2010 – The Year Ahead: Trends and Challenges
After a disappointing 2008 holiday season, retailers and the market ended 2009 on a note of cautious optimism.
What does 2010 have in store for us all? Edwin Finn, President & Editor of Barron’s, takes a lok at major economic trends and challenges for retailers and luxury marketers.
His point of view will be complimented by an expert panel presenting important segments of the luxury market (Art, Realty, Private Aviation, Travel) AND insights from Council members attending.
Please join us as we jump start the new year with a thought provoking evening exploring what we can expect in the year ahead.
With kind Thanks to our Hosts:
HAWORTH
Haworth is a global leader in the design and manufacture of office furniture and organic workspaces, including raised access floors, moveable walls, systems furniture, seating, storage and wood casegoods. Family-owned, Haworth is headquartered in Michigan and serves markets in more than 120 countries.
Built in partnership with Perkins +Will | Eva Maddox Branded Environments and Turner Construction, the New York Haworth showroom is located at 125 Park Avenue, in the heart of Manhattan. Spanning 31,000 square feet, the LEED-CI Gold registered space demonstrates a broad range of work and collaborative spaces representing the best thinking from around the
world. A living workspace, the showroom is constructed of moveable walls, raised access floors and adaptable furniture.
The New York showroom will immerse clients in a world-class experience with several areas of special focus: a global seating gallery, a wood salon and a sustainability lab.
Read more about Haworth and Organic Work Spaces Return to Event Details
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Panelists include:
Mr. Edwin Finn
President & Editor
Barron’s
Mr. Robert Rippee
Chief Marketing Officer
DPS Sporting Club Development
&
Managing Partner
FORMO
Mr. Eric Schwartz
Chief Executive Officer
Validus Aviation
Ms. Laura DesMoine
Executive Vice President of Marketing
Sotheby’s International Realty
Mr. Michael Plummer
Principal
ARTvest Partners LLC
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About Edwin Finn
Ed Finn is editor and president of Barron’s, America’s premier financial magazine. He is responsible for its growing print, digital and conference operations. In addition, he is chairman and editor-in-chief of SmartMoney. Mr. Finn is a frequent keynote speaker at investor conferences and market commentator on television. He began his Dow Jones career in 1980 as a writer at The Wall Street Journal. Subsequently, he worked as a senior editor at Forbes and as the editor of American Banker before returning to Dow Jones in 1993 as managing editor of Barron’s. He was named Barron’s editor in 1995 and president in 1998. Mr. Finn holds a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree from Columbia University.
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About Robert Rippee
Robert is in the unique position of simultaneously holding two prominent responsibilities. Chief Marketing Officer for a luxury development brand and Managing Partner of a highly innovative marketing firm. This balance act enables him to provide a unique perspective as both a brand marketer in one of the most demanding and volatile luxury sectors, ultra high-end real estate development and as the solution provider for those marketing challenges. Based on the results for DPS Sporting Club Development Company under the current economic conditions, his sense of balance seems to be quite good.
Robert joined DPS Sporting Club Development in 2007 as CMO after nearly a year in a consulting role from his firm, the R2 Group Inc. Prior to that he served as Vice President of Brand and Marketing for the Sea Island Company, where his team was widely acknowledged as a world-class and innovative leader in luxury marketing. His broad experience also includes an extended period with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company in locations ranging from Hawaii to the Caribbean and Mexico. Possessing an undergraduate degree in Finance and Economics from the University of Wyoming and an MBA from the University of Georgia, Robert currently resides in Charleston, SC with his wife Lai, son Jordan and three dogs.
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About Eric Schwartz
Eric H. Schwartz is President and Chief Executive Officer of Validus Aviation. Eric leads the design and operation of the private aviation firm’s bespoke air charter and consulting services. He directs its global communications and long-term growth initiatives in developed and emerging markets as well.
Prior to founding Validus Aviation in 2008, Eric served as a senior sales executive with one of the world’s largest air charter brokerage firms. His expert industry experience includes working with clients in professional sports, entertainment, politics, and business as well as with private families throughout the Americas and Europe. He has championed innovative marketing strategies, often incorporating an avid support of the arts and organizations concerned with global health and human welfare.
Eric’s lifelong passion for aviation, together with his unique approach to delivering flawless service, position him to lead this visionary firm in shaping the future of private aviation worldwide.
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About Laura DesMoine
Laura DesMoine has worked in promotion and marketing to affluent consumers for more than 25 years. Currently Executive Vice President of Marketing at Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc., DesMoine leads the firm’s strategic marketing efforts and supports their tailored implementation across more than 30 luxury residential brokerage offices in the U.S. and London.
In her current position DesMoine is responsible for directing electronic marketing initiatives, advertising, public relations, custom publishing and corporate social responsibility programs. She also leverages marketing initiatives generated by Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC and Sotheby’s auction house.
Before joining Sotheby’s International Realty, DesMoine worked in the Promotion Department at The New Yorker magazine, both under private ownership and after its transformative acquisition by Advance Publications.
DesMoine is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Connecticut College, where she earned a B.A. magna cum laude in Design and Art History and was awarded the Lyman Allen Museum Art History Prize. In 1996 she earned a Certificate in Marketing from NYU and in 2006 completed the CEO Leadership Development Program at The Wharton School. She is a long-time member of the New York chapter of the Luxury Marketing Council.
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About Michael Plummer
Mr. Plummer is currently Principal and co-Founder of Artvest Partners, a customized discreet art finance business. Through its global proprietary network, the firm advises on art-related liquidity and business matters. In addition to offering multiple lending sources, Artvest Partners provides impartial advice on special-purpose investment partnerships, purchase and sale transactions, wealth transfer and preservation planning, and restructuring art businesses and collections.
Formerly Chief Operating Officer of Christie’s Financial Services, Mr. Plummer was jointly responsible for the structuring and development of an opportunistic art fund. The fund, designed as a private equity offering, was the first to be developed by a major auction house in partnership with a leading investment bank. Additionally, Mr. Plummer was responsible for securing art-lending facilities, overseeing loan underwriting practices, developing art indices, and comprehensive art market sector analysis.
Prior to Christie’s, Mr. Plummer created one of the earliest US art funds and continues to be one of the Art industry’s leading speakers on the subject of art as an asset class.
Mr. Plummer spent 15 years at Sotheby’s, during which time he served as Marketing Division Head for the Americas and Asia. He was responsible for the firm’s global re-branding and inaugural web strategy, all auction marketing, client information databases, advertising and numerous programs for cost reduction and business efficiency.
Previously, Mr. Plummer was the acting Chief Operating Officer of Sotheby’s real estate subsidiary and was instrumental in the profitable restructuring critical to the parent company’s highly successful 1989 IPO. Having started his career in Sotheby’s Treasury Department, Mr. Plummer oversaw one of the industry’s first significant art loans.
Mr. Plummer is a Director and a co-Founder of the Luxury Marketing Council. He is also a Board member of the American Friends of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Mr. Plummer received his BS in Economics from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1980.