I just arrived back from the IIDEX/NeoCon 2008 Trade Show in Toronto where UPworld was there to meet hundreds of excited exhibitors and attendees in person! It was an intense and fun 2 days of total engagement with the Canadian Design and Products market. With over 16,000 attendees, we kept busy meeting people and adding all kinds of new faces to UPworld. We had 2 enthusiastic and wonderful students helping us - Kathleen Almeida from Ryerson University (http://www.upworld.com/kathleenalmeida) and Giancarlo la Penna from Humber (http://www.upworld.com/giancarlolapenna).

Hundreds of attendees stopped by our booth to sign up for new membership, get a quick pic taken for their profile, win free online advertising, and win free UPworld t-shirts! A few of our favorite quick pics are featured here:

You can check out more on our IIDEX Event World page:

http://www.upworld.com/events/conferences-and-expos/IIDEX-NeoCon-Canada-2008

We also made it a mission as IIDEX’s online media partner to meet as many of the Exhibitors as possible and get them onboard so they could start to feature their new products from the show on UPworld. We talked to almost 200 exhibitors one-on-one and many of their profiles and products are now featured on our IIDEX Products page: http://www.upworld.com/events/conferences-and-expos/IIDEX-NeoCon-Canada-2008/Exhibitor-Portfolios

A highlight of this year’s event was the Light Expo, which featured the latest in lighting technology and products. Our favorites included Magic Lite who showcased the latest in LED and Fiber Optic technologies and Bartco who introduced some very surprising new pendant lights. Magic Lite featured the Surface Star, a compact LED made of cast aluminum that can be easily used anywhere - from undercounter lighting to exhibition lighting to exterior applications - and with a 1.2 watts usage and a 100,000 hours life span, it provides versatility and performance.

Bartco introduced a very cost effective and minimalist new suspended pendant called a Low Profile Linear T5 Cable that can be used as either direct or indirect lighting. It’s perfect for those with small budgets. In addition, A-Tec Lighting was at the show this year, showcasing their expertise as a registered color kinetics dealer and installer and profiling their LED lights installed on the exterior of the office building at 137 Yonge Street. Their iColorAccent wet listed LED fixtures run up the entire length of the exterior columns, animating the building at night from blocks away.

The overall show still maintained last year’s focus on green products and sustainable concepts. The Canuhome was a particularly interesting exhibit that featured a full-scale home to help educate people on how to live green through decreased utility bills and improved indoor air quality. The 850 sq.ft. prefab home designed by George Brown College’s Institute without Boundaries has a shape that allows air to flow easily around its curved double wall system to regulate temperature. The Canuhome can go anywhere, from backyards to rooftops and surprisingly has everything needed for small-scale living. Its design and assembly comes from using the latest CNC milling techniques - it is made almost entirely out of laminated plywood and is quickly assembled on site by just bolting the pieces together. I was surprised by how much it felt like being in the capsule of an airplane. It is a striking example of what new fabrication and assembly methods can now viably contribute to the greening of our buildings.

For the larger companies, Teknion took center stage with an exciting new display on workspace design - clean, simple, and sleek surfaces that created a Mac-only environment. 3Form came prepared with fresh and innovative new surfaces and panels to choose from. My favorite was the Nest Collection, which was made up of intertwined, natural, nest-like patterns embedded within their panels.

Particularly impressive was a new ‘fake’ stone veneer company called By The Fire Hearth Products whose systems can make even the most budget-conscious client look like they can afford a beautifully expensive stone wall. And for those following new web technology, we found Rform.ca to be an exciting new product that allows designers and other professionals to do online contract administration in the easiest way possible through the web. Developed by 2 brothers, Rform.ca made its debut at IIDEX.

A fun highlight of the show was the student design competition. On Thursday, teams of interior design students from all the major universities in the Toronto area assembled at IIDEX and were presented with the challenge of designing a new sustainable living structure that would have to be actually built that same day from the scraps left in the trash bin from all the exhibitor work and set-up the day before. The University of X team won with its simple yet poetic way of creating flexible space that could adjust and reconfigure to the needs of its inhabitants. It was a tough challenge for these very talented teams!

Thanks to all those who stopped by the UPworld booth and said hello! We are looking forward to being IIDEX’s online media partner again next year and making this an even bigger and better event.