High Point — Furniture Today, a leading publication for the home furnishings industry, has been named as the recipient of the 2022 IFDA Luminary Award.
Given annually by the Carolinas Chapter of the International Furnishings and Design Assn., the award honors a home furnishings industry icon or company whose innovative work has significantly furthered or promoted the home or décor industries and whose endeavors enrich the lives of others, particularly in the home and design industry.
In addition to honoring Editor in Chief Bill McLoughlin and the current editorial team and staff of Furniture Today, the Luminary Award will recognize Stephen Pond, the founder of Furniture Today, and all journalists and business associates who have worked for or currently work with the publication and its sister companies.
The Night of Luminaries and Rising Stars is open to all members of the industry and design community. It will be held at the Markor Art Center, 122 N. Hamilton, in downtown High Point, at 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 9.
Also honored at this event are the industry’s Rising Stars, senior-level undergraduates selected by their colleges or universities across North and South Carolina as their most outstanding design student. Each honoree will showcase one or two recent projects that best exemplify his or her work and design philosophy. The projects will be displayed at the event prior to the formal program.
Previous Rising Star recipients have gone on to make their mark in our industry creating bestselling furniture collections, winning awards, making strides in sales and management for leading manufacturers and working in successful interior design enterprises.
In addition to the Rising Stars recognition, the International Society of Furniture Designers will announce and award its 2022-23 student scholarship winner at the event.
Stephen K. Pond founded Furniture Today in 1976 with the vision to create “the industry’s newspaper” to comprehensively inform stakeholders throughout the home furnishings industry. During his ownership, the parent company, Communications Today, also launched Home Textiles Today, Home Accents Today, Design Today, Upholstery Today, the Professional Upholsterer, Video Today and Manufacturing Today.
Pond and founding Editor in Chief Bill Peterson set the standard for editorial integrity and business stewardship, guiding Furniture Today to produce in-depth reporting, market research and not-to-miss in-person events while providing companies with fresh new opportunities to market their brands and products.
Many of our industry’s most well-regarded journalists, editors and sales specialists honed their craft at Furniture Today or its sister titles. In the magazine’s 46-year history, it has had only four editors-in-chief — Peterson, Lester Craft, Ray Allegrezza and McLoughlin — with nearly the same number of publishers. Notably, Joe Carroll, who joined Furniture Today at the end of its first year in 1977, enjoyed a nearly 33-year career with the company, retiring in 2010.
“By selecting Furniture Today as our 10th anniversary Luminary Award winner, we honor Stephen Pond’s extraordinary vision and dedication to our industry and salute every person who has worked at that esteemed publication and at the magazines it gave rise to,” said Wilma Hammett, Carolinas IFDA’s president. “Rarely is there a company, populated by so many special individuals, that has made such a significant impact across the breadth of an industry.
“Furniture Today is a standout exemplar of what our Luminary Award commemorates, and we are pleased to make it our 10th anniversary recipient.”
Tickets to the 2022 Night of Luminaries and Rising Stars are $50 per person, available online through Nov. 7. The evening kicks off with an exhibit of the Rising Star students’ works accompanied by heavy hors d’oeuvres and libations at 5 p.m. The awards presentations begin at 5:45 p.m.
Luminary Award sponsors are Davis Furniture Inds., Thayer Coggin, Libby Langdon Interiors, Gefen Productions, Century Furniture, Markor, Nancy High and the IFDA Educational Foundation. Additional support comes from IFDA Industry Partners: Benjamin Moore, Hunter Douglas, European Home, High Point x Design, The Shade Store, Theodore Alexander and Sherrill Furniture.
See also: Which design students won IFDA’s 9 Educational Foundation Scholarships?
