May 11, 2020

Social distancing involves a lot of sacrifices: no parties, no concerts, no trade shows and no public parks. Fortunately, the interior design industry is working around these barriers to still exchange advice and network – even virtually. CEUs can be done online – the South Florida National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) Chapter recently hosted one on kitchen island designs over Microsoft Teams – and regular meetings can also be done on platforms like Zoom. KBB talked with other NKBA chapters around the nation to find out more.

How Chapters Are Working Together While Apart

“We are having virtual chapter meetings to keep everyone connected and to share information. In April, our meeting covered what our local showrooms are doing to support businesses right now. One showroom was available for virtual appointments only, another was doing in-person meetings while providing masks and gloves, and a third did a combination of the two. It was great to see how our local businesses are adapting to the current needs as well as how the national brands are changing.”

– Courtney Glidden, Craftsman Design, Portland, Ore.

“The NKBA MidAtlantic Chapter has been making adjustments – like many other organizations and agencies – to reach out to our current and potential members.  With the temporary postponement of our lineup of amazing monthly events, we have turned to Zoom as well as our social media outlets to engage with our audience. We held our first Zoom Podcast Club just to get folks together virtually to discuss their thoughts and views on a podcast episode we selected. Additionally, we are helping promote our active industry partners by boosting their events through our social media channels.”

– Michael Kaestner, Kaestner Designs, Philadelphia

“Our chapter has always had a strong outreach program working with local organizations – such as Rebuild Together Seattle – to help make safety improvements at people’s homes.  This year we are expanding our outreach by partnering with Mary’s Place to create ‘Welcome Home’ baskets for low-income families that are working to get back on their feet and start a fresh chapter in their lives.”

– Jennifer Kowalski, Six Walls Interior Design, Mercer Island, Wash.

“The most rewarding thing I am doing right now is volunteering for ArtCubeArmy in Brooklyn, N.Y. We are a group of volunteers that manufacture face shields for hospital workers. We have produced and delivered more than 3,000 of them by now. I do about two trips a week picking up materials and delivering them to the volunteer workers, then a few days later I pick up the finished products. We’ve received thank you letters and emails from some of those on the front lines, and I am grateful to be part of this incredible group.”

– Felicitas Oefelein, F.O. Design, New York City

What Future Meetings Will Be Like

“We found in our last meeting that even through a virtual platform like Zoom, our members still crave time to mingle and chat. For our next meeting, we are starting 30 minutes prior to the presentation to give that time for connection. Once the meeting starts, we will turn off mics and open up the comments section for questions, etc. We have a moderator so that someone can dedicate their attention to the comments and bring them to the attention of the speaker as needed. We’ve found that this allows the speaker to focus on the topic but also keeps time-sensitive questions or points to be addressed during the presentation rather than waiting until the end.”

– Glidden, Portland, Ore.

“For the short term, we will continue to use technology to our advantage. I would not be surprised to see this form of communication replace certain in-person events in the future. Many businesses will be working diligently to recover from this pause in operations, and budgets may be lean for marketing in the upcoming months. Times of crisis are also opportunities for change, advancement and improvement. We are all learning how to navigate these waters together. Networking has no boundaries, and this pandemic can only serve to enhance our way of communicating with our respective audiences.”

– Kaestner, Philadelphia

“We are about to host our third virtual chapter meeting on May 14th. Our chapter is historically a very social group of professionals. We really enjoy seeing each other once a month and learning together in person. We’ve realized though that virtual meetings can work in our favor when it comes to securing the speakers we’re interested in. We aren’t confined by our calendars or needing to be physically present. We’ve also found it to be an effective way for our local sponsors to share information with our members in a way that members can revisit the slides or the recording of the meeting.”

– Kowalski, Mercer Island, Wash.

Growing While Social Distancing

“We are all craving connection right now! I think the biggest advantage to members is knowing that they are not alone in this experience. We are all trying to figure out how to run our businesses during this time while also dealing with the mental burden of unknowns, not to mention homeschooling/parenting! It’s helpful to hear that others are in the same boat and to learn from each other. If nothing else, I find comfort in hearing from other working moms and giving each other permission to have a glass of wine at 4 p.m.”

– Glidden, Portland, Ore.

“[Our recent] virtual CEU was a great opportunity to introduce myself as the new president to members who hadn’t met me yet, as well as really express our commitment to make the NKBA a valuable and trusted resource for them to be a part of. It was not only important for me to reach out to our members and offer my well wishes for healthy and safety, but it was also a priority of mine to see how I can best support them and provide them content that would allow them to keep moving through these uncertain times.”

– Jamie Trotter, architect and design sales manager, Cosentino, West Palm Beach, Fla.

“I think we have learned the incredibly positive impact of technology – it’s keeping us connected. The ability to record the meetings – so that members can go back and revisit information – is a bonus. Additionally, so many of our sponsors and member companies are getting creative with their content and offering so much more variety.”

– Kowalski, Mercer Island, Wash.

“We are supporting our NKBA sponsors this year by giving out the first-annual ECO award. There are three awards total, and one of them is a Member Choice Award. We hope that this will set a goal for all of us to try harder to be kind to Mother Nature. Also, it serves as a little positive initiative to keep members engaged while we are all at home self-isolating.”

– Felicitas Oefelein, F.O. Design, New York City

Opportunities for Designers

“We are promoting CEUs, the Brave New Business webinars and our member companies’ online platforms as much as possible. We have been sharing these opportunities through our social media. We are also moving forward with our local study group. We typically host a 13-week AKBD prep course for our chapter in the spring. This year, we moved the start date back a bit and are kicking things off on a digital platform. Hopefully, we’ll resume our in-person meetings for this as well as the chapter meetings before too much longer.”

– Glidden, Portland, Ore.

“Our virtual meeting coming up in May features a presentation on technology in design presentations. We have a list of topics we are considering for more upcoming content centered around working with clients virtually.”

– Betsy Miller, Betsy.Design, Las Vegas

“Our chapter pulled together a running list of CEUs being offered by our sponsors, and the list is sent out to our members. We’re also working on developing virtual study groups for certifications and a few other things that are still early in development. We feel like these are programs that we can continue to offer even after social distancing.”

– Kowalski, Mercer Island, Wash.