Whether you’re a retailer, designer or an exhibitor, this post is for you. It’s a long one, and if you want to skip to the part where I tell you exactly how to attract new clients and customers using this free new way, scroll quickly, but you'll benefit and understand the idea most thoroughly if you read the entire post.

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This past January 2024, Dallas Market Center’s Lightovation tradeshow debuted the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse installation during Lightovation, in partnership with Samsung.

This first of its kind in the world installation, powerfully positioned Dallas Market ‘s Lightovation tradeshow as first amongst all home related tradeshows with respect to being a forward thinking, educational thought leader for all of their stakeholder groups.

Now, Lightovation has also made available to each of you who is a stakeholder in their ecosystem - whether an exhibitor, a rep, an attendee retailer and/or an attendee designer -the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse permalink - a valuable and free piece of online content that can be used by you as an exciting and fun way to delight, inspire, entertain, educate and attract new customers or clients.

In this post, I want to discuss with each of you in one of those stakeholder groups - who may be seeing this post - how you can use this valuable piece of free content in your own businesses.

But first….the backstory on how the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse came into existence and what it contains that is so unique.

THE BACKSTORY

In June of 2023, I approached Allison John, Vice President of Programming for Dallas Market and Lightovation, about speaking opportunities at Dallas Market revolving around immersive virtual experiences, specifically the metaverse. After our meeting, she discussed these ideas with her senior leadership team and then contacted me in July to say they wanted to take the ideas we discussed even further.

They were interested in creating a major 3D immersive VR [ virtual reality ] installation - to include a metaverse space - that would debut at Lightovation in January of 2024 and she asked me to put together a proposal to manage the project, which I did. The Lightovation Board of Directors heard the proposal, greenlighted the project’s funding, and we were off and running.

Before I presented my proposal, I reached out to interior designer and rendering artist, Annilee Waterman, and asked her to be my collaborator - the one who would build, 3D model and render the Trendhouse - both versions of it. Luckily, she said, “Yes”. The TrendHouse project would not have been possible without Annilee’s participation.

I also reached out to Shay Geyer and asked her to be my 2nd collaborator, the celebrity interior designer who would work with Annilee to select the finishes, the decor items and the 21 highlighted lighting fixtures from all of those that were sent to her to choose from by the exhibitors. Shay, owner of IBB Fine Furnishings in Dallas, said “Yes*, too, thank goodness. I’ve known Shay for years and I couldn’t have asked for a more flexible team player collaborator than Shay.

The highlighted lighting fixtures Shay chose were based on the 4 major lifestyle trends for 2024 highlighted in Patti Carpenter’s online trend report prepared for Furniture Lighting and Decor magazine, which was then distributed in print during Lightovation. [ A link to it is at the bottom of this post ].

[ Note: all Lightovation exhibitors were contacted by DMC executive, Helen Smith, via email, and invited to submit 3D models of their lighting fixtures that reflected the 4 trends as identified by Patti. From those exhibitors who submitted by our deadline, Shay then chose the 21 lighting fixtures highlighted in the Trendhouse ].

The Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse Was Designed As Two Different Experiences:

Experience One: One on One.

Viewers can wear virtual reality glasses [ or not ] and explore the Trendhouse by themselves only - on desktop or mobile. This is the typical way most people are used to experiencing virtual showrooms, showhouses, etc.

Experience Two: In Community With Others - As Avatars - In The Metaverse of Spatial

This is what’s brand new and why we named this project what we did. In addition to building the virtual reality 1 on 1 experience, Annilee ALSO built the Lighting Trendhouse in the metaverse of Spatial. This allows for up to 50 people to enter the Trendhouse, online, at the same time, as their avatars, and walk around and discuss what they are seeing, using chat or video and wearing virtual reality glasses [ or not ].

Other Unique Features Of The Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse:

1. AR Functionality

All 21 highlighted lighting fixtures have an associated QR code, which is embedded with AR functionality. Scan the QR code with your mobile phone, wait for the link to pop up on your phone, tap the link, and then you will be able to see the lighting fixture in your own home or office environment.

2. AI Is Incorporated

All the art and rugs in the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse were designed by Annilee using text prompts to Midjourney AI.

3. 3D Model Download Capability

All 21 highlighted lighting fixtures can be downloaded as 3D models for use in any rendering project.

This is the only project in the world - at the time of this post - to incorporate a metaverse experience, VR, AR AI and 3D download capability. Not even Walmart’s new virtual commerce VR experience in the metaverse of Roblox - Walmart Realm - incorporates AR functionality.

If you have not experienced this yet, and you are attending June 2024 Lightovation next week [ 6.19-22 -with Interior Designer Preview Day being Tuesday, 6.18 ], you are in for a treat as this is the final market where the installation will be live.

However, even if you never plan to attend Lightovation.. read on as what I am about to explain is the point of this post, which is…..

How Can You Use The Permalink In Your Own Businesses To Delight and Attract New Customers and Clients

Dallas Market Center’s permalink landing page to both versions of the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse can be shared anywhere, with anyone, 24/7, for free, with no email required to view. It looks like this:

What follows are ideas for how each of you, who is a stakeholder, can use this permalink to delight, inspire and educate your current customers or clients and/or to attract new customers or clients.

Lighting Retailers: Hold An Event To Drive Traffic and Get Publicity

If you own a brick and mortar lighting store, hold an event in your store with the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse being the centerpiece of the event. Invite your customers and their children to come in for a fun and exciting immersive 3D exploration of the latest in lighting trends wearing virtual reality goggles.

Here’s how to get started:

Getting Prepared: 1/Rent a big screen TV or partner with a local store that sells big screen TV’s and work out a co-promotion. 2/Buy a pair of virtual reality glasses from Meta for $500.00 from Amazon. 3/Hire an AV tech for the event who can manage syncing the virtual reality glasses with the big screen TV and helping people know how to put the glasses on. 4/ Hire a social media person/videographer or designate someone as the videographer who is also good at interviewing people using an IPhone.

Use All Avenues To Advertise The Event: Invite people to the event through signage in your store, through your newsletter, through your social channels, via your blog, etc. Alert local media and ask them to write about and attend the event. Consider using paid Facebook ads, targeted to your zip codes. Use some of the videos Lightovation created of the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse to get your customers excited.

Get Video Interviews About Your Customer’s Experiences: Your designated videographer will interview people about the experience they had viewing the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse so you can post those videos later to your social channels, in your newsletter, upload them to your YouTube channel, etc. [ IMPORTANT NOTE: get signed permissions to post those videos. ]

Take It From Online To Offline: Create Special Displays: If you carry any of the 21 lines represented in the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse, make sure to buy the fixtures shown in the TrendHouse from those vendors you carry and then create a special display of the lighting fixtures you carry that are shown in the Metaverse Lighting TrendHouse.

Create A Special Hashtag: Creating a special hashtag, [and asking people to use that hashtag for any content they share while at your event] allows you to find all of the user generated content shared under that hashtag, so you can reshare it. [ If you have questions about this, reach out to me at leslie@savourpartnership.com]

Create A Giveaway For A Pair of Oculus Virtual Reality Goggles: If you want to get your next generation customers into your store, invest in a 2nd pair of virtual reality goggles, and set that up as a giveaway, with the winner needing to be present at your event to win them.

I could go on and on…but I think you get the idea. However, if would like to work with me professionally on more ideas for your event and the publicity for your event, please reach out to me at leslie@savourpartnership.com. I’d love to help you!

Exhibitors/Reps: Get In Front Of Your Accounts With A Forward Thinking Idea About How They Can Drive Traffic And/Or Inspire Their Customers/Clients To Have Fun and Explore.

If you’re the exhibitor reading this or if you’re the rep for an exhibitor reading this, get an appointment with your accounts, even if you don’t have new introductions to show them, so you can help them know how to use the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse permalink.

You can help them know how to set up a fun and exciting event in their stores to drive traffic and publicity [ see above ] or, if they don’t want to do that or the account doesn’t have a brick and mortar presence, you can help them know how to use the link to inspire their customers/clients by sharing the link in their own newsletters, online magazines, blogs, and on their own social channels.

There are dozens of ways anyone who sells lighting can use the permalink in their own marketing efforts to deliver a fun and engaging experience for their customers or clients…and if you’re the exhibitor and/or rep who brings this idea to your own customers, they are sure to appreciate you for helping them figure out a brand new way to drive traffic and create excitement.

Designers

I know that most of you are always looking for new content to share with your followers and potential clients that will inspire them/entertain them/educate them. Sharing the FREE [no email required to view] permalink to the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse in your online communities, in your blogs, on your podcasts, on your social channels, in your newsletters gives you an incredible way to position yourselves as the go to resource for purchasing trend forward lighting.

Your followers and your potential clients will love the experience and remember, they don’t have to wear virtual reality goggles to visit either experience, but if they do, they will feel like they are physically inside the Trendhouse.

Host A VIP Party In The Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse: Invite a select group of your current clients and/or sub-contractors to a special VIP online viewing party of the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse.

Help them know [ ahead of time ] that they don’t need to set up an account on Spatial to view the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse, but if they like the idea of dressing their avatars and creating their own names for themselves, they CAN set up an account on Spatial and do that ahead of time. [ There’s a HOW TO instruction link at the bottom of this post ].

At the appointed time, go to the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse link via the Dallas Market Center landing page, and greet your guests in the Trendhouse. Explore it together. Use the chat function to discuss which one of the 21 highlighted lighting fixtures you all like best.

It’s going to be a little awkward at first for anyone new to it, but once everyone gets settled in and understands how to maneuver with the up/down arrow keys, the FUN is unbeatable..and they will forever remember YOU as the one who brought them this incredibly forward thinking experience.

If this is taking place inside your office or another venue, you can also invite your clients who have virtual reality goggles of their own to bring them, so they can put them on and explore it as an immersive experience.

I know there are many other add on ideas all of you creatives can think of, but I hope this post has given you a start with ideas about how you can make this free piece of online content that Dallas Market Center’s Lightovation board funded for you, work for your own businesses.

If you’re reading this before the June Lightovation show, and you’re exhibiting or attending, I invite you to meet me in the Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse during the 3 days I will be a formal part of the programming in the Trendhouse:

Tuesday, June 18th: 12-1 pm for Interior Designer Preview Day - [ An RSVP is needed for the free lunch Lightovation is serving -see the RSVP link at the bottom of this post ]

Wednesday, June 19th and Thursday, June 20th: 9:00- 11:00 am for free coffee and conversation.

I’d love to meet all of you attending and I hope this post will be shared with everyone you know, so everyone has a chance to understand how to utilize this free content to drive traffic, excitement and publicity, especially during the moment all home related industries are living through now.

A very special thank you to my collaborators on this project, Annilee and Shay, both of whom live in or near Dallas. Annilee and Shay will also be at Lightovation next week, and I hope you will come and meet them, if you haven’t already.

And a huge shout out to Allison Zisko, the editor in chief of Home Accents Today magazine, who visited the Trendhouse in January and wrote the wonderful article about it, linked to below.

Thank you, one and all. I truly hope the ideas in this post help you excite your customers/clients and attract new business. If you try one of these ideas, and have success, let me know about it by emailing me at leslie@savourpartnership.com. I’d love to share your stories.

Lastly, if you’d like to subscribe to my blog, so you never miss it, I’d love to have you do that on this link.

Leslie Carothers, Principal
Savour Partnership

Named One Of Home Furnishing News Magazine’s Top 40 Most Inspiring Women In Home
Winner, Designers Today Magazine’s 2022 Readers Ranking Award for Best PR and Marketing Agency

Connect with me here:

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The Metaverse Lighting Trendhouse Permalink

Register for June 2024 Lightovation
Register for Interior Designer Preview Day
RSVP For Lunch During Interior Designer Preview Day

How To Create An Avatar On Spatial

The Home Accents Today Article

Patti Carpenter’s Trend Report For Dallas Market Center

[ Note: There are no restrictions on who can share or use this permalink, even if you’re not a part of Dallas Market Center’s Lightovation ecosystem of stakeholders. Anyone can share it without permission.]

[ Note: If you’re an editor who would like to interview any of us involved with this project, please contact me at leslie@savourpartnership.com for contact information ]