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Andy Appelbaum to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

February 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

We are excited that Andy Appelbaum will be joining us to speak at the Design Bloggers Conference. Andy is a career entrepreneur who has founded a portfolio of high growth businesses in industries ranging from Design to dry cleaning.  Over the past 20 years, Mr. Appelbaum co-founded several successful enterprises including Project Décor, Seamless Web, mdenergy, Cleaner Options, Blue Ribbon Partners, Zoots Delivery and AC Angel Fund.

Mr. Appelbaum is a co-founder of Project Décor.  Project Décor is a creative, social design platform where users discover, interact with and ultimately buy products they love. Project Décor sits at the intersection of social commerce, creative design and content sharing.  Project Décor also provides a marketplace for design professionals and influencers by creating a credible and scalable sales platform that extends their reach beyond their physical footprint. It is a monetization engine for the trade and design bloggers that literally converts content to commerce in an authentic and natural format.  There are currently over 1500 Design Professionals and Influencers registered as part of PD’s Style Exchange Program.

Mr. Appelbaum is a co-founder of Seamless Web, now Seamless.  Seamless offers a web-based system that allows businesses and individuals to order food and other services from local restaurants and caterers.  The service streamlines billing and reimbursement processes, enhances expense control, and reduces administrative overhead, helping companies cut costs by as much as 30% annually.  Seamless currently partners with 7,000 restaurants, serves over 3,500 companies, and has over 1,000,000 individual members in the US and London.  Seamless has revenues of over $250 million annually and was sold to Aramark in April of 2006.

Mr. Appelbaum is the co-founder of mdenergy, an independent energy manager specializing in reducing energy costs for medium- to large-sized commercial and industrial businesses throughout the United States. Formed in February 2001, mdenergy is one of the largest independent energy firms managing more than 1,000 megawatts of electric demand in deregulated markets across the United States. mdenergy actively manages the purchase of over $500 million in annual electric consumption. mdenergy was sold to Enernoc (Nasdaq – ENOC) in October of 2007.

Mr. Appelbaum co-founded the delivery division for Zoots, a national dry cleaning company based in Boston, MA founded by Tom Stemberg, the Chairman and CEO of Staples.  Mr. Appelbaum created, built and managed the $35 million Zoots Delivery Division serving over 400 communities and servicing over 50,000 customers.  Zoots Delivery grew out of Cleaner Options which Appelbaum founded and Zoots acquired in May of 1999.  Cleaner Options leverages under-capacity dry cleaners to bring home delivery to suburban bedroom communities.   From 1995 through 1999, Cleaner Options acquired and maintained an active customer base of over 20,000 customers with annual revenues of over $20 million.

Mr. Appelbaum began his career as an attorney for Latham & Watkins.  He received his law degree from New York University School of Law in 1991.  He graduated summa cum laude from SUNY Binghamton in 1988.  Mr. Appelbaum resides in Manhattan with his wife, Tracey and 2 children, Sam and Jamie.  He serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of theJCCof Manhattan.  Mr. Appelbaum is also an active Angel Investor and a member of New York Angels.

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Laurie March of HGTV to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

January 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

As the host and creative force behind The House Counselor on HGTVRemodels.com, Laurie March is known for her approach to remodeling, which focuses on managing both the emotional and the tactical parts of a project.

A third generation remodeler, Laurie’s own passion for home improvement and remodeling was unearthed while remodeling her own 1920’s Spanish style home. In 2005 Laurie founded Improvemental, a project management and design firm that has become a recognized fixture in the Los Angeles remodeling scene – completing over 50 homes for a highly discerning who’s who of writers, producers, and executives in LA.

She has been acknowledged as ‘40 under 40’ in Residential Remodeling by Professional Remodeler Magazine, and has been featured on Wake Up With Al Roker and in Lucky Magazine, Design*Sponge and USA Today.

Laurie is also a Maryland native, former NFL mascot for the Baltimore Ravens, Wheel of Fortune winner and more recently, host of “Good to Know” forCookingChanneltv.com.

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Newell Turner to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

January 14, 2013 By 3 Comments

We are thrilled to have Newell Turner as a speaker at the Design Bloggers Conference. Newell Turner is the editor in chief of the Hearst Design Group, where he is responsible for the collective editorial direction and content development for ELLE DECOR, House Beautiful, and VERANDA. In 2012, he implemented a new approach to magazine publishing in which each of the three magazines produces content with its own core team, as well as with enhanced shared departments, including photography, market, and features copy.

Previously, Newell was the editor in chief of House Beautiful magazine. He has reported on interior design, architecture, product design and the lifestyles of upscale consumers throughout his career in publishing. In January 2006, he joined the staff of House Beautiful as style director, moving into the editor in chief role in 2010.

In May 2002, he launched Hamptons Cottages & Gardens and, later, its sister publications: Palm Beach Cottages & Gardens and Connecticut Cottages & Gardens. Newell served as style editor at House & Garden in the late 1990s, where he covered home furnishings and design markets in the United States and Europe. He was also an editor at Metropolitan Home for 12 years, and for a short time served as style director of HomeStyle. He has had a variety of experiences in new media including Room12.com, a guide for hip urban travelers that he helped found and develop in 2002.

Newell holds a BA in Journalism and Southern Studies with advanced work specializing in magazine journalism and design from the University of Mississippi. He is a current member of the American Society of Magazine Editors. His charitable interests include The Smile Train, Aid to Artisans and CancerForward.

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Barbara Barry to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

January 11, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Barbara Barry is among the world’s most prominent and talented designers. Her name stands for a unique blend of sophistication and livability; her designs are classic, timeless and fluid. Hers is a look that speaks to the grace of form and simplicity of line.  Her designs range from elegant interiors to an extensive portfolio of home furnishings.

Praise from her peers and the press has earned Barbara Barry a distinctive place in design. Her honors include Interior Design “Hall of Fame,” Architectural Digest list of “World’s 100 Best Designers,” House Beautiful “Giants of Design,” and “Designer of the Year” from Elle Décor International Design. Additionally, she has been awarded the ASID “Designer of Distinction,” “Designer of the Year” by Traditional Home and “Best in Residential Design” by Interiors Magazine.

This award-winning interior designer has created homes for many prominent American families. Her designs for commercial and private spaces are international in their scope and sophisticated in their mood.  Her prestigious commissions range from restaurants and retail spaces to private estates, offices and yachts.

Barbara’s passion for beauty finds expression in many forms through partnerships with internationally renowned companies. Her signature designs for Ann Sacks Tile & Stone, Baker Furniture, Boyd Lighting, Hartmann Luggage, HBF Furniture, Henredon, Kallista, Kravet Fabrics, McGuire Furniture, Tufenkian Carpets, Visual Comfort and Wedgwood, as well as her signature bed and bath line Barbara Barry Dream, have been received with high acclaim. Barbara Barry collections are sold in fine stores throughout the world as well as Barbara Barry galleries in Bangkok, Singapore and Moscow.  Barbara’s first book, Around Beauty (Rizzoli New York, 2012), debuts October 2012.

With a vision of infusing simple luxuries in the every day, Barbara Barry creates refined interiors, timeless furnishings and luxury products that inspire a life of beauty.

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Tobi Fairley to Host Design Bloggers Hall of Fame Awards

December 14, 2012 By 1 Comment

We are excited to announce that Tobi Fairley will be hosting this year’s Design Bloggers Hall of Fame Awards. Tobi is already a Hall of Fame member, having won the award last year for Best Overall Design Blog.

Tobi Fairley creates interiors that are bright, bold and tailored. She works on the forefront of the New Traditional movement in residential design, and her vision for a given space is always grounded in an ethic of problem solving, the results of which are always beautiful as well as functional. This signature aesthetic earned her recognition as one of Traditional Home’s Top 20 Young Designers of 2009.

Tobi founded her design firm more than a decade ago, and her exquisite interiors span the US, from New York City and the Hamptons to Charleston and Los Angeles. Her award-winning designs for high-profile and celebrity clients have been featured on HGTV, and her work has been published on the cover of House Beautiful and showcased in the pages of Traditional Home, Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living.

Tobi’s educational background combines foundational degrees in Interior Design and Accounting with an MBA from the prestigious Sam M. Walton College of Business, where she was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year for 2009.  This blend of expertise uniquely qualifies her as an industry leader in the business of Interior Design. Tobi shares the benefits of her knowledge and experience with other design professionals through an array of consulting services, information products, and on-site courses through Tobi Fairley Academy.

Always ready to embrace the latest in social media and internet technologies, Tobi emerged as a national presence by fully utilizing the capabilities of social media. Tobi’s Blog commands a sizeable online audience; currently read in more than 124 countries worldwide, it has been recognized by HGTV and by the Design Bloggers Conference as a key source for daily design inspiration. Tobi also writes a monthly design column, “Tobi’s Tips,” for AY magazine, a blog column for At Home in Arkansas magazine called “Color Confidential,” and she is a regular contributor to Williams Sonoma’s “Designer Marketplace.” Also spurred by her innovative spirit, Tobi’s e-design service—InBox Interiors—allows D.I.Y. clients to achieve the “Tobi look” for a fraction of the cost of her full-service designs.

Tobi Fairley Home, a collection of fabrics, pillows and lighting designed by Tobi, debuted as part of Hickory Chair’s Centennial Furniture Collection in the Fall of 2011. Her furnishings and fabric designs are every bit as bold and fresh as the spaces for which she has been acclaimed. As with all of her ventures, she infuses the merchandising market with a new and vibrant energy; and, as always, Tobi is driven to find the needs of her customers and provide them with optimum design solutions.

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Leslie Carothers Speaking at Design Bloggers Conference

December 13, 2012 By 3 Comments

Leslie Carothers (known on Twitter as @tkpleslie) is the founder and CEO of The Kaleidoscope Partnership , an 11 year old international social media agency for furniture and interior design brands. Leslie has over 31 years of experience in the furniture and design industry and spent the first 20 years of her career as an interior designer. Some of her past social media clients have included Cargill Corporation’s BioH Polyols division, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, World Market Center Las Vegas, The New Traditionalists, Better Homes and Gardens magazine and current clients include the corporate headquarters of The Curtain Exchange – a national luxury window treatment franchise and Olioboard –a fast growing global social commerce site with 2D and 3D visualization tools. She micro-blogs as @tkpleslie and founded the Twitter chat, #GetPublished which brings together design editors, authors and the design community to create dialogue and opportunities. For the past 11 years , she has been a frequent national and international speaker at major furniture and design industry trade shows and events and keynoted the first Social Media Symposium held at High Point University.

She’s been widely interviewed and is also a guest author for many industry publications including Furniture Today magazine, Retailer NOW magazine and for the past 9 years has been the writer of the *Retail Ideas* blog for Furniture Today.com –publishers of the leading international furniture industry trade news magazine.

Leslie served a 3 year term as a volunteer on the board of Women In The Home Industries –WITHIT – where she twice chaired the major yearly fundraiser –WITHIT’s Leadership Development Conference – and served as VP of National Membership.

In 2009, Leslie was awarded WITHIT’s President’s Award for her service to the organization and to the furniture and interior design industry.

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Patti Austin, Dawn Carroll to Speak at Design Bloggers Conference

December 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Grammy winner Patti Austin crosses all musical genres, has made 17 solo albums, and has performed her award-nominated hit songs on the GRAMMYS® and the Oscars. As a performer, songwriter and vocalist she has had a star-studded career that began at the age of four, making her one of the most beloved artists the world over and a mainstay on the Billboard Jazz Albums charts. Patti’s extraordinary career continues to cross over boundaries and reach new heights.

Patti has had a life-long interest in design. Patti Austin is currently being mentored by Boston’s prestigious design community as she realizes one of her dreams of becoming an interior designer. Patti attributes much of her musical success to her mentors, most notably the close guidance of her godparents Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington. Because of how important mentoring has been to Patti throughout her life, she co-founded the Over My Shoulder Foundation.

The Over My Shoulder Foundation (OMSF) is a non-profit organization founded by Patti Austin and Dawn Carroll to promote mentoring and Mentorology through music and design. The Over My Shoulder Foundation hails Mentorology, the art and science of mentoring, as the number-one priority as they move forward producing live events which bring together industry leaders in order to pay tribute to great mentors and put the spotlight on the importance of mentoring.

Think of “Mentoring”, “Music” and “Design” together. Now envision the Over My Shoulder Foundation uniting those worlds with the guidance of the non-profit’s two award-winning co-founders.

Dawn Carroll has dedicated a large part of the past 4 years to starting the Over My Shoulder Foundation (OMSF) and promoting the idea of Mentorology – the art and science of mentoring. In fact, her passion for Designing the Next Generation has driven Dawn to draw on all her resources to create the dynamic media-driven non-profit organization that exists to further the concept and application of mentoring.

Dawn has carved out OMSF’s niche in the mentoring world while managing an award worthy design career at CUMAR Marble & Granite, which is currently in its 8th generation of leadership in stone sourcing and fabrication in Everett, MA. Dawn writes, “What do you see that I can be” when considering the similarities of an empty room and an individual who needs a mentor in her article about “Designing the Next Generation”.

OMSF accomplishments keep Mentorology, the art and science of mentoring, as the number-one priority. As OMSF grows as a non-profit organization they will keep producing live events which bring together industry leaders in order to pay tribute to great mentors and put the spotlight on the importance of mentoring.

OMSF partnered with CUMAR Marble & Granite to create and inspire The Boston Globe’s Design New England Magazine MIDDIE (Mentors in Design) awards. The MIDDIES salute design professionals in interior design, architecture, building, landscape design, and related fields, who share their time, expertise, and wisdom with the next generation.

OMSF launched the inaugural “Designing the Next Generation” event in 2012 with Cumar Marble & Granite to expand the mentoring conversation nationally. It was an Inspirational Evening of Mentoring Story and Songs at the Liberty Hotel in Boston featuring speakers Stephen Powell (Executive Director, Mentoring USA), Ted Fujimoto (Founder, The Right to Succeed Foundation) and keynote speaker Attorney Richard Dyer who was introduced by Attorney Gary Greenberg of Greenberg Truarig.

Rick Dyer presented former Presidential Candidate, Governor Michael Dukakis, with a stunning award designed by Cumar Inc. thanking him for the mentoring that allowed him to turn his life around. The audience was graced with beautiful musical performances by Patti Austin, Charlie Farren, Robin Lane, Hal Lebeaux and Julie Silver.

OMSF partnered with well-known brands like the prestigious Poggenpohl kitchen design studios and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams Furniture showrooms. The events are just a hint of what is to come nationally as individuals from the worlds of mentoring, music and design are gathering to recognize the importance of Mentorology and help OMSF spread the concept for future generations.

The premier of the Over My Shoulder song with Lianna Gutierrez took place at the 2009 PowerGirls Global Summit with Dr. Johnetta B. Cole’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Institute. The song is based on Dawn’s belief in hope, courage and transformation. It was written by Dawn Carroll, Charlie Farren, Brynn Arens and Barry Orms.

For more information about the Over My Shoulder Foundation, visit overmyshoulderfoundation.org or contact Dawn Carroll, Co-Founder and Executive Director, by calling (617) 510-2620 or emailing carrollco2@comcast.net.

 

 

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Dwell With Dignity: Giving Back to the Community

January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

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.

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Kimberly Seldon: Design For Living

December 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Kimberley Seldon will bring her vibrant presence to the Design Bloggers Conference, where she will be sharing her wealth of knowledge in the world of design as one of our speakers. Kimberly enjoys an international reputation as a designer, journalist, keynote speaker and broadcast personality. Kimberley has enjoyed more than 15 years’ experience in television; hosting three of her own series including the HGTV series “Design for Living with Kimberley Seldon”.  Kimberley presides as guest design expert on CityTV’s CityLine and appears regularly on the Home Shopping Network (HSN) in the United States.

Recently, Kimberley has taken on the role of Design Editor of Canada’s Chatelaine Magazine and is the Editor in Chief of Dabble Magazine; an online magazine that encompasses design, travel and food, three of Kimberley’s greatest passions.

Kimberley enjoys sharing her knowledge with industry professionals through Business of Design, a series of live seminars since 2006 and now an online business resource for design professionals. Businessofdesign.com offers online courses, a live webinar series, an interactive forum and other business resources from a panel of experts from across the board.

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Brian Patrick Flynn: TV Producer Turned Interior Designer

December 8, 2011 By 1 Comment

The incredible Brian Patrick Flynn will speak at the Design Bloggers Conference. After years behind the scenes on home makeover programs, Brian ventured into the world of residential interior design. With his very first project gracing the pages of several shelter magazines, the self-taught, risk-taking designer instantly became hooked. Brian adds, “For me, Interior design has become an addiction. I’ve become so obsessed with the instant gratification that comes from transforming spaces that I’m concerned I’ll end up on an intervention reality show”. Soon thereafter, Brian ended up in front of the camera, hosting/designing the same genre of shows he used to develop — all while maintaining a growing residential and commercial clientele.

In 2009, Brian launched the popular blog-style decorating website, Decor Demon, best described as “lifestyle editorial…with an edge”. The success of Decor Demon — which showcases Brian’s talent not only for interior design but also for producing, writing, directing and prop styling magazine-worthy online editorial content as well as broadcast-quality video — opened up new doors for the energetic go-getter. Just three months after its launch, Decor Demon caught the attention of HGTV, resulting in a high-profile partnership between Brian, the cable network and HGTV.com. Currently, Brian is working as the design producer for the hit reality-competition series, HGTV Design Star, and as HGTV.com’s go-to producer for high-quality editorial content. As if that wasn’t enough, his production company, Flynnside Out Productions, is currently producing the online versions of some of HGTV’s most popular specials including HGTV Dream Home, HGTV Green Home and Urban Oasis. Currently, Brian resides in Los Angeles, California.

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