When I was 12 years old I would wake up on Sunday morning in Houston, Texas and watch professional wrestling.

This was before the WWF, I’m talking about guys like Andre The Giant, The Von Erich dynasty and Dusty Rhodes. My brother and I would watch and then throw pillows on the ground and practice body slamming each other before we had to go to church… those were the days.

Is it Covid that has changed the way the industry looks at trade shows—or was that already happening before the pandemic hit?

In 2021, there were fewer markets because of Covid, and that may be the case in 2022 as well.

Just look at all of the markets that were already postponed in 2022—CIFF, VIFA Expo, Salon De Mobile, Malaysia EFE, Maison Object—and that’s not even the full list.

But in terms of the markets that did happen, how were they in terms of productivity?

Of course, it’s all about asking the right questions, which was the topic of a mattress industry Facebook thread started by Steve Houk.

The answers we found were so great we wanted to share them and take a closer look at why they’re such good questions to ask.

Did you know that today is World Sleep Day?

Started by the World Sleep Society, World Sleep Day is an annual awareness day held the Friday before Spring Vernal Equinox of each year, which is March 18 this year.

Each year, the organization offers a catchy slogan for people to keep in mind. This year it’s “Quality Sleep, Sound Mind, Happy World,” which is fitting considering the state of the world right now.

Questions to consider are “How does quality sleep help maintain mental health? How might better sleep help people focus during the day? Or how might fatigue weigh us down physically, mentally, and emotionally?”

Nearly 200 activities are organized by volunteers in local communities across 56 countries around the world to celebrate the day—which advocates and raises awareness for sleep health, and this is an opportunity for you to drive more store traffic and build trust with customers through knowledge of the product.

Here are a few ideas of events you could put on for World Sleep Day.

Bread lovers, your prayers have been answered

Loafa is a new hyperrealistic bread sofa inspired by Mario Bellini’s 1970s Camaleonda sofa.

Designed by Estonian rapper Tommy Cash in collaboration with object-transformation artist Gab Bois, Cash unveiled the sofa on Instagram and asked followers to reach 10,000 comments to convince Ikea to put the Loafa into production.

Ikea has been silent, but Cash recently wrote: “Loafa is coming to your nearest IKEA söön.”

It’s no secret that the home furnishings industry is male-dominated.

And while organizations like WithIt are working to change that, we all have a part to play.

The FAM recently read a news story about how American Freight Furniture and Mattress was recently ordered to pay $5 million in monetary relief and provide job opportunities to women who were denied hiring in sales or warehouse jobs at the company.

But even more important than the fact that American Freight was wrong to do this, we need to focus on why companies should be looking to hire women.

Daylight Saving Time begins on March 13 this year, and we’re excited for more hours of sunlight each day.

Thanks to the FAM’s expert investigator Mark Quinn, we know that the strange change in time began with a guy named George Hudson. The entomologist hatched the idea of DST so that he could get an extra two hours to hunt bugs.

Will we ever see an end to DST?

Got Milk? The Incredible Edible Egg. Pork, The Other White Meat.

Some of the greatest and most successful products in the world have slogans. And that’s because slogans are memorable and help keep products and services at the top of mind.

They help consumers develop a positive relationship with a brand. (the slogans we mention above are not for a brand..more for a product. Better to say, they help consumers develop a positive relationship with a product, category, or even a concept.

So why doesn't the furniture industry have one?

Bad news for those tired of hearing about the need for up-to-date,  user-friendly websites that tie the online experience to the store—they’re only becoming more important.

At Nationwide Marketing Group’s recent PrimeTime event in Nashville, The FAM caught up with Aaron Bundschuh, chief digital and technology officer at Nationwide, to talk about all things websites.

For years, regardless of what actually took place during a market, the story that the trade press would report was remarkably predictable—“Traffic was mixed, but order writing was strong.”

On the rare occasion when a show was really lacking, you could bet your last dollar that somewhere in the story, usually in the first paragraph, an exhibitor would state, “Traffic was down, but I saw and sold the buyers I needed to see.”

Today, thanks to the immediacy of social media and to the fact that everyone with a smartphone deems him-or herself a journalist, there’s much more transparency regarding every event, including trade shows.