ATLANTA - The 2016 Closets Symposium, held Tues., Aug. 23, was an all-day event featuring a wide range of closet industry professionals and veterans offering insight, tips, industry research and know-how to a packed room.

The lineup of industry vets included Bob Lewis, Closet & Storage Concepts/More Space Place, Jeff Bruzessi and Michael Mendelssohn, Closet Factory; Troy Greenberg, Redline Garage Gear; Joe Lonardo, Bella Systems; Jeff Klein, Closet & Cabinets Experts and Woodworking Network's Laurel Didier, publisher Closets & Organized Storage; Bill Esler, editorial director, Woodworking Network; and Michaelle Bradford, editor, Closets & Organized Storage.

And the topics ranged from the history of the industry to the importance of showrooms, emphasizing the sales part of design to designers, thinking outside of the box, marketing, garages, outsourcing versus manufacturing, pros and cons of independent closet companies versus franchises, design, industry stats and hot products currently on display at IWF.