May 28/June 4, 2018: Volume 33, Issue 25
By Steven Feldman
New York—Three New York City-based Starnet commercial flooring contractors recently collaborated on a pre-NeoCon product showcase featuring about 10 Starnet vendors. Consolidated Carpet, Lane’s Floor Coverings & Interiors and Architectural Flooring Resource promoted the event, dubbed Inspiring Possibilities, which featured inspirational speaker John Maclean.
“The theme is twofold,” said Umberto Aponte, vice president of Lane’s, which spearheaded the event. “‘Inspiring’ is Maclean, and ‘possibilities’ is what Starnet and its contractors give the A&D community. Those possibilities include specification to post-installation, maintenance and everything in between throughout the continental U.S. and Hawaii.”
According to Aponte, the idea was born about a year ago at the Starnet spring meeting in San Diego, where Maclean was the keynote speaker. (Maclean is an Australian triathlete who was paralyzed in a bicycling accident when he was 22.) He subsequently became the first paraplegic to finish the Ironman World Championship and the first to swim the English Channel. In 2014, he completed the Nepean Triathlon without using a wheelchair after regaining some use of his legs through Ware K Tremor therapy. His story is one of perseverance, triumph and philanthropy to motivate others to bend their challenges into successes.
Lane Brettschneider, owner of Lane’s Floor Covering, came up with the idea to have an event in New York City with Maclean as the headliner. The idea was to get the Starnet Worldwide name further entrenched into the A&D community through a Starnet-driven event that could educate them on what Starnet members and vendors bring to the table.
About 140 members of the A&D community attended and took advantage of the opportunity to connect with higher-level executives from Starnet vendors, according to Aponte. Those that participated in the event included Tarkett, Johnsonite, Tandus Centiva, Gerflor, Milliken, Atlas, Masland, Mannington Commercial, HB Fuller and J+J.