First Faux Event
Leads to “Faux-Fusion”

As the sponsors of the first-ever Faux Event watched the many eager faux artists who gathered in Fort Lauderdale, Flab., for a weekend of top-notch speakers and hands-on product demonstrations, they all had the same thought: “This could be the start of something big.”

More than 200 faux professionals took part in the Faux Event, which was held Sept. 25-28 at the Lagos Mar Resort. That’s not bad for an event that was conceived just a few months before. John Catalanotto of Pro Faux, one on the event sponsors, was there when the idea was first proposed over a bottle of whine. “We scribbled some ideas down on a napkin,” he recalls.

Catalanotto and his partner, Greg Frohnapfel, teamed up with Joe Greco of Discolor and Ted Heath of Perfecto to sponsor the event. They were joined in there effort by Neil Cody, representing Skim stone and Gold Leaf & Metallic Powders. Soon, the scribblings on the napkin became a reality. And even though promotion was limited to announcements on the sponsor web sites and a notice in the Summer issue of The Faux Finisher, faux artists spread the world to ensure that a dynamic group of individuals came to partake in the event. “It worked out even better then we imagined,” Catalanotto said.

In addition to the presentations by all of the Faux Event sponsors, speakers at the event were: Kathy Carroll of the Faux Connection, renowned faux instructor Trisha Collins, Rebecca Parsons of Do What You Love ™ Workshops and Melanie Royals of Royal Design Studio.

Where the rubber really hits the road—or, more precisely, where the paint hit the sample boards—was in the hands-on demonstration rooms. All of the sponsors had tables that featured a variety of their products. Participants tried the products on display boards, and even got into some cross line experimentation—a ProFaux product combined with something from Adicolor, or something from Perfetto combined with the something from Gold Leaf & Metallic Powders, and so forth. One participant described it as a virtual “faux-fusion” of techniques and finishes.

Participants walked away with a wealth of door prizes, provided by the primary sponsors as well as a full complement including: Atlanta’s School of Fine Finishes Inc., A Stroke of Magic, Briste Group International, C&S Siclare, Chicago Institute of Fine Finishes, Classic Faux Studios, Dynamin Paint Production Inc., Dundean Studios, Firenze Enterprises Inc., ICI Paints, If Walls Could Talk Decorative Studio, Lasting Impressions, Martin & Associates Industries Inc., NAG Agency, PDRA, Phoenix Academy of Decorative Finishes, Quali-Tech Manufacturing, T.J. Ronan, Royal Design Studio/Modello Designs, Starscenic, Stencil Artisans League Inc., The Faux Connection, The Faux Kind Studios, The Stencilled Garden and Vahallan Papers Inc.

Door prizes ranged from tools and T-shirts to valuable gift certificates for products and workshops. In some cases, individual prizes exceeded $1,000 in value. There were more than $30,000 worth of door prizes, which meant that many participants left with prizes far exceeding the cost of the event itself.

Catalanotto reported that the Faux event will definitely be expanded in the feature. He expects to see more companies actively involved in the Event and the probable addition on the table top exhibit. The Fort Lauderdale venue worked out so well that sponsors are looking for a bigger hotel in the city to host the 2004 edition on The Faux Event.

Catalanotto acknowledged that id might seem a bit unusual for competing companies to get together to host an event. But he describes the sponsors as “friendly competitors” who recognize the synergistic possibilities among their product line. “We’d see participants taking one product from one system, one from another system,” Catalanotto said. “The whole purpose of the event was to share.”