I bet that would be a lot of fun. Will Chico be there? :) I always love him...

Thanks for the notice. DW loves that show, I think I'll take her.

So, is anyone going tonight? I'll be there with a friend, at least that is the plan at this point. I think it will be fun - she seems to have a good sense of humor, and she has just recently teamed up with the Smithe stores for a line of furniture, I believe.

Supposedly everyone who attends gets a free copy of her book, which she will sign.

I'd love to go as much for the chance to say hi to you, les, as to get CO's book but Oak Brook is like the dark side of the moon from here! When you decide you're ready to hire out and do in person versions of the type of decorating interventions you do here, let me know, ok? Seriously.

Oh man, les, if I'd known you were planning to go, I would have gone, too. As it turned out, my SIL wasn't able to go and I've already seen Candice once, so without my SIL, I didn't think I'd go again. But a chance to say hi to you, les, would have been fun. I hope you did go with your friend because I really enjoyed it when I went last year. I have a signed copy of her book. It was fun to meet her. Let us know all the details if you do attend. Thanks.

DLM2000 and Bac717m, getting to meet up with you would have made a fun evening even better! And thank for the lovely compliment about decorating interventions, DLM. I don't think I have the qualifications to hire out, but I would be happy to help you and share some ideas anytime gratis.

It was a blast! If you are not familiar with Walter E. Smithe Furniture, you can go to their website and watch some of the videos of the commercials the three brothers do. They are fun, and have become iconic around here.

Smithe furniture

Anyway, they had a heated tent set up outside the main doors of the store, where they checked your coat for you, and gave you a ticket for the FREE Candice Olson book.

As we walked in the front door, there were the three brothers and their dad, all lined up and greeting every single person that walked in the door. Very friendly and enthusiastic, wishing you a great time , etc. That was one of the things that impressed me the most - that they were not only there, but standing to greet hundreds of decorator wannabees like me, most of whom will never shop in the store again. But they really made you feel as if you were special, and coming into their home.

Immediately you got a 'golden ticket', which essentially was a $ off coupon. Mine was $50 off $150, my friend got $100 off $250. Coupons are good until March of 2008. But among those was one winner of $10,000 - and somebody did get it! They announced it and brought them forward during the presentation part of the evening.

In the mean time, they had wait staff in tuxes circulating everywhere with trays of sparkling wine, and red and white wines. They had coffee stations with attendants in several places in the store, and served the coffee not in paper or foam cups, but in black china pedestal mugs.

At the appointed time, Candice appeared in the center atrium area of the store, on the large split staircase, where they conducted all the presentations, drawings, etc. They also had large screens set up around the balcony so that people could see the slide show she did, and they had big screen tvs all over the store among the furniture groupings, tuned into the presentation so you could sit anywhere in the store on the comfy furniture and watch, since there was not enough seating in the center area for everyone. The center area had her furniture line samples there, for which Smithe is the only Chicago distributor.

They gave away a signed chair from her line and a signed couch. It was kind of funny, because Candice is 6 feet tall. The woman who won the couch is a 'little person', and could not have been more than 4 feet tall, probably a bit less.

She did a fabulous, off the cuff presentation about the show and her furniture lines, her design process, etc. She is just as fun and crazy and relaxed in person as she appears on the show. Even tho I had seen most of the rooms she showed, it was fun to hear her perspective and behind the scenes take on the rooms.

After she talked for about 30 minutes, she opened the floor to questions for another 20 minutes or so. She said they do not work from a script at all. All the shows are shot in Toronto, as Chico, Paul, Andrew and others all have independent businesses that they run, as well as families. Evidently HGTV asked them in the second year to travel and shoot in some other places, and she said no, for the reasons mentioned. Paul and Andrew have gone on to other ventures (Andrew 'left for love' she said, and is in the Chicago area now).

She said the budgets vary, and the lowest one has been $500, which will be aired soon. The highest was $120,000, but that was to add on a 10x12 addition on the back of a house. All the projects are real, the clients have budgets, etc. She did say she no longer has time to do private work herself, between the show and the furniture line and her family.

The show shoots 10 hours of tape for a 23 minute segment. She said at the end of every season they have a bloopers reel they run, which she said are always "kinda dirty', LOL. She did talk about the fact that once she consults with the homeowners, they never are consulted again, are never back in the space or know what is being done. Her take on that is there is good and bad, but one benefit is that sometimes clients get caught up in the minutae of the process if there are there for every little step, and it can hang up the process tremendously. She has never had a show where the clients were not happy with the room, but she said that is her job, to be sure they ARE happy and to know what they want and need.

Then, one of the Smithe bros. announced that since this was a party, they wanted everyone to enjoy their stay while they waited to have their book signed. However, they did have some signed ones ready if someone couldn't stay. Some people left, but most stayed to have a chance to meet her in person. In the meantime, they had some great caterer brought in who prepared all kinds of hors d'oeuvres. Smoked salmon and cream cheese served on a tiny origami-folded pastry shell; beef satay and chicken satay, tapenade and feta spread on toast, several kinds of sushi, quesidillas with mango, etc. All the time the wine and coffee continued to flow, and the hors d'oeuvres servers were everywhere.

We finally got called to get in line for our book signing. Done very efficiently, but they let people take pix with her, talk for a minute, ask questions, etc. By the time Diane and I met her, she had been at this for between 1 1/2 and 2 hours, and she was still perky and friendly and asking people questions.

It was a great adventure, and now I proudly possess a signed copy of her book.

The evening must have cost them an arm and a leg because, while they weren't serving high end wines or black truffles, the food and drink was abundant, the free books had to have cost them something of the $20 price, and the set up for the presentation with all the electronics was an expense as well. I am sure her company donated the chair and couch she gave away, but the $10,000 shopping spree comes out of their profit margin as well.

Diane and I both found a couch (the same one) that we loved. I think it was perhaps $1500. Not something I can afford, but if I ever am in the market for furniture, I certainly will at least check them out. They created a lot of good will (and some sales, I saw salespeople with orders working the floor with people), plus future sales.

And while I have always enjoyed watching Candice Olson (despite her abundant use of 'pot lights'), I will now enjoy it even more, knowing that the person I see on the screen is just being herself!

Thank you for the update. It is so nice to hear she is a "real" person and is so nice. I do love her show. There was a kitchen one that just aired about a family that had lived in New Orleans - oh, I was drooling over that kitchen.

It sounds like you had a great time.

Oh, I wish I lived in Chicago so I could've met her. Her show is my favorite on tv. I'm also glad to hear that her tv persona is the real her. Thank you les for sharing that narrative!

Robbi

Les, thank you so much for the thorough description of the night. Sounds like it was great! I wish I would have thought about driving up there (3 hours) for the evening - it would have been worth it! I grew up in Chicago and remember Smithe furniture - there was a store in the Woodfield area which is where we lived.

Glad you had such a good time!

Now I'm really sorry I didn't go!!! Les did you take notes or something? - that was a perfect recap of the evening! No question it cost them dearly to put on that spread, but those Smithe boys are smart business men and know that good advertising doesn't 'cost' it 'pays'. The good will created from that event will have dividends for them for a long time. I actually have a Smithe love seat in my living room and an accent table in my family room - their stuff isn't inexpensive but you do get value for the dollars.

I'll hold you to your offer, Les - maybe I can pay for your services with a mini version of the Smithe fete! I'll even don a tux for you if it helps ;-)

Les, that was an incredible report on your evening with Candice!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! It sounds like the Smithe brothers did a lot of fine tuning for the evening compared to when I attended last year. We had the same welcome at the door by two of the brothers. I even asked them to sing the Smithe song which they did without hesitation. Where they've improved since my visit is with the store set-up. At that time, we were in the back of the store and altho they had a "stage" area and some chairs set, many people, including me and my girlfreind, were standing wherever we could the whole time because there was only one screen for the slide presentation. They did, however, offer the same wonderful food and beverages, as well as the complimentary copies of Candice's book. And you are so right, she is so friendly in person. And wasn't it fun to get more background information on the show itself as well as some of the projects they've done? After reading about the evening, I'm really kicking myself for not attending. I don't dare share your report with my SIL, tho. She'll really be upset that she didn't go. I sure hope they have another signing in the near future. This is the second time they've used the Oak Brook store. They have their newest store in the Lincolnshire area which is just as nice and they've had only one event at that location.

Thank you again for taking the time to write such a great recap of the entire evening.

Glad you have enjoyed hearing about the event. I thought perhaps I got too wordy, too much detail - the journalist in me. LOL

A quick update. I sent a brief thank you note this morning to their customer service website, just a couple of lines, telling them what a nice evening it was, and how welcome I felt.

Within a couple of hours I had a reply - not from the customer service e-mail address, but from Walter E. Smithe's e-mail. Now, I am sure he didn't write the thing himself, but I was still impressed that it came from his office, that someone had forwarded my note on to him. Even had a typo, or missing word, so I think it was written specifically in response to my e-mail. Here is the e-mail.

Thank you for the nice note Les. It was a great evening and I glad you were able to be our guest. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Sincerely,
Walter E. Smithe III
President
Walter E. Smithe Furniture, Inc.
1251 West Thorndale Avenue
Itasca, IL. 60143
USA
630-875-6239 (direct)
630-285-8022 (fax)
iii@smithe.com (e-mail)

Now, again, it probably wasn't a big deal for someone to send it, but the fact is they took the time. Smart marketing, and a great way to create good will.

Wow, les, that's so nice to receive a reply to your email. I sent a thank you note after I attended last year, but I sent a note via snail mail and had no response. I should have thought to send it via email.

Les,

We're in the Chicago burbs and didn't make it to the event. However, I didn't need to because I felt like I was there after reading your recap on the evening! My mom has a good friend that's worked for "Walter" for over 20 years now. I want to say in Park Ridge back in the day and now at another location. At any rate, she's continued to work for them because of their generosity and compassion for their employee's and their customers. Even though up in the years, she says Walter is still very much involved in the "customer" aspect of the business. So, you never know, he may have actually taken the time to drop the line.

Thanks for the excellent detail and recap!

At first I was going to go, then I looked at the map, and realized Oak brook is way up there, I was thinking it was where Oak park is, much closer to us. So I stayed home, and watched the Bears lose.

Man, I am way down south. But I'd kill for Candice to do one of my rooms.

Wow, thanks for the great report, Les! You kinda' let the rest of us who couldn't be there attend "by proxy." I'm so glad for you that you got to go.

As far as credentials, it's my understanding that all you have to do to be an interior decorator is to say you're one... but I don't know if that varies by state or not. I think you should look into it, seriously. You would be dynamite!

Oceanna, I think you are right that in many places, you just need to declare yourself a decorator and hang out your shingle, so to speak. But I couldn't do that. I don't think I have the level of knowledge or training that would qualify me to do the job at a level that the label implies, and so I would be perpetrating a fraud on those clients.

Now, if someone knows my background and asks for help, I certainly am willing to do that, for free of course. I would also like to someday have a chance to do staging for home sales and interior re-arrangement, as well as have a small home decor shop. And maybe take some classes to be better qualified in the future.

But for now, I have to be content hanging here and offering suggestions, as well as learning a LOT for myself.

Bob411, you should have come - they had the Bears game on a number of the TVs around the store once her presentation was over, so you could have at least watched them lose sitting in some $2000 chair with a free glass of wine and hors d'oeuvre in hand!

First, thanks for the report.

Second, Les, don't underestimate the value of your talent. Many people, myself included, would be happy to pay a hundred or couple hundred dollars to have a talented person with vision just sit in a room and throw out ideas.