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| Visiting Mario & Sons in Spokane. Anna in the middle and Beth on the right. |
As a student member of the Inland Northwest Chapter of IIDA,
I have the privilege of getting involved in their events and meeting Interior
Design professionals. This year for Student Mentor Day I went to Spokane to
mentor Anna Bair, the Costentino representative. Costentino is a leader in the
innovative development of top-quality surfaces. They are most known for their
quartz surfaces. Once I arrived at the Spokane showroom, Anna gave Beth and I
an introduction to the company and a tour of the warehouse. It was great to be
able to touch the pieces of stone in person and discuss the differences between
the different lines of stone the company offered.
The rest of the day Anna took us to different firms where
she met with clients and also allowed us to talk to them and hear their advice
for us as students who are soon emerging into the profession. It was comforting
to hear that the industry is getting busy and it is looking like it will be a
good time to graduate next year. One thing that was neat about the day was we
went to lunch at a restaurant designed by HDG. The design was remarkable but
what really stood out was that the bar top was made from Costentino Quartz! It
was cool to see how something Anna had marketed to HDG had then been used in
their design. Overall, the job shadow was a great experience and it was
interesting to learn more about the role of a product representative rather
than working in a firm as a designer which is what I had been used to.
