The Marble Institute of America (MIA) and Stone World magazine have announced that they are conducting two separate one-day fabricator-focused educational seminars in July of 2010. Registration for events in both Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and Denver, CO, is now open.

The first-ever MIA/SW seminar in Canada will be held in Calgary on July 20. Mondial Granite and Marble will host this event, and MIA-accredited fabricator Tony Malisani of Malisani Inc., will be the featured speaker. "We are excited to bring our first-ever event to Canada and looking forward to networking with the fabricators in the Calgary market," said Jim Hieb, MIA Vice President. "Tony will be featuring some great information about understanding your costs, financial benchmarking and diversification.

A bonus session is also being planned to showcase how fabricators can become accredited, as well as offer CEU (continuing education) classes to architects and designers.

The "Business Success for Fabrictors" seminar will also be presented in Denver on July 22, and it will be hosted by Daltile. Duane Naquin of Stone Interiors will be the primary speaker. As an MIA-accredited fabricator and chair of the MIA Education Committee, Naquin brings perspectives that will help fabricators. Attendees will have an opportunity to receive the 2009 fabricator financial benchmarking survey, which highlights key operational ratios.

A recent presentation of the "Business Success for Fabricators" seminar in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, drew high praise from attendees:

"Tony Malisani provided great food for thought; no magic bullets, but information and examples that made you think about how to tailor your own business to get the most out of today's business climate." -- Jeff Wilson, Macata Stone and Tile Design, LLC, Vero Beach, FL

"Mr. Malisani . . . .was not only very informative, but engaging as well. It was eye opening and well worth the time spent. The entire day exceeded my expectations greatly. I would recommend this type of educational/informational event to anyone in our industry, and urge them to take the time to look at our business with fresh eyes, as it seems we develop tunnel vision about both our business and our clientele." -- Rick Watson, Italbec U.S., Inc., Dania Beach, FL

"Oftentimes, these types of seminars can be a little dull, but this was much more insightful than I expected it to b. I thought there was a lot of business information that is helpful for all types of business and being that it was geared towards the stone industry, it gave everyone ideas to implement into their daily work. Tony has the perfect personality to relay that information and enough wit to keep it interesting." -- Missy Rehfuss, Marble of the World, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Registration for this event is just $99 per person, and companies that register two people can bring a third person for free. Registration also includes lunch, a networking reception and a $25 coupon to the event bookstore. For more information go online to www.stoneworld.com/miaeducation or call the MIA office at 440-250-9222.