impact, value, and LEED points for commercial interior design projects.

TRIO TO REVIEW
Among the wealth of quality products on display from nearly 1,000 exhibitors, savvy attendees will be visiting new resources besides their standard fare. Here is a sampling of new product to review at NeoCon:

FRG Gallery DEBUTS students’ designs
The succession of each decade, each generation, brings to mind “what will furniture designs, and designers, be like in the future?”  This year NeoCon debuts the Furniture Revolution Gallery, a new concept which gives design students the chance to get their unique product in front of the world’s top manufacturers.

“The idea was born out of a discussion about the status of furniture design in the United States,” said Antonio Larosa, project chair of the Furniture Revolution Gallery. “The Furniture Revolution Gallery is set-up to highlight students, and young designers just out of school who have the potential to be the next great designer in America. This is unique because NeoCon is the first venue out there giving students a real chance of being seen and noticed by the major players in the design industry. ”

Additionally, “The Furniture Revolution Gallery will display prototypes of students’ furniture designs on the NeoCon show floor, over the three day period,” said Sara O’Hare, director of student programs and events for NeoCon.