"One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions." - Oliver Wendell Holmes

SURFACES is committed to quality. And because of that, our education program is known for providing in-depth and comprehensive workshops, seminars and forum discussions for the floorcovering industry.

These sessions generate discussion, collect ideas, find solutions and provide motivation to attendees to overcome the current challenging economic conditions.

These sessions, and the individuals that present them, help to keep the floorcovering industry growing. SURFACES is looking for industry speakers, subject matter experts and professional speakers to help meet these goals.

The 2011 program will consist of core topics from our five educational tracks:

• Business - human resources, money management and leadership skills
• Design - product and industry trends and design theory
• Installation - best practices, improved techniques and industry updates
• Marketing - advertising, industry research, merchandising, marketing plans and public relations
• Sales - client relationships, service, profitability and productivity

We are also looking for best practices, the latest industry-related topics, legislative issues, interactive learning formats and pragmatic information retailers, manufacturers, distributors, architects, interior designers, builders and installers can use right away. Proposals designed to promote products or services will not be included.

Course format will be a 3-hour, 90-minute or 1-hour presentation. All 3-hour workshops will be held on Tuesday, January 25, 2011. 90-minute seminars will be offered Wednesday, January 26 through Friday, January 28, 2011. The 1-hour mini sessions will only be offered on Wednesday and Thursday. Presenters must be available to present on any day of the education program.

The deadline for submitting proposals is Friday, February 12, 2010. Show Management and the SURFACES Education Advisory Council will review all accepted proposals and base evaluations on originality of proposal, past speaker and session ratings (if applicable), timeliness of topic, practical applications of materials or ideas, relevance of content to the floorcovering industry and presenters with strong speaking experience. Final selections will be made by Show Management.

Call for Presentations may be submitted online or via email to cthornton@hanleywood.

Speakers must be able to meet deadline requirements. No travel or hotel expenses will be paid to exhibitors, association members, consultants and press.