Top Names Scheduled to Headline Coverings 2007

Alexandria, VA, December 12, 2006--A who’s who of experts has been tapped to speak at Coverings 2007. Heading the roster is Bernard M. Markstein, III, director of forecasting and assistant staff vice president, National Association of Home Builders, who will deliver the keynote address that officially gets the premier ceramic tile and natural stone show underway April 17-20 at Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center. Others in the stellar lineup include acclaimed architect Richard Meier, color maven Leatrice Eiseman, marketing and trends authority Maxine Lauer, and, interior design author Heather E. Adams, to name a few. “Coverings is fabled for bringing top name speakers and high caliber conference programming to the show each year,” said Tamara Christian, CEO of National Trade Productions and Coverings show director. “We’re upholding that commitment this year and, in fact, increasing the number of headliners to make sure that all of the varying interests of attendees are properly satisfied.” To that end, Markstein, from his vantage at NAHB, will help shed light on what lies ahead in the new housing market and how that will potentially impact sale of ceramic tile and stone and, in turn, affect designers and architects, installers and contractors, as well as retailers and wholesalers who comprise Coverings attendees. Scheduled to appear at 8:30 a.m. on opening day, Markstein promises to cut to the heart of what’s influencing the current slowdown and what the prospects are for its reversal. With more than 25 years of experience in consulting, financial services and academia analyzing, interpreting and forecasting economic and housing data, he will provide insights on local and regional, as well as, national trends. Markstein joined NAHB in 2004 having had his own economic consulting firm. Previously he was chief economist for Meridian Bancorp, Inc. and was manager of Financial Forecasting Service for Chase Econometrics (now Global Insight, Inc.). He has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brown University, and a doctorate from Yale University. Richard Meier comes to Coverings on Thursday, April 19, speaking from 12:30-2:00 p.m. With a portfolio of commissioned work—residential as well as commercial—dotting the landscape on nearly every continent, Meier is one of America’s most prolific talents. Among his most well-known projects are The Getty Center in Los Angeles; the Jubilee Church in Rome, Italy; the High Museum of Art in Atlanta; the Museum for the Decorative Arts in Frankfurt; the Canal + Television Headquarters in Paris; and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. In 1984, Meier was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, considered the highest honor in the profession. Leatrice Eiseman is a near regular who frequently appears at Coverings to respond to the insatiable interest in color usage and trends. The director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training, Pantone Color Institute, she is returning again this year. She is slated to speak on Tuesday, April 17, 12:30 p.m., and will share the same expertise that has helped companies of all sizes make the most educated color choices for, among other things, product development, logos and identifications, brand imaging, Web sites, packaging, point of purchase, and interior and exterior design. She also will discuss which colors are hot for 2007 and beyond. Maxine Lauer promises to put the spotlight on what trends are influencing and driving consumer decisions. Lauer, who heads her own marketing consulting firm, Sphere Trending, examines macro and micro trends and is tapped by companies such as Target, Staples, Mohawk Industries, Delta Faucet, Levelor and KraftMaid Cabinetry to help advise them on development of future marketing strategies.

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