2015 Speakers

In case you missed our event, here is what our speaker line-up looked for the 2015 Design Bloggers Conference!

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Nate Berkus was our opening keynote at the 2015 Design Bloggers Conference.

Nate is a decorator, product designer and author. His interior design firm, which he founded in 1995, designs interiors across the country and around the world. In Fall 2012, Nate brought his branded line of home goods and accessories to Target stores nationwide, and his fabric collections are available at Fabricut, Calico and Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores. He was the host, judge and executive producer on NBC’s “American Dream Builders” in 2014. Nate’s interiors, and design expertise, have garnered national press in publications such as Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Us Weekly, People, O Magazine, Lucky and InStyle, among others.

For more on Nate, visit his website.

Bunny Williams is a designer with a modern vision, a sense of history, and the confidence to take the unexpected path. Both a trailblazer and a tastemaker, Williams’ style is classic, but never predictable.

A native of Charlottesville, VA, Williams began her career at Stair & Co., the prestigious English antiques dealer, followed by 22 years with the venerable firm, Parish-Hadley Associates. She formed her own firm, Bunny Williams Inc. in 1988. Today she not only runs her design firm, but with her husband John Rosselli, owns Treillage Ltd., two shops selling garden objects, antiques, and decorative accessories, based in New York City. In 2008 she introduced a celebrated home furnishings collection, BeeLine Home, which continues to expand and introduce new pieces at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, NC. Williams’ fourth book, “Scrapbook for Living” was published by Stewart, Tabori & Chang in November 2010.

Under owner and designer Alexa Hamptons’s direction, the world famous firm Mark Hampton LLC has completed a wide range of designs for domestic and international projects, from New York City to Hangzhou, China, including apartments and large residences, private airplanes and yachts.

A perennial member of Architectural Digest’s AD100 and House Beautiful’s Top Designer list as well as a member of Elle Décor’s A-list, Hampton’s work is classic, traditional and eclectic. Her involvement in design goes far past her position as President and featured designer of Mark Hampton LLC; she is on the board of trustees for the New York School of Interior Design, the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Institute for Classical Architecture. She was one of the three inaugural designers who launched Gilt Groupe’s Gilt Home Design Boutiques, serves on the design board of MyDeco.com and was the only ever female cast member of “This Old House” and was a co-host of PBS’ “Find.”

Over the years, Hampton’s work has been featured in many national and regional shelter and design magazines. In recent years, Hampton received an honorary PhD from Moore College of Art and Design, was awarded Cosmopolitan’s Fun Fearless Female Award, Connecticut Cottage & Gardens’ Design Innovator Award and the Hyland Award for Interior Design. She was also the first woman to receive the Design Icon Award at the World Market Center.

Brian Patrick Flynn is an American television producer turned interior designer. After years writing, producing and directing news programs and home improvement shows, Flynn tried his own hand at residential interiors, quickly earning the respect of his peers and shelter magazine editors. Brian combined his design and decorating skills with his television production experience to create FlynnsideOut Productions, a full service production company specializing in lifestyle-related content. In addition to serving as Founder, Brian also serves as Executive Producer, Set Designer, Writer and Prop Stylist for his projects. Brian is also a contributor and featured designer with HGTV.com.

Marcus Sheridan

Called a “Web Marketing Guru” by the New York Times, Marcus Sheridan has traveled the world, helping businesses and brands of all sizes simplify marketing in the digital age so they get results.

Known for his contagious enthusiasm and boundless energy when on stage, Marcus has since become a popular speaker and is also known as the ‘Gary Vaynerchuk of the Swimming Pool Industry.’

Marcus Sheridan is the founder of The Sales Lion, one of the internet’s fastest growing marketing websites focusing on the transformational powers of inbound marketing on small businesses. But before spreading the good word about marketing, Sheridan, who also owns a prominent swimming pool company, established the most popular swimming pool website in the world through content marketing.

Adam Japko is Chief Executive Officer of Esteem Media, Inc. He formed the company with the acquisitions of Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, Design Bloggers Conference, Garden Bloggers Conference, and WineZag. The company is focused on acquiring, launching, and expanding media properties in local and global luxury markets driven by digitally engaged trade and consumer communities. The company’s mission is connecting communities with common business and enthusiast interests for commercial, educational, and professional networking purposes while helping luxury business professionals navigate the shifting traditional-to-digital media landscape.

Recently he served as President at DigitalSherpa, a fast growing SMB social media and internet discovery business offering content, social, reputation management, local listings, CTA’s, web business intelligence, and other internet marketing programs. The company served over 4,000 SMBs.

Japko spent 14 years at PennWell Corporation, a privately held business-to-business information provider serving the global Technology, Energy, and Municipal Services markets as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Advanced Technology Division and member of the board of directors.

Japko began his career with Hecht, Higgins and Peterson, a small ad agency specializing in broadcast media. His background in the publishing, online, and event management industry includes sales and management positions at Media Networks, Inc. a 3M Company specializing in local networks of national magazines including Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and Business Week, Sunday Magazine Network, and various B2B media companies including BMT, Gralla, and Miller Freeman (United Newspapers).

In 1979 Japko received a BA in Journalism from New York University. Adam is also an active member of the wine industry’s social media landscape through his award winning blog; WineZag.

Lisa Robison is an Interior Designer who’s desire to give back to her community and to pursue her passion for design culminated in the concept of Dwell with Dignity. Her strong belief that good design improves ones quality of life resulted in the incorporation of this non-profit foundation in April of 2009. Dwell with Dignity’s mission is to help families escape poverty and homelessness through design, one household at a time. The goal of every project is to bring good design to those less fortunate inspiring them to maintain a standard of living they can be proud of and thrive in. The Dwell with Dignity aesthetic has been labeled “cottage contemporary”. Very upbeat, warm, inviting interiors where you can’t help but be happy and hopeful.
In the short history of Dwell with Dignity, Lisa and her staff have garnered recognition and coverage from all of the local Dallas TV affiliates, national design and lifestyle bloggers and an entire episode devoted to Dwell with Dignity on the Nate Berkus show. Dwell with Dignity’s signature blog continues to be their strongest connection with volunteers, supporters, and design aficionados.

Vice President & Director of Dwell with Dignity, Kim Turner, is a practicing designer in Dallas Texas. She has earned a solid reputation in the Dallas area for her ability to work across a variety of styles and create interiors that reflect her clients’ unique personalities and lifestyles. When she first heard of Lisa Robison’s foundation, almost 14 years to the day of their first encounter in design school, she knew this was something, and someone, she wanted to get involved with. She shares with Lisa the belief that lives can truly be inspired by design and that “dwelling with dignity” is something that can be possible for all.
Kim is credited with building awareness of Dwell with Dignity throughout the design community which has resulted in amazing support from luxury brands such as Neiman Marcus, Peacock Alley and Duxiana, to name a few.

Mark Cutler
Chief Designer for nousDECOR and
Principal of Mark Cutler Design

Mark will discuss and show different examples of how you can take your blog to this next level, focusing on examples and tips for video bloggers and for photo + text blogs. And he will emphasize the overall idea of addressing this bigger purpose of design by giving back via community involvement in platforms like nousDECOR and other design communities that work to bring techniques and knowledge to a wider array of people across income levels.

Los Angeles-based, acclaimed Australian interior designer and the head of one of Robb Report’s Top 40 design firms in the U.S., Mark Cutler has experience, taste, and a desire to help educate a community passionate about decor. In this role as Chief Designer for nousDECOR, Mark plays an integral role in the company, advising on product evolution and design, identifying professional and retail partnerships, and creating exclusive content for the site, including a weekly “Master Class” series detailing important insider tricks and techniques for decorating spaces. In the near future, Mark will begin providing video tours and tutorials for nousDECOR users to bring the design experience and his philosophy and vision to life, as well as serving as a brand spokesperson with lifestyle media.

As principal of Mark Cutler Designs, Mark has built an global and award-winning portfolio of high profile residential and commercial projects, including homes for celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez and Tom Skerrit, as well as the Cipriani and Regent Hotels. In addition to having participated in the most prestigious showcase houses in Southern California, his work has been featured in many of the leading shelter and design magazines around the world, including Architectural Digest, Metropolitan Home, House Beautiful, California Homes, Home Magazine, The Robb Report, The Robb Report Luxury Home, Kitchen & Bath Trends, Traditional Home, and Kitchen & Bath Ideas, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times.

On the television front, Cutler served as the resident interior designer on A&E’s “Makeover Mamas” and has made numerous appearances on HGTV (Designer’s Challenge), MTV (A Day in the Life of Jennifer Lopez), The Style Network (House Beautiful TV), and Discovery Channel, as well as on KABC and KNBC in Los Angeles.

Lisa Sabin-Wilson
Chief Operating Officer and Co-owner
WebDevStudios

Lisa is Chief Operating Officer and Co-owner of WebDevStudios, a design and development company specializing in customized WordPress themes and plugins, and the author of WordPress For Dummies. As the “For Dummies” brand franchise author on all things WordPress she’s also written several other WordPress-related books geared toward the beginner to intermediate level user of the WordPress platform.

Lisa worked with WordPress since 2003, and is also a regular public speaker on topics such as WordPress, blogging, design, and social media. You can find Lisa on Twitter at @LisaSabinWilson

Rob Ciampa
Chief Marketing Officer
Pixability

Rob Ciampa is an award-winning entrepreneur and CMO at Pixability. He is YouTube-certified, and co-author of the upcoming “YouTube Channels for Dummies,” and Pixability’s “Top 100 Global Brands On YouTube,” one of the most comprehensive and data-intensive studies of YouTube. He is passionate and wickedly opinionated about sales, marketing, startups, food and wine.

A dynamic spokesperson for the company, Ciampa is known not only for his sharp criticism of viral video promises and faulty digital video advertising, but also for his prescriptive YouTube strategy, content marketing, and advertising work with brands. He uses his sales, marketing, and domain expertise to become a trusted advisor for customers across industries. Rob and his growing marketing team spearhead strategic content and brand initiatives at Pixability, including data-driven analyses of brands and industries on YouTube.

Beth Le Manach
VP Programming, Kin Community and
Host, Entertaining with Beth

Beth Le Manach has been cooking and entertaining for over 20 years. She grew up in a family that always entertained, and throwing together a last minute party, has always come naturally. She is a home cook that has refined her cooking skills by cooking, constantly; as well as producing over 500 episodes of food content for both cable and online networks.
She is inspired by her French husband and their many trips to France where she has learned how to cook his favorite French foods, directly from her in-laws. She is also an avid gardener and her extensive vegetable garden serves as the basis for many of her favorite recipes. Her mantra is “minimum effort, for maximum impact.” She lives in Los Angeles, with her husband and two children.

Kelli Ellis, interior designer and lifelong traveler, represents the epitome of livable luxury and casual international style. Her celebrity clientele benefit from her extensive world travels, which produce goods of exquisite furniture, dramatic artwork and unique accessories used to create beautiful homes. Her influences translate to her new rug line for Jaipur and gorgeous tile line to debut in Dubai.

An accomplished interior designer, Certified Life Coach and Design Psychology Coach, Kelli received her Certification in Interior Design from the Interior Design Institute in California. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Marketing from California State University Fullerton, a Law school education from Western State University and a liberal arts education from The University of London. Her international schooling and extensive travel have given Kelli a unique perspective in her design work, which has been published in numerous international magazines and regularly contributes to HGTV.com, Riviera Modern Luxury, LUXE Magazine, Las Vegas Luxury Magazine, Image, Dabble Magazine and Hearst publications Nationwide.

You’ve likely seen Kelli as the featured designer on TLC’s Clean Sweep, two season’s of HGTVs Takeover my Makeover, Value Booster’s, Move or Improve, and The House Therapist. You’ve watched Kelli help fan favorites on Bravo’s, Real Housewives of Orange County, transform their homes into their ultimate havens. In addition to HGTV, TLC, Bravo, Kelli has guest appeared on NBC, CBS, ABC Nationwide. The web knows Kelli from eHow.com as their resident Interior Design Expert, professionally blogging for Ziploc. You’ve heard her give decor and “Design Psychology” advice on HGTV Radio/Sirius, MomTV and BlogTalk Radio, and nationwide radio programs. She is also a regular keynote speaker and panelist at High Point Market and Las Vegas Markets. Kelli proudly represents the Society of American Florists, as their interior expert.

Lori Dennis is a top Interior Designer, speaker, best selling author, custom furniture designer, celebrity and star of HGTV’sThe Real Designing Women. She specializes in sustainable, green and high end, luxury design. With offices in Los Angeles, New York and Miami the firm considers national and international projects.

A multiple award winning designer, she has appeared in magazines, websites and television screens throughout the world including Elle Decor, LUXE, Dwell, People, the New York Times, House Beautiful, Coastal Living, Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. Recognized by industry leaders like HGTV, ASID, NBC, Viking and countless others as an expert in luxury and green lifestyles, Lori speaks at events around the globe.

Founder and principal, Lisa Mende of Lisa Mende Design is a nationally acclaimed interior designer and allied member of ASID, IDS and Withit. Known for creating traditional interiors with a modern vibe for clients throughout the southeast. Her vibrant social media presence is expanding through the popularity of her blog, also named Lisa Mende Design.

Lisa is a three-time panel member of the coveted High Point Market Style Spotter Program. As a Brizo Blogger19, she has participated in New York Fashion Week with Brizo and St Jude’s Hospital in Memphis. A member of the Design Trust of New York City, under the direction of Steven Nobel, Lisa traveled to Paris in 2013 to study and tour with a group of designers and architects from across the United States. She participated in the Traditional Homes “Adamsleigh” Showhouse in 2013. Along with Traci Zeller, Lisa opened a new studio in Charlotte, NC in May 2014 where they are currently designing a room in the Ronald McDonald House - Long Island Project, which is due to unveil in October 2014. Lisa and her blog regularly featured in local, regional, and national magazines.

Traci Zeller believes that beauty is created when you make the ordinary, orderly. With this philosophy in mind, Traci and her team daily seek to empower families to live harmonious lives, full of style and grace. As a busy wife and mother to exuberant twin boys, Traci understands the challenges of today’s active lifestyles and creates solutions that are both beautiful and functional.

Twice named one of Charlotte’s 25 Most Stylish People, Traci employs a clean, sophisticated mix of classic and modern pieces to create elegant, yet comfortable interiors. In 2013, she introduced a line of textiles and home accessories in order to offer her growing audience simple solutions that bring joy and spirit to the everyday. Traci’s polished style has brought recognition from House Beautiful, Charlotte Urban Home, QC Exclusive, South Park Magazine, Multiplicity, The Nest and The Bump.

For more than a decade, Marshall Sponder has influenced the development of the digital analytics field with his WebMetricsGuru.com Blog that focuses on how to better understand the data associated with social media metrics and web intelligence. In 2011 Marshall created a special and much loved course on Social Media for the Arts at Rutgers University (www.masongross.rutgers.edu/content/social-media-arts) that prepares performing and fine artists to succeed and broaden their audiences by the artful use of Social Media and Social/Web Analytics. Marshall is also a full time lecturer at the Zicklin School of Business where he authors and teaches cutting edge Digital Analytics courses to undergraduate and graduate business students (www.linkedin.com/in/marshallsponder/).

Marshall is the author of Social Media Analytics, published by McGraw-Hill in 2011 (http://tinyurl.com/webdatametrics) and has considerable in house experience in organizations such as IBM, Monster, Omnicom, along with small businesses, start-ups and non-profits. Marshall speaks at conferences all over the world and is working on his next book focusing on some of the methodologies he will introduce on December 2nd at First Tuesday.

When it comes to the art and science of landscape design, Nick McCullough’s talents lie in both worlds. He studied both horticulture and art history at The Ohio State University, giving him a unique perspective on every design project. Furthering his experience, he also studied landscape design in Northwest England. The aesthetic of English gardens made a profound impact on Nick, and many of his projects have ties to the classic design elements found in the English countryside.

Nick is an APLD-certified Designer, who has won numerous awards including Young Professional Of The Year from the Perennial Plant Association. A self-described “plant nerd,” he is passionate about perennials and has a masterful understanding of how plants thrive in the Midwestern climate. This love of cultivating extends to Red Twig Farms—the nursery extension of his business, where unique perennials, annuals, specimen trees and hedges are grown for use in his designs. His social media presence of over 3 million Pinterest followers makes him a standout in the industry, and a sought-after public speaker. Author of the Thinking Outside The Boxwood blog, Nick has also been a featured writer for publications such as Garden Design magazine.

Nick has owned and operated McCullough’s Landscape & Nursery, LLC since 1997. Family operated, the business is a blend of Nick’s artistic vision, his Midwestern roots, and a genuine love of making exceptional properties truly extraordinary. Nick lives in Central Ohio with his wife Allison their two children.

Allison McCullough has a unique ability to set forth a grand vision, then follow through on every detail. While her finance degree from Indiana University gives her a business-minded foundation, her background in retail marketing and interactive advertising helped shape her passion for bringing that business vision to life in print and online. As the head of marketing for McCullough’s Landscape & Nursery, Allison ensures that the brand is known for thoughtful communications and special touches that can only come from a family-owned business.

Kika Gilbert
Head of Community at @Tinybop

Kika hails from London, having done a few short stints in New Jersey and Tokyo as well. She came to the states at age 18 to attend Smith College where she studied art and education.

Kika spent a few years working with artists and art startups before taking a year to immerse herself in the NYC public school system as a teaching assistant in a kindergarten class. Kika is passionate about innovative education and making learning just as fun as real life. She can most often be found eating in Brooklyn and hanging out with her two dogs. She loves learning new things!

Tinybop is a studio of designers, developers, and artists which has focused on building truly special apps for kids. Their first app “The Human Body” was chosen as App of the Year by Apple and was one of the most successful children’s apps in 2013.

Bekka Palmer
Former GM of Tattly, 9 million Pinterest followers, works with many digital companies on content and production.

Bekka Palmer spent her childhood alternating between sitting on the floor of her mom’s sewing room and helping her dad in his wood shop. She watched them with a careful eye and picked up their incredible attention to detail. Now, she’s a photographer, designer and maker living in Brooklyn. Every Wednesday, she and her friend Dave publish interviews with strangers about their days at On A Wednesday.

Bekka recently launched an app called Songfight with friends Dave & Jonny. She documents her days on Instagram, collect things she likes on Pinterest & occasionally Tweets. Bekka’s clients include: Disney Parks, Piperlime, Verizon, Crest, Old Navy, Creative Mornings, The Feast & A Cup of Jo.

Tony Perez
CEO and Co-Founder
Sucuri

Tony is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sucuri, Inc. He believes that usability and website aesthetics should be built on a strong foundation of secure design. Tony has invested the better part of 5 years analyzing and assessing the state of security within the realm of websites. He travels the world engaging website owners and developers in an effort to build a bridge between traditional Information Security processes and those that end-users should employ. He strongly believes that the challenges webmasters face today around security can be addressed through education and awareness.

Brett Vankoski
Vice President and Co-Founder, Latitude Beverage Co. ,
Ninety+ Cellars
Sitting in his cubicle one day in 2007, Brett realized that all he could expect to measurably accomplish in another decade of corporate confinement was a few more totally awesome PowerPoint presentations. Not satisfied with this vision of the future, he left the corporate world to pursue his MBA. Brett’s Masters in Beverage Appreciation consisted of compiling a small wine collection in his son’s closet; arguing that dry rose is a great choice for beer drinkers; and discovering that not everyone likes the wines he likes no matter how crazy good they are. Impressed by his bodacious wine skills, in 2009 Kevin asked Brett to help him to launch 90+ Cellars. Since then, he spends most of his days, evenings and weekends tasting, selecting, selling and promoting the wines of 90+ Cellars.

Brett has a bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University and has successfully completed Boston University’s Wine Studies Program. He lives in Brookline with his lovely wife, two sons and Norma, the wine lovin’ English Bulldog.

Jonathon Alsop is founder & executive director of the Boston Wine School and author of The Wine Lover’s Devotional: 365 Days of Knowledge, Advice & Lore for the Ardent Aficionado published by Quarry Books.

Jonathon started life as a wine writer covering wine, food & travel in 1988. He is author of the wine column In Vino Veritas by Jonathon Alsop as well as many articles for the Associated Press, Frequent Flyer, La Vie Claire, Beverage Business Magazine, Mobil Travel Guides, Fodor’s Travel Guides, Boston Globe, and many others. He founded the Boston Wine School in 2000 where he teaches wine and food classes.

Denise McGaha delivers fashionable, diverse, and adventurous designs for clients who live on the fast track; specializing in turn-key, concierge-level service delivered in 90 days or less.

When experiencing a Denise McGaha interior you may never know how exciting the ride was that brought about that room. With a roster of clients from professional sports figures to busy executives, Denise offers her discriminating clientele a true luxury experience with a timeline. By offering Deadline Driven Design solutions, her clients receive exhilarating interior design coupled with prompt and nimble completion of their project.

It has been said that Denise McGaha Interiors, is consistently ahead of the curve not just influencing interior fashion, but often dictating it. With a seamless blending of multiple interests Denise is able to offer her affluent clients access to Dallas’ best-kept secret: her black book of high-end concierge services.

Denise’s sophisticated methodology and solid business acumen evolved through her decade in the corporate landscape of luxury retailer, Neiman Marcus, where she honed her well-trained eye, and was an integral part of the team that launched NeimanMarcus.com.

In addition to her role as Principal of Denise McGaha Interiors, Denise was recently named Brand Ambassador for Currey & Co..

Her popular lifestyle blog greige introduced Christina Fluegge to a nationwide readership, but her talents expand far beyond sharing inspiring photographs and musings. Her design firm by the same name is dedicated to providing clients with a more collaborative process that recognizes the continuous nature of creating a home with an understated and beautiful sensibility. She sources new and vintage pieces for her clientele to create interiors that are a quietly stunning blend of ease and elegance.

Christina’s design is influenced by her extensive travel combined with the California lifestyle and after 14 years in the design business she has worked with builders and individuals across the nation. Each space she designs is a reflection of the needs and desires of the individual client.

Author, speaker, educator and interior designer, Mitzi Beach, one of America’s top experts on #BoomerSmarts interior design and chic products that meet universal design standards, started her career in interior design over 30 years ago, alongside starting her family of 3, including one set of twins, who have given she and her husband, Bob, 9 beautiful grandchildren.

Whether it’s been a TV segment for NBC affiliate KSN -TV, a keynote presentation in Colorado for a collaboration between the ASID, AIA, NKBA, IIDA and HBA, speaking at the National Kitchen + Bath Association’s [NKBA] show in Las Vegas about barrier-free kitchen & bath design for baby boomers, being part of a design trends panel at High Point International Furniture Market as an official #HPmkt 2014 Stylespotter, or speaking to designers at the Antique & Design Center of High Point on *Boomers Are Big Business*, Mitzi’s in depth knowledge of the 50+ market, and their needs, and the opportunities and challenges this presents to the interior design profession, is sought after and appreciated by both national event organizers and their attendees alike.

Mitzi’s warm, humorous and genuine speaking manner, well known to the viewers of her videos on You Tube + The Design Network, combined with her 30 years of experience designing interiors and her extensive experience as a Certified Aging in Place specialist, make her the *go to* speaker on this topic.

StacyStyle, a.k.a. stylist/editor/writer/and producer Stacy Kunstel, is a constant traveler, finding houses and locations for magazines, which she then styles to produce beautiful photo shoots with the nation’s top interiors photographers. As Homes Editor for New England Home magazine (www.nehomemag.com), New England Home Cape & Islands and New England Home Connecticut, and as a regional editor for Traditional Home, Better Homes & Gardens, Country Home and others, she writes, makes television appearances and works with interior designers and architects photograph their own work for books and portfolios. Her work has been featured on nearly 90 magazine and book covers in the past twelve years, including the recent book Greenwich Style published by Rizzoli.