Volume 40, Issue 8 Nov/Dec 2015 Success Via WIA By President Vinny LaRusso, C.P. ,Time for a Change Wallpapering, Inc., Brewster, New York Greetings WIA Members, advice from their experience with the product. Whether you pick up the phone and call or post First, I want to thank each and every one of you a note on any of our social media platforms, for your support! I am very excited to be your the reality is that you are not alone and within a new President and look forward to what lies very short time your question will be answered. ahead! The good news is that information is just a As your new President, the first issue I would screen touch away! like to address is membership. Being a member Each and every year the WIA offers of the WIA has many advantages. The WIA education and training opportunities. One of offers educational classes which explore vital these opportunities is our amazing convention! topics such as new marketing techniques and The 2015 Convention in New Orleans was the other relevant topics. The WIA’s networking most attended in 15 years! Wow! Our education opportunities are priceless. Personally, I have classes were information packed and greatly grown my business in the past 14 years as a attended. The business topics always update direct result of the networking opportunities. I us on new tips and techniques. The variety of have learned so much from my fellow members topics tells you a lot about our organization. You that I cannot begin to put a price on that! can listen, look and learn new things every year. Our organization has come a long way from As the saying goes….”it is worth its weight in the two city organization it was in 1974. We gold” and we all know the price of gold these have evolved into a worldwide organization. days, so that would be a hefty value that no We have made the transition from hanging installer would every pass on. wallpaper to installing wallcovering not only here We also have social media outlets for our in the United States, but around the world. We (Continued on page 19) now have a growing international membership and can boast of members in countries such as INSIDE THIS ISSUE England, Germany and Australia. I can’t wait to Exactly Who is Helping Whom? ............................................2 see where we grow next! Wanted: Installers Articles and Chairperson..........................4 Wallcoverings themselves have evolved as 2015 Education Wrap Up ......................................................5 well. We now have a plethora of materials to What’s Your Flavor? ..............................................................6 install such as glass beaded, Mother of Pearl, Getting More from your Contractor Locator ..........................8 wood veneer, lacquered, medallion, self stick WIA Website: WOW Look at Us! ...........................................9 murals, graphic murals just to name a few and National Convention – What a Ball! .....................................10 Becoming Knowledgeable in Non-Wovens ..........................12 they are available in all shapes and sizes. These New Members .....................................................................14 new and innovative products create challenges 2015 Craftsmanship Awards ...............................................15 for the individual installer but through your WIA WIA National Awards Winners Announced! ........................16 network, you always have someone to give Marketing Yourself Successfully .........................................20 November/December 2015 - Page 1 Exactly Who is Helping Whom? By WIA West Region Director Gerri Beauvais C.P., Gerri Beauvais Custom Wallcovering Installations, San Francisco, California It’s a funny thing, how we think we know what Added to that was the fact that the date we’re doing. You’re going along, holding onto an was less than optimal. The scheduling window idea of the motives, meanings and impacts of would have us in there on December 5, the first your activities, and then all of a sudden, BAM! Saturday in what is for many of us the busiest The universe lets you know that you don’t really month of the year. But there was to be a large know what you’re doing. promotional event 3 weeks later and the other Our Northern California Chapter was asked trades had to get in after us to install all of the about the possibility of doing some of the other elements. wallcoverings in the new Ronald McDonald We also normally deal with the manufacturers House in Palo Alto, CA. The addition of a new ourselves to have the materials donated. This building would more than double the size of the is extra work, but it gives us the opportunity campus, making it the largest Ronald McDonald to select papers that will be durable and House in the world. straightforward to hang, generally commercial Ronald McDonald House is partnering vinyl or a similar material in residential widths. for this expansion with the San Francisco In this case, each designer was going to Design Center and many of its designers. The provide their own wallpaper, which was great, designers are each taking on the challenge but it also added the extra challenge of a wide of completely designing and furnishing one variety of materials, some of which were neither or more of the family bedrooms, from paint the easiest to hang nor the most durable for a and wallcovering to furniture, drapes and bath setting that would receive a lot of use. fixtures. Although we would not have as many Our chapter wasn’t sure this was a good members as we usually do because we’ve lost match for us. The original scope of our portion a few folks through retirement and relocation of the project was 25 bedrooms, doing a feature recently, we did have the advantage of several wall in each. Although it later became a little of our members being available to go in during smaller at about 16 rooms, this was quite a bit the previous week, to get the papers organized larger than our usual charity hangs. and begin prepping and even hanging some of We normally go in on a Saturday morning, the walls. This also gave some members who have some coffee, fool around, then hang, would not be able to make it on Saturday the then have lunch, then hang some more, then opportunity to participate. fool around some more, and are out of there So, even with all the challenges associated by maybe 4 pm. We’ll do a few rooms and the with the project, we felt that it was such a good hallways. One year we did a family waiting room cause and, of course, being paperhangers, we at Highland Hospital in Oakland. The room was love a challenge! We decided to go for it. about 10’ x 12’, with the furniture piled in the Starting on Monday, whoever was available middle. It had a photo mural on one wall and a began prepping and following up on details of complementing plain on the other three. There where each of the papers were and making were about 10 or 12 of us there, along with Elsie sure that the correct papers were in the correct Kapteina and her husband, who were visiting. rooms and that we knew which wall was to be The room was so crowded that we had to set up done. Not all the rooms were ready for us, but out in the hall and take turns going in to hang we were able to start with whatever was done so that we all got a chance at the wall. You get and work from there. Each day members came the picture: this is usually a fun day where we back: some every day, some could spare one get to be together, eat, have fun, and also hang or two days. But little by little, we were getting it some paper. done and it looked like we could get far enough November/December 2015 - Page 2 that by the time Saturday rolled around we would have a manageable amount of work left. However, as the week wore on I became more and more frustrated because it’s a very long building and we were constantly having to move because we would be all set to work in one area and then suddenly were told that the floor guys were going to be laying the floors in that corridor and we had to move all the way to the other end of the building. We finished out the week with the big day Also, because not every room was ready, we on Saturday. It was quite a push, but everyone had to hopscotch around from one end to the worked together and we got the job done. But other. People’s wallpapers had not arrived and at that point it all looked different and all of the we were constantly looking for them. It was inconveniences didn’t matter anymore. very cold in the building. There were power and Even though I never met that family or any of water challenges. All was very frustrating. the others, the experience of seeing that young But then toward the end of the week I had a dad changed my perspective on the charity freeze frame moment. We were in the existing hangs and I’m sure he helped me much more Ronald McDonald House and they were feeding than I could ever help him. us lunch. We were in the reception area and I Fast Facts About Ronald McDonald House: had not seen any of the families at that point. • RMHC provides sick children what they need It was all construction workers, designers, the most... their families. painters, paperhangers, admin folks. • RMHC supports children and families by I was on my way down the hall and as I delivering programs and services in more than 60 countries and regions.