Flooring Podcast

John Simonson on the Floor Covering Industries New & Revised Websites – Part 3 (11:14)

September 24, 2006—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the third part of a five-part series discusses some of the similarities and the differences in the new or recently revised industry websites, shawfloors.com, wfca.org and carpetone.com. Simonson talks about the advantages and disadvantages of including price on websites and the possible limitations industry players may experiance with regard to including price an industry websites.

John Simonson on the Floor Covering Industries New & Revised Websites – Part 4 (13:34)

September 24, 2006—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the forth part of a five-part series discusses the consumer oriented information included on the new or recently revised industry websites, shawfloors.com, wfca.org and carpetone.com and the methods these sites use to help position their sites with consumers as an industry authority. Simonson also talks about the changing art of attracting consumers via keyword purchasing on internet search engines and his expectations as to how this practice will become more and more costly going forward.

John Simonson on the Floor Covering Industries New & Revised Websites – Part 5 (11:28)

September 24, 2006—John Simonson, President, Webstream Dynamics, in the final part of a five-part talks about the competitive nature of floor covering industry websites in particular new or recently revised industry websites, shawfloors.com, wfca.org and carpetone.com and the strength of brand on the internet. Simonson also talks about the options on the internet that are open to retailers on the internet and how retailers need to view affiliating with an industry website and the educational, promotional and resource commitment they need to make make an affiliation with an industry site produce a net gain.

Barker on the Market (22:54)

September 21, 2006—Mike Barker, Investment & Retirement Management looks at the economic news of the week discussing the recent drop in oil prices, the reasons behind the drop, what it means to the economy and the market. He also offers his take on whether global oil prices will fall even further. Barker also looks at this week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee, discussing the Fed’s current bias and his expectations for Fed actions in meetings to come and his expectations for the upcoming earnings season.

Jon Dougal, the Future of Fiber Made from Renewable Resources and Biofuels – Part 3 (11:43)

September 20, 2006—Jon Dougal, President, Sustainable Design Associates in the third part of a four part series discusses producing polymers and fibers and fuel from renewable resources, such corn and other vegetable matter. Dougal talks about other plant material other than soy and corn that can be used in the production of fibers and fuels, how this production can be produced efficiently and when he expects this new technology hit the main stream.

Jon Dougal, the Future of Fiber Made from Renewable Resources and Biofuels – Part 4 (10:36)

September 20, 2006—Jon Dougal, President, Sustainable Design Associates in the final part of a four part series discusses producing polymers and fibers and fuel from renewable resources, such corn and other vegetable matter. Dougal talks about the impact biodiesel could have on the floor covering industry’s transportation sector and the cost of producing fibers and fuels from vegetable products and the future biomass.

Floor Focus Co-Publisher Frank O’Neill and the Events of the Week (33:27)

September 19, 2006—Frank O’Neill, Co-Publisher, Floor Focus magazine discusses the launch of the redesigned shawfloor.com website, which will be going live early next month. Covered is the research that went into the development of this site and some of the features including new visualization tools. Also discussed is the World Floor Covering Association’s new website, wfca.org, which was launched last week. Included in the conversation is the association’s approach to serve as an source for authoritative unbiased consumer information, and the new WFCA spokesperson. O’Neill also talks about the pending retirement of Columbia Flooring’s Dave Wootton and Invista’s nylon 6,6 expansion in Asia.

Shaw’s John Davis Looks at the International Market Place – Part 1 (16:36)

September 18, 2006—John Davis, VP, International Sales, Shaw Industries, in the first part of a two-part series, discusses the international floor covering marketplace focusing on growth areas, major problems in international markets, competition, pricing and factors that have been working in favor of U.S. floor covering producers. Davis looks at the Europe and the U.K. markets, discussing the economy, domestic producers and his expectations for 2007.

Jon Dougal, the Future of Fiber Made from Renewable Resources and Biofuels – Part 2 (11:01)

September 18, 2006—Jon Dougal, President, Sustainable Design Associates in the second part of a four part series discusses producing polymers, fibers and fuel from renewable resources, such corn and other vegetable matter. Dougal discusses some of the problem areas that could be created by this process, including the allocation of agricultural acreage. He also looks at a likely scenario for producing bio-diesel, that of having mini-production facilities along the nation’s highway system, which would supply fuel to the U.S. truck fleet.

WFCA, CEO, Chris Davis, Unveils WFCA.org – Part 4 (11:33)

September 18, 2006—Chris Davis CEO, World Floor Covering Association, in the fourth and final segment of a four-part series discusses the association’s new consumer-oriented web site, WFCA.org. Davis talks about the association’s fiscal goals in launching the site and its decision to not include advertising on the site. Also discussed is the growing sophistication of the internet and its growing importance to floor covering retailers and how retailers can become involved with the WFCA.com site.