17 August 2010

Guest hosting Interior Design Chat on Twitter

Twitter has changed my life in ways I never could have imagined it would when I was fumbling around with it in the spring of '09. I remember thinking that it reminded me of radio static. It was noise and snippets of out of context conversations. "What's the point?!" I remember asking everybody who was telling me was an amazing thing it was. I kept at it because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

By the beginning of that summer I could see what all the fuss was about and then some. In a matter of months I went from being an outspoken doubter to an evangelist. Every great career opportunity that's come my way since last summer has come my way through Twitter. Someone very wise once said that Facebook reconnects me to my past, Twitter introduces me to my future.

And so it was on that note that the great Nick Lovelady asked me to host Interior Designer Chat tonight from 6pm to 7pm EST. Interior Design Chat is an hour-long discussion on a specific topic and it's attended by hundreds of design pros from all over the world. It's run by Nick and Barbara Segal. Nick's a kitchen and bath designer in Alabama and Barbara's an interior designer who lives in Newport, RI and who works in Chicago and LA. Nick Tweets as @cupboards and Barbara Tweets as @NoirBlancDesign.

Group chats on Twitter use dedicated tags to separate chat-specific tweets from the rest of the Twitter Stream. Everyone who participates in Interior Designer Chat tags his or her messages with the hash tag #IntDesignerChat and the conversation just flows.

A guest host's job is to introduce five questions at regular intervals to lead the conversation and my topic tonight is color. I submitted my questions last Friday to the Interior Design Chat website and everybody who participates knows to check the site prior to the Tuesday night conversation.

The questions (with accompanying photos) I submitted are as follows:



1. Gloss paint finishes are enjoying a resurgence in the design press. Do you like this trend? What sheens to you usually specify for interior paints?


2. Pantone's 15-559 Turquoise was named 2010's Color of the Year by Pantone. Has turquoise figured into your work this year? Why do you think they picked turquoise?


3. When there's a hot color out there, turquoise for example, are you more prone to acessorize with it or would you use on things that can't be changed easily (or cheaply) like a sofa? What role do color trends play in your work and why?

4. Sherwin-Williams recently issued four palette forecasts for 2011. I wrote about them on my blog here. http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com/2010/07/sherwin-williams-2011-color-forecast_30.html The palettes look like this:





Do you see these color combinations taking shape in your work? Is Sherwin-Williams onto something or have they missed the boat? What color combinations do you find yourself coming back to time and again? How do trends influence that?


5. What message do you wish you could send to the people who decide which colors are used or ignored (in any product category) in a given year?

So if you're a design professional, no matter where you are, please join us tonight when I host Interior Design Chat at 6pm EST. If none of this makes any sense to you, get thee to Twitter and meet your future.

13 comments:

  1. I think Twitter needs a notice when you sign up that tells you to just be patient and that they promise the Twitter lightbulb will go off for you eventually. I am especially enjoying Twitter for following local businesses, people, museums, etc in Indianapolis right now.

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  2. Are you sure you want to go there with the gloss paint question? The blogland zombies are rising from their crypts again as we speak...

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  3. Sharon: Twitter's learning curve is what keeps out the riff-raff. Are you joining us at 5pm CST tonight?

    Julie: Thanks for catching that!

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  4. Paul, what a great tool that Twitter is?!

    Thanks so much for being a leader for so many of us in social media and in the kitchen and bath industry.

    VERY exciting to participate with you this afternoon at the chat. It'll be a good one!

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  5. I'll do my best to sign on to #IntDesignerChat this afternoon. Last time I tried I had trouble with something (not sure) could have been my internet connection, my browser or Twitter (being a consternant little birdie) --who knows! In any case, you inspire me as a designer, a host and a social network maven. Very awesome that you are hosting #IntDesignerChat! Glad you are not asking "what is art?". My fingers cannot type that fast.

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  6. Thanks, I'll keep my eyes and ears open for you Pam!

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  7. Well, I must say my partner and I on CFT411.com have been wrestling with this Twitter thing. We're just trying it out for a while to see if it helps us or not. So far, truthfully, it's too new to rate.

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  8. I believe that I was heard to utter the phrase "ridiculous waste of time" when the idea of using Twitter came up. It didn't take that long to convert me to a believer.

    While it is very difficult to measure the "success" of using Twitter, I can't think of any other way I would have had the opportunity to:
    - chat with designers in Canada from our San Diego office
    - find SO MANY smart and interesting blogs to read
    -discover that there is so much passion out there for all of the different aspects of design.

    That last one is key. You can find endless inspiration and people with genuine gifts to share on Twitter. It opens up new worlds like nothing else can. (Need me to proselytize at the next Twitter Revival Meeting?)

    Love IntDesignerChat and participate when I can. It is a real test of my speed
    reading skills!
    Kathy

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  9. Joseph - I recommend using HootSuite to help organize the contacts and chatter on Twitter. It has helped me quite a bit. - Kathy

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  10. I had to comment when I saw you'd posted the Emma Bridgewater AGA. I tell you, this piece is an abomination! They have taken a classic, stylish everyday item & turned into some sort of cupcake type thingymabob. It's gross. I've seen it in real life & the colours are not even bright & vital like you'd expect. No, the polka dots have been sponged on.....!!! It's AWFUL. To make matters worse, it is £10,000, more than £6,000 more than most AGA's.

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  11. kathy: You sound like me! And Joseph, I recommend using HootSuite too. Leaving the Twitter interface behind was the key to my embracing Twitter.

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