The Accessories Resource Team hosted its annual conference last month at the Ritz-Carlton in Pasadena, Calif.

The event provided a venue for learning, sharing and camaraderie through a series of panel discussions, speakers and group activities. Attendees at the conference included manufacturers, retailers, representatives and suppliers to the home accents industry.

Highlights included a retail panel discussion with Ron Werner and Jim Hering of HW Home, Boulder, Colo., Ruel Joyner, 24e, Savannah, Ga.; and Mike Deterville, DeLightVille, Woodland, Calif. Other speakers included Kelly Ryan Kegans, senior decorating editor of Better Homes & Gardens, and a series of peer panels that involved a variety of attendees in a fast-paced Q&A format.

But the event was not all about speeches and seminars. The group divided into teams to take on Old Pasadena in a city-wide scavenger hunt prior to dinner at the Pasadena Museum of California Art on Friday night. The event wound up with the "Puttin' on the Ritz" party, a themed event where attendees were asked to don their favorite old Hollywood looks.

Attendees divided into groups to create and present a product line or concept based on trend forecasts presented during the conference.

Bill Fortson, BJ's Home Accents, Newburgh, Ind., greets Monica Loving, OneCoast, and Mindy Lowack, Dallas Market Center.

Tiara contest winner David Villanueva of Decorative Arts, is greeted by Susan Adamson-Rey, Kinder-Harris.

Sharon Davis, ART, with Tom and Emma Hoffmann, Distinctive Designs.

David Jones and Jennifer Lee, both of CNI Designs, with Thompson Lange, Homescapes Carmel, Carmel, Calif.

Lindsay Villareal, Dallas Market Center, with Ted Teele, OneCoast.

Ron Werner, left, and Jim Hering, both of HW Home in Boulder, Colo., join Ruel Joyner, 24e, Savannah, Ga., and Mike Deterville, DeLightVille, Woodland, Calif., on the retail panel.