How Did the Last Night Lecture Go?

It was pretty good. Fine food, chatting, and networking. Before starting the program (I explained about this in my previous post), there is usually one hour time for people to mingle and get to know new members and exchange business card. During this time, a member came to me and said Do you do rug appraisal? I said yes. Then she asked how much I would charge. I do not like this question to be asked at the beginning, because the potential customer should ask how I do the job, without being concerned at the first place how much I would charge. She has several fine silk Persian Tabriz rugs that she wants to insure and when it comes to paying a nominal fee for the appraisal at her house (!) she starts bargaining by saying "Can you charge me less because I am a member of the group!". So what?! This is discrediting my work. I will feel more comfortable if she wanted me to do this service for free and as a favor rather than asking for a discount without being concerned about how professionally I would do my job. I will probably do not accept her appraisal by saying I am too busy to come to your house. Bring the rugs to our rug gallery please so I can do the appraisal.

The lecture was well attended and I was told the guests liked it. We had several questions asked after the speech was delivered. People do not trust rug dealers as much as they should and they were so concerned about what they should do when they want to buy a rug. I said, if you do not know Oriental rugs, try to know your Oriental rug dealer. One lady asked how they can differentiate between the chemical dye and natural dye. My answer was that if the yarn is dye by a chemical stuff, you will see the consistency in the color as it may look perfect. If the yarn (wool) is dyed with natural stuff, you will see the inconsistency and deeper and lighter shades at the same time and some abrash and patina type of shades. Several other questions were asked and answered.

I will try to post few photos of the event on our website later: www.RugIdea.com

Khosrow Sobhe