Mortified

I went to a Fall and CHRISTMAS floral showcase at Mears Floral Products in Springfield MO yesterday, and I am still appalled. The Wholesaler was set up very beautifully, and they have remodeled. It was such a breath of fresh air to be down there seeing as it is 3 hours away and we at Kent's don't often get that chance to go down there and shop and see the product first hand. As I digress, the commentator/designer for the show was horrible! And I have no problem with posting this, and I have no problem with her finding out about the things that I am about to say. The Purpose of a Design show such as the one that we attended yesterday was to inspire, teach and share...and she did the exact opposite.

The show was supposed to be about holiday and fall decor, In the first segment I learned about one product (a Vase) that she used and for the rest of the time, I heard about her, her shop, and how wonderful her children are; and how without her family (not one mention of her employees) she wouldn't be as successful as she is today. In the second segment she spent the first 30 minutes talking about a ladder that her husband bought her, and about how wonderful her daughter is, and how wonderful things are in her shop. When Questions were being asked of her, she danced around them like hot coals, and wouldn't share too much information about her techniques used because she didn't want to give away her "Secrets" as she kept saying. My question is, "so why are you here?" The last segment she made 4 arrangements ahead of time that didn't have anything to do with each other, and had nothing to do with what the segment was supposed to be about. She did design on piece on stage, using the techniques and teachings that she learned while studying ikebana, but she didn't relate it to the show, I felt it was just her bragging about being a student of ikebana. During 3 segments out of the day, she only mentioned 2 times the things that she used from the Mears Showroom. That is part of your job as a commentator is to plug the merchandise and materials that you are using. I heard more about these fancy Japanese Clippers that her wonderful daughter got for her in NY, by the way none of us can get them from our local wholesaler cause they are only available in NY... Anyone else seeing the issues here?

The icing on the cake was when she was ending her final segment, and she looked at a girl in the audience that she had spoken to during break. The Designer was going on about tweaking the rules and principles of design. It was at that moment that she looked at this woman, and said "You won't be able to design like this, or design like me, and you may never be able to, you just a beginner".... SO much for inspiring you audience. This woman is so self-centered and delusional. and she needs not every do design shows again with that attitude. I have always said "the moment that you feel that you know it all, is the moment you should quit the business" She totally belittled her audience, and misused the opportunity that she was given. She had to opportunity to share, inspire and teach people some things that they might not have known, but instead, she was protecting her "Secrets" and that's very sad. I hate to break it to her but every concept and every idea in this world is derivative from something else, there are very very few original ideas in the world. The floral Industry has not gotten where it's at today by people keeping their "Secrets" to themselves. This Industry is very rich with knowledge and talent, and I hope that one day when I am doing Design shows that I can inspire, teach and share anything and everything that I can to help out someone.