Furniture organization names new leader

The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read

Nov. 16—HIGH POINT — A man with more than 30 years of marketing and advertising experience in the furniture industry has been named to lead the International Society of Furniture Designers after the current executive director retires at the end of 2022.

David Blair's first major responsibility as executive director will be to oversee the next Innovation + Design juried competition and exhibition that is moving to spring 2023, ISFD said in a press release.

Blair will succeed John Conrad, who has been with ISFD for more than 13 years, moving up from a board member to vice president, president and finally executive director.

"I am excited to continue building on the strong foundation that John has put in place over the past decade," Blair said. "Through my work, particularly with the High Point Market Authority, I gained a deeper appreciation and respect for this industry and its positive impact on people's lives. I especially enjoy working with people who have devoted their professional lives to making our homes more beautiful and better suited to the way we live."

In 2018, Conrad was instrumental in rebranding the American Society of Furniture Designers to the International Society of Furniture Designers. He then established the International Society of Furniture Designers Foundation, which focuses on building design education outreach. Conrad also digitized the ISFD archives and donated the physical archives to the Bienenstock Furniture Library. Conrad also initiated new programs for ISFD, including Innovation + Design along with the People's Choice Photography Competition in 2020.

At ISFD's recent Pinnacle Awards, the ISFD board of directors announced it had renamed the Student Pinnacle Award, which Conrad introduced in 2014, to the John Conrad Student Pinnacle Award for the groundwork Conrad laid helping design students and product design professionals in furniture.

"Over the past 48 years, this industry and the people in it have provided me with many unforgettable opportunities, and I have been blessed to have been able to help others with opportunities to build their careers along the way," Conrad said. "In my retirement life I look forward to traveling, spending more time with my family and continuing to spend time consulting, podcasting, and doing the voice-over and video production work that I so enjoy."