Design Chicago Recap
Design Chicago Recap
Presenting at Design Chicago was an absolutely incredible experience for the Strucksured Team! Our time in that city was nothing short of fantastic. We extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to our dear friends at @wood_mode for graciously allowing us to showcase our work in their stunning new showroom at the Mart. From exploring the city of Chicago for the first time to connecting with so many talented designers and marveling at the latest products in the showrooms, this experience has been truly inspiring for our team. We also want to express our deep gratitude to all our presentation attendees for the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
With that being said, here is a little recap of our trip:
1) presentation prep
My forever intern, Laura, and I prepared totes bags filled with Strucksured merch to hand out to the attendees as a thank you to everyone who came. These totes were thoughtfully packed with a business card, a notepad, an erasable pen, a company sticker, and a thank you note with QR codes to all of the software programs that were discussed in the presentation. Yes, we hauled two hefty boxes of merch all the way from Hood River to Chicago. It was more than worth it.
2) Wood-mode KICK-OFF party
As I mentioned above, Wood-Mode invited the team to Design Chicago to present in their new showroom located in the Mart. They graciously hosted a networking event to start off the week. I was able to connect my newly onboarded Senior Designer, Juliana, with the whole Wood-Mode crew, who we frequently work with on our cabinetry projects. It’s always good to match a real-life human to an email thread.
3) presentation time!
I was asked to present about elevating your design presentations to increase consumer buy-in on the first day, and on the second day, I discussed internal systems and processes to dial in your workflow. The feedback we got from the audience was overwhelmingly positive. We had people stick around after the presentation to ask more in-depth questions and to connect with my team. It makes me so happy that I can share my discoveries with other designers to help them build their businesses and increase their sales.
4) Design chicago opening night
After the presentations, we were able to connect with talented designers at the kick-off party. It was awesome making new connections and catching up with designers that we have been following for years. It was our first taste of fame as so many people were coming up to us asking about our jumpsuits and thanking us for the presentation I gave earlier that day.
5) Exploring the city
When we weren’t exploring the showrooms in the Mart we were checking out what the city had to offer. We took our time to admire the historic architecture on the outskirts of the city and the towering skyscrapers downtown area. When it comes to the cuisine it's truly hard to pick favorites since every place we went to was absolutely delicious. However, if we had to pick I would say The Girl and the Goat impressed us the most with the bold flavors and their fun atmosphere. Our favorite bar was a tiki-style speakeasy, Three Dots, and a Dash, for their over-the-top tropical cocktails. We also enjoyed the rooftop bar called The Up Room for its expansive views of the city. Overall, we were really impressed with what the city had to offer and we can’t wait to go back!
6) Team Bonding Tattoos
Emily, Mason, and I made an impromptu decision to commemorate our time in Chicago with a trip to the tattoo parlor. The tattoo I got was inspired by a design I saw on the side of a building in downtown Chicago. We trekked across town to Logan Square Tattoo. The artists that did our tattoos were guest artists visiting from Ecuador. They both did an incredible job!
All in all, our experience in Chicago was nothing short of incredible. I am truly so grateful for the experience and for the opportunity to bond with the team. We really can’t wait to go back.
Cheers!
