Texas Tech's Learning Lunch & Design Expo 2011

               It is always a treat to attend Texas Tech University’s Design Expo. This was my second year to go to the Expo, but my first time attending the Learning Lunch. These are excellent events for interior design students because it allows them a chance to meet many different experts and vendors in a short amount of time. This is one of the only times that employers from the “real world” come to see the students instead of the student seeking them. Not to mention, it is a good excuse for skipping class, getting to dress up, receiving a free lunch, and to be given many designer goodies.

            The Learning Lunch speaker was fantastic! His name is Bryan Graham and he is a former interior designer who now works as a furniture designer for Knoll.  I was especially interested in what he had to say because for weeks now, I had been working with Knoll furniture for an Interiors III project designing an office. Because of this, I was already familiar with some of his style and some of his work. I don’t often think of how the furniture is made, only how pretty or comfortable the piece is.  His stories gave me a whole new insight of the furniture building process.

            Next was the Design Expo; the main event where vendors line the walls will their samples, brochures, and gifts to coax design students over to their booth. It works. In fact, I now have multiple bags of magazines and samples from these types of events. There were many good vendors this year, but my favorite by far was a company I had never heard of before. This is a man who brings all sorts of technology into places you didn’t even know you needed it in. His most amazing projects include placing a touch-screen monitor into the table at a restaurant allowing the customer to interact with the kitchen. This way the customer can order their own meals and tell the chef exactly what they want. The technology doesn’t stop there. Say there is a movie theatre right around the corner from the restaurant. The two companies can make a deal where the customers are able to browse movie times and even purchase tickets from the table. The possibilities are endless to what this man can do.

            There were many other great vendors at the expo that I look forward to working with in the future. This is a great event that keeps everyone up to date with what is going on in the design world today. Plus, the food is amazing!