Great Show in Las Vegas!!!

I admit that Las Vegas isn't exactly my kind of town. But, we had a fantastic show! By far we had more traffic than any other exhibiter in our area. Our booth was very attractive, the product was beautiful, and my team did a fantastic job putting it all together. We featured several different products, including some new items and collections that had not previously been to market.

The show-stoppers included the Whisper Creek collection, Sequoia, and Barnwood! The biggest shocker for me was barnwood. I knew we had a special product that does a wonderful job replicating the beauty that occurs in nature...but retailers and designers were shocked and delighted! I think our new products hit the ball out of the park!

We ended up with over 100 new account prospects that will likely result in a lot of added business for our company! Now we have to do the hard work of following up with samples, literature and design activity to bring these new clients onboard.

We had several new rep groups that were very interested in our program. Next week we will be making decisions about a few of those potential new relationships.

There was a lot of excitement around our custom capabilities. We had close to a dozen custom items in the booth...examples of outstanding work that has gone through our custom business this year. This is one of the ways that we stay fresh and on trend!

There were so many compliments from our customers and clients too. It was very good for me to hear. I'm a problem solver by nature and experience, so it's easy to find myself preoccupied with what isn't working so great. In the end, I was reminded once again, that we have a great company that people admire and respect. We have some wonderfully dedicated employees and customers too. I am very grateful for that! So, thank you for the opportunity to serve.

Corky Baker

President, Chief Problem Solver

Design in Real Time

I am constantly amazed at how much more buautiful a forged iron piece is, than the sketch that tried to bridge the chasm between creativity and actual! We try to depict what we want a piece to look like by sketching it for our clients. One would think that a drawing, which isn't burdoned with the real constraints of the actual iron required to make something, would produce the better rendition. But it doesn't!



Recently we worked with a client to design a piece using thick, chunky metal that was textured, twisted and drawn into shapes that we call Sequoia because of the massiveness on the work. I was excited about the sketch...but the actual piece was far more beautiful. And it happens all the time...even in real life.

It is a thrill when an artist sucessfully captures the essence of a sitting subject on canvas or film...but that isnt the person. Who could be more skilled at depicting his subject than da Vinci? And as much as we think we understand the Mona Lisa, I am certain that the real subject of that masterpiece was far more interesting, more beautiful and more delightful in person. It just works that way some how!


Corky Baker