Ep 45: Announcing AI Day + The Virtual Design Tech Summit!

Written By Jenna Gaidusek

Listen to the Podcast Episode for a deeper dive

Announcing AI Day + The Virtual Design Tech Summit! | AI for Interior Designers™
AI for Interior Designers™ Podcast

Announcing AI Day + The Virtual Design Tech Summit!

Two events built for designers who are ready to move from curious about AI to actually using it — one in-person at High Point Market, one virtual and built for anywhere. Here is everything you need to know.

Ep. 45 Solo Episode ✦ Jenna Gaidusek March 2025
This blog was written using AI as a recap from the recording, then edited by the author for accuracy and details.
Key Takeaways
  • AI Day at High Point Market (April 25) is a hands-on, in-person workshop at Private Label Furniture Company — designers will leave with a custom upholstery collection they can sell, not just inspiration they have to implement later.
  • The Virtual AI Design Tech Summit (April 4) is a full-day interactive event — not a passive webinar. It uses a live event app with real-time chat, breakout rooms, and networking tools, and all sessions are recorded for attendees who cannot join live.
  • The Summit's AI Ethics Panel features Laurie Laizure, Sharon Sherman, and Sarah Daniele — three of the most credible voices in the design industry talking honestly about AI's creative and ethical implications.
  • Both events are built around intentional AI use — not adopting everything at once, but identifying the tools and workflows that actually support how you work, and implementing them with strategy rather than overwhelm.
  • The virtual summit had over 100 signups before Jenna publicly announced it. Demand for structured, designer-specific AI education is real — and these events are the response to it.

AI Day at High Point Market — In-Person, Hands-On, April 25

AI Day at High Point is designed for designers who learn by doing. It is hosted by Private Label Furniture Company — a working American upholstery manufacturer just outside downtown High Point — and the day is built around actually making something, not just watching demonstrations.

The event is intimate by design. Limited attendance means real access to the tools, the space, and Jenna throughout the day. You do not leave with notes to implement later. You leave with a custom upholstery collection you can sell or source from immediately.

In-Person Event
AI Day at High Point Market
Fri, April 25
High Point, NC
Behind-the-scenes tour with CEO John — how customization works at scale in a real manufacturing environment
Design your own upholstery piece from frame to fabric — including pricing and naming your collection
MyDoma by Studio Designer visualizer tool — create 3D renderings of your new pieces in context
Live working session: use AI to write product descriptions, price pieces, and create visual assets
AR/3D modeling platform training — tools you can take home and start using right away
"Cocktails & Content" wrap-up hour — create promo content and social-ready videos for your new line
Register for AI Day at High Point ↗

What you walk away with: a custom upholstery collection you designed in the room — plus the product descriptions, pricing, 3D visualizations, and social content to launch it. This is not a workshop about AI in theory. It is AI applied to real product development in a working manufacturer's space.

Virtual AI Design Tech Summit — Full-Day Event, April 4

The Virtual AI Design Tech Summit runs Thursday, April 4 from 10am to 4pm ET. It is designed for designers who want structured, practical AI education without having to travel — and unlike most online design events, it is genuinely interactive. The platform includes real-time chat, breakout rooms, themed discussion channels, and networking tools that stay active after the summit ends.

The summit had over 100 registrations before Jenna publicly announced it in this episode — which tells its own story about the demand for this kind of structured, designer-specific AI guidance.

Virtual Event
AI Design Tech Summit
Thu, April 4
10am – 4pm ET
Kickoff + Event App Setup — personalized dashboard, networking tools, and themed discussion channels
AI Ethics Panel — Laurie Laizure, Sharon Sherman, and Sarah Daniele on AI's creative and ethical impact
Reimagining the Design Process — how to use MyDoma, launch collections, and free up time for creative work
Visualization Tools Deep Dive — Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and Visual Electric for client-ready AR/3D assets
Build Your No-Fluff Tech Stack — a strategic approach to choosing 3–5 tools that support your business
Register for the Design Tech Summit ↗

Can't join live? Every session is recorded and shared with all registered attendees after the event. The event app and networking channels remain active beyond the summit day itself.

Ethics Panel
Laurie Laizure, Sharon Sherman & Sarah Daniele
Three of the most credible voices in the design industry — Interior Design Community, design education, and MyDoma — in an honest conversation about what AI is actually doing to our field.
Design Process
Reimagining the Design Process with MyDoma
How AI integration in project management tools changes the pace and accuracy of design work — and frees time for the creative decisions that matter.
Visualization
AR/3D Visualization Without Traditional Rendering Software
Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and Visual Electric as client-facing tools — what each does well, where the limits are, and how to use them in a real project workflow.
Tech Stack
Build a No-Fluff Tech Stack
The session Jenna hears asked for most: a strategic framework for identifying 3–5 tools that solve real problems in your specific workflow without adding complexity or subscriptions you will not use.

Why These Events Were Built This Way

Both events were designed in response to the same pattern Jenna hears consistently: designers are curious about AI, have tried a few things, and feel overwhelmed by the volume of tools, updates, and conflicting advice. What they want is not more information — they have plenty of that. They want structure, specificity, and something they can actually do with what they learn.

AI Day gives that through making something tangible in a real manufacturing environment with real product outcomes. The Design Tech Summit gives that through a curated, full-day program with expert voices and a practical tech stack framework — not an overview of every AI tool that exists, but a strategic approach to the ones that matter for design businesses.

"This isn't about replacing designers. It's about empowering us — making space for more creativity, better client communication, and stronger, more strategic businesses."

— Jenna Gaidusek
Frequently Asked Questions
AI Day is designed for designers who want a hands-on experience with AI tools in a real product development context. It is especially well-suited for designers who source or sell furniture, work with upholstery manufacturers, or have been curious about how to launch their own collection. You do not need to have prior AI experience — the day is structured to be accessible from wherever you are — but it moves quickly and assumes a professional design background. The intimate format means you get direct access to Jenna, the Private Label team, and the tools throughout the day.
Just a registered ticket and an internet connection. The event runs on a dedicated event app that you will set up as part of the kickoff session — it provides your personalized dashboard, session access, networking tools, and themed discussion channels. No specific software needs to be installed in advance. If you cannot attend live, all sessions are recorded and shared with registered attendees, and the networking community stays active after the event day so you can continue connections and conversations.
A custom upholstery collection you designed in the room — including the piece you selected from frame to fabric, the product name, the price point, AI-written product descriptions, 3D visualizations via the MyDoma visualizer, and social content created during the Cocktails and Content hour. You also leave with working knowledge of the AR/3D modeling platforms covered in the training session, and access to the AI workflow for product description and pricing that you can apply to future collections. The goal was to make the day produce real outcomes, not just inspiration.
The AI Ethics Panel features Laurie Laizure (founder of Interior Design Community), Sharon Sherman, and Sarah Daniele (co-founder of MyDoma, now Principal of Designer Solutions at MyDoma and Studio Designer). All three have appeared on the AI for Interior Designers podcast and bring distinct perspectives — Laurie on social media and designer advocacy, Sharon on design practice and education, and Sarah on technology integration and platform development. The panel is structured as an honest conversation rather than a panel presentation.
It means identifying the three to five tools that solve real, specific problems in your actual workflow — rather than subscribing to everything that looks interesting and using none of it consistently. The session walks through a decision framework: what task is currently taking the most time, what AI tool addresses that specific task, does that tool do something your current subscriptions cannot already do, and does it integrate with what you already use. The output is a prioritized, intentional list — not a comprehensive catalog of every available tool. Jenna's consistent message: most designers need fewer tools used well, not more tools used occasionally.
Two Events, Two Ways to Learn
Pick the Format That Works for You
In-person at High Point on April 25, or virtual on April 4. Either way, you leave with more than notes — you leave with a plan and the tools to execute it.
AI Day at High Point ↗ Design Tech Summit ↗
 

Disclaimer: This blog was written using AI as a recap from the recording then edited by the author for accuracy and details.

 
Jenna Gaidusek
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