IHA News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Contact: Deborah A.Teschke
Manager, Media Relations & Communications
847-692-0110

Tony Snow Cites a Climate of Optimism in Both International and U.S. Outlooks During His Industry Breakfast Address

CHICAGO (March 18, 2008)—Amidst political turmoil and economic uncertainly, former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow expressed an optimistic future in his presentation today at the Annual Industry Breakfast, "The International Outlook: An Overview and Election 2008 Update". Reviewing the course of events and how they have shaped politics over the past 25 years of his business experience, Snow noted that innovation and creativity would pull America ahead. He emphasized that in the current state of the country, "It is both politics and the press that are out of synch with the times."

"We need to realize where we have been and what we have done, and that there is a lot of good happening in this country. A realistic person in America is going to be an optimist," he said.

Snow was introduced by Peter B. Cameron, chairman of the International Housewares Association (IHA), and chief executive officer of Waterford Wedgwood. Providing an update on that state of the Association, Cameron said that because IHA is in such great shape, it provides benefits for all members. IHA’s mission is fivefold: to create and build a premium marketplace for products, to facilitate international trade as the home authority, to provide business services, and to look for alliances that benefit the community proactively.

Cameron explained that today, the buyer considers the International Home + Housewares Show as the premier annual market; buyer attendance has grown more than 30 percent since 2003, with further increases in specialty retailer and international retailers. In 2008, design takes center stage though the Association’s partnership with the Industrial Designer Society of America (ISDA), as well as with the seventh collaboration with Pantone in their ColorWatch display.

With a focus on sustainability, Cameron said the new Design Directions: Going Green display honors companies taking a leading role in the industry’s hottest new trend—sustainable products, packaging and manufacturing. Of further pragmatic significance, Cameron said, the International Home + Housewares Show offers the lowest cost per square foot of any trade show in any industry. He urged members to get actively involved.

Likewise, Snow reinforced the critical importance of involvement, but related to the political process. "I urge you if you have a concern, to speak up and get involved. Politics is a noble profession, enabled by you as the public."

In what he described as "…a time of great excitement in politics, and a year of surprising the pollsters," Snow reviewed both Democratic and Republican nominees and related their profiles to the current state of the voting public. "Independents are the largest voting block, because the parties themselves have lost their ideological coherence," he commented.
Further, thanks to globalization, the world is more creative and innovative, yet more uncertain than it has ever been before. Snow cited a recent New York Times editorial reporting that data over the Internet has increased 50 percent each year. On the importance of this technology, he explained, "Your average I-Phone or PDA has more memory and computation power than the combinations of all of the computers that took men to the moon and back. While the U.S. set loose the tsunami of information, and we should be riding that wave into the future, politics is talking about isolation and competition. We need to look at politics in a different way and use innovation as the standard."

For perspective, he noted that for the past 52 consecutive months, the economy has added jobs to the payroll, more people work and more people own houses, all despite economic indications.

"There is idealism, hope and life, in a nation full of vigor and enterprise, yet with a political system that is bitter and divided. Politics should not exploit that division, but use the extraordinary good that honors individual freedom to be a nation of destiny. That’s where we need to go in this country," he said.

The 2008 International Home + Housewares Show runs March 16-18 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. The largest marketplace of housewares and homegoods in the world features more than 2,000 exhibitors, including 400 new companies, and attracts 60,000 attendees, including more than 23,000 retail buyer from around the world. For more information about the Show, visit www.housewares.org.