In 2019, the last time Configura held its Experience event live, it attracted more than 600 attendees. This year, the conference attracted about 300 in-person, according to Peter Brandinger, vice president of customer success. And while you might think that might be a major disappointment to the company and event organizers, the conference actually had more than 1,000 attending. Not surprisingly, Configura, a tech company, has figured out how to successfully host hundreds and hundreds of attendees virtually.

Space planning tools: Let’s start with the subject of this column, Configura. The Swedish space planning software platform has become a go-to for industry designers. The industry is also served by 2020, whose Worksheet tool remains the industry standard.

Dealer tools: For this part of your toolbox, turn to INDEAL. The dealer platform is always working on adding new tools for dealer salespeople, designers and executives. It is currently working on updating Pinpoint, an already outstanding tool that helps the dealer community navigate the avalanche of products that are available to them. The platform has a host of other tools that range from supporting dealers to helping them onboard new employees through its outstanding INDEAL University offering of videos that explain everything from the commercial interiors ordering process to an explanation of the various roles in the furniture procurement process.

Publications: Yes, we’re an industry tool as well. Hopefully, The Insider is becoming an important tool for you to start your week off right. There are many good industry publications, including officeinsight, which is published every Monday and includes important news and information for designers and industry insiders.

Events: Our industry is filled with fantastic events, starting with NeoCon, the most important of the year. Some of you might be reading this from Orgatec, the biennial furniture show in Cologne, Germany. Other overseas shows include Clerkenwell Design Week, Stockholm Furniture Fair, iSalone in Milan and the China International Furniture Fair (assuming China will ever reopen to foreign visitors).

Of course, there are dozens of other tools you use every day at work, though many of them are not specific to our industry. Zoom and Teams, email, the internet, smartphones and tablets all help us work more efficiently.

Every once in a while, it is worth looking through your toolbox to replace what you are not using with tools that work. So take a moment today to think about how you work and what you need to get the job done.

The event itself was fantastic, a great mix of serious, heads-down learning and a lot of networking and fun. But it got me thinking about the growing number of tools, both high- and low-tech, that we use in the industry. This list is in no way complete, so if I left your company or its tool out, I’m sorry in advance. There’s a lot cooking in the industry and it is impossible to keep track of everything.

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