Furniture Society cancels annual conference

The board of trustees of The Furniture Society decided last week to cancel the 2011 conference scheduled to take place July 20-23 in Las Vegas in conjunction with the AWFS fair, according to conference program coordinator Kern Maass.

Maass adds that the society website, www.furnituresociety.org, features the following comments in regard to the board's decision:

"Essentially, the main reason for not proceeding with the conference was a growing recognition that the society would incur unexpectedly high costs that could not be recovered, thus jeopardizing the society's tight financial position. At the same time, it was increasingly apparent that this conference, being quite different from the society's typical annual event, was unlikely to attract the level of attendance that would justify the commitment and expense to carry it off.

We believe it is far better in the months ahead to focus on the potential of our newly designed exhibition booth that made its debut at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show in March. This booth is all we had hoped for and more. It provides a most attractive setting for the display and sale of members' work and it will be doing just that at its next stop - the International Contemporary Furniture Fair May 14-17 in New York. We'll be assessing other opportunities for its use going forward and welcome recommendations.

While we are taking a year off from conferencing, we anticipate an excellent meeting June 14-16, 2012, at Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine. The local host committee has been working for over a year to deliver the kind of events we typically experience and enjoy at a conference. We hope that all members will plan to reunite in Portland, and we will let you know more about this conference as details become available.

AWFS welcomes all society members to their Las Vegas gathering and has graciously extended a 10 percent discount to our members on any educational seminar they may wish to attend during the fair."