CHARLOTTE, NC --

The 7th Annual Closets & Home Organization Conference & Expo kicks off today with a full-day of educational sessions culminating with the presentation of the 2011 of the Top Shelf Design Awards.

Taking place at the Charlotte Convention Center, the Closets Conference is co-sponsored by the Association of Closet and Storage Professionals (ACSP) and CLOSETS magazine. On-site registration is available.

Bill Fotsch

Among the conference highlights is an opening keynote presentation by Bill Fotsch, Head Coach for The Great Game of Business Inc. of Cincinnati, OH. Fotsch will discuss the benefits of open book management to engage all employees to help achieve company goals.

Fotsch will also participate in afternoon break-out sessions, giving closet and storage professionals an opportunity to discover how they can apply open book practices in their businesses.

Other Wednesday sessions include:
* Reinventing Your Closet Business by Jim Mathis of Mathis & Associates;
* Case Study on Lean Manufacturing by Wolf Nickel of Stor-X Organizing Systems
* Small Business/Big Marketing by Denise Butchko of Butchko and Co.; and
* Showrooms & Sales Management by Jeff Lewis of Closets & More.

 The day switches from classrooms to cocktails at 5:00 p.m. for the Industry Networking Reception. CLOSETS magazine will present its annual Top Shelf Design Awards (view list of finalists) and the ACSP will honor a deserving closet pro with its annual Pioneer Award.


Closets Expo, Cabinet Conference & Wood Tech Summit Start Thursday
The unique event really gets rocking on Thursday. The co-located Custom Cabinet Conference, co-sponsored by the Cabinet Makers Association and Custom Woodworking Business, begins at 8:00 a.m. with a pair of break-out sessions. The addition of the Cabinet Conference gives Closets Conference attendees an even wider range of topics than ever before to choose from in crafting their individual education curriculum.


 Custom Cabinet Conference topics include:
* Working with Designers & Architects;
* Moving from Residential to Commercial Woodwork;
* The Art of Pricing Profitably; and
* Making Dollars & Sense from Your Advertising Expenditures.

The two-day Closets Expo, Feb. 24-25, features 50 percent more exhibitors than were on hand at last year's show in Long Beach, CA. It will include product displays from leading manufacturers and distributors of woodworking machinery, software, hardware, components and more. The Closets Expo features three pavilions: Extreme Garage, Cabinet Products and the Tech Center.

In addition to the exhibits, the Closets Expo will include products demonstrations and the all-new Wood Tech Summit (view schedule), featuring interactive panel discussions on integrated manufacturing concepts. (View exhibitor list.)

The three-day event concludes Friday afternoon with the free Closets Expo Tech Tour to Biesse America and Holzma U.S., Division of Stiles Machinery.

Register online and learn more at Closets-Expo.com.