Don't Forget! The 2013 OFDA Dealer Financial Comparison (DFC) Survey Ends May 31st!

OFDA’s Dealer Financial Comparison & Benchmarking Guide, based on our annual survey of contract office furniture dealers throughout the United States and Canada, is the industry’s leading benchmarking program. Leading industry consultants have contributed to the design of this survey and themselves draw upon its aggregate results for use with dealer best-practice discussion groups they administer. Whether your company is a member of such a group or individually seeks to understand and act upon the data and in-depth analysis OFDA’s DFC provides, you will find great value in participating in this survey. For information on the DFC, click here and if you are ready to take the survey, click here.

WorkPlace Furnishings Dealer Group Celebrates 50th Anniversary
In 1963, a small group of office furniture dealers met in Cincinnati to develop plans for what at that time was a bold and innovative new concept: an organization that would bring together some of the country’s top dealers and empower them to strengthen key areas of their operations by leveraging their collective resources. Over the past fifty years, the organization that grew out of that initial meeting, now known as WorkPlace Furnishings (WPF), has become a leading umbrella organization for dealers in North America.

Configura Launches CET Designer 4.0
Configura launched CET Designer 4.0 on May 20. CET Designer 4.0 includes such design improvements as the ability to create custom shapes and worksurfaces, and rendering improvements that include the ability to make walls transparent or partially transparent. Additionally, a Material Lab with product materials is included in 4.0.

Gunlocke Kicks Off Reinvestment in Showrooms with Refresh to NYC Space
Gunlocke has reinvested in its commitment to the U.S. architectural and design sector with planned improvements and additions to its showroom network throughout 2013. First on the company’s schedule: a refreshed New York showroom at 275 Park Avenue South in Manhattan.

Equipment Lease Finance Industry Confidence Improves in May
Washington, DC, May 21, 2013 –- The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation recently released the May 2013 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI). Designed to collect leadership data, the index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $725 billion equipment finance sector.

Feature articles, whitepapers, research and surveys that provide in-depth industry information for office furniture community.

5 Tricks for Working With Millennials
by Steve Cody, Inc.
Your youngest employees are creative, bright, and a complete disaster to manage. Here's how to turn the mess around.

Pinterest Partners With Brands to Add Information to Pins
by Nora Grenfell, Mashable
Pinterest just got an upgrade that could make it easier for users to gather information by navigating in its site. Instead of exclusively linking back to the original source, pins from certain brands will now display information.

7 Tips to Finding “Your” Writing Voice
by Jeff Bullas
Have you ever stumbled upon a blog and thought…”Was this written by an android, a robot or was it a Martian?“ Whatever it was, it didn’t seem human.

How not to use LinkedIn: Cold Calling and Emailing
by Mike Alton
Unfortunately, I am seeing many, many people using LinkedIn in exactly that wrong way. Just because I accept your connection on LinkedIn doesn't mean I'm ready to give you my business, yet I now daily receive LinkedIn messages, emails and phone calls exactly to that affect.

13 Ridiculous Excuses For Missing Work Show Everybody Can Be Creative
by Harry Bradford, Huffington Post
It might not be uncommon for workers to fake a sick day just to skip work, but some apparently feel the need to get a little more creative, according to a recent study.

Configura Announces May Webinars
Configura, maker of CET Designer software, announces free May webinars.

NeoCon 2013 Hosts Prominent Seminars and Speakers
Continuing education and professional development have always been an integral component of NeoCon, North America’s largest contract furnishings trade show, to be held June 10-12 at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart for its 45th year.

Designed for the busy Dealer who doesn't have time to take advantage of all that social networking offers, OFDA's WebWise gathers the week's best tweets, web-based articles, discussions, pics, posts and likes into one place.

PINspiration from Around the World

• Qiho 360 Headquarters by David Ho - View
• College Track: San Francisco - View
• Lighting Up the World -  View
• Teknion's Expansion Training - View
• Milliken: New York City - View
• Keep Calm and NeoCon - View
• YouTube Tokyo - View

Tweets of the Week

• Remote Work vs. Collaboration: 8 Startups Weigh In On What Works For Them - View
• Does making green improvements have to be expensive? Dan Broersma doesn't think so. - View
• OFDA's LinkedIn Group Just topped 3,100 members! Check it out! - View
• What Does the Ideal Work Environment Look Like? - View
• From IFMA: BIM webinar takes place on June 12. Learn more and register here. - View

LinkedIn Lessons

• Fine Design Group Office - via Contemporist
• Adding Music to Your Office the RIGHT Way - via Turnstone
• Business Advice: Should Employers Offer Workers Unlimited Vacation Time? - via Washington Post
• Five Ways to Make a Killer First Impression - via Forbes