A Big Thank You to Kravet and A Condensed Recap of Blogfest 2012

Today, I feel a little like Cinderella after the big ball.  The much anticipated Blogfest 2012 is over and I have returned to reality.  Our itinerary while in New York was action packed with amazing events that included  "A List" designers, major magazine editors, beautiful show houses and insider views into the design industry.   We were treated like royalty by the Kravet Inc. family and their team who were sponsors of the event.    As a designer, the pinnacle of the past three days, was meeting The Kravet Family and touring their Studio.   Kravet Inc. is a privately held fourth generation family run business.  At the helm of the ship, is Cary Kravet who is President of the company.  He and his wife, Lisa were so gracious, they made us feel like royalty.  Once inside their studios doors, one quickly realizes Kravet Inc. operates as one big happy family.   It is hard to delineate between who is "actual blood relative" and who is an employee.  Let's just say, that it is obvious everyone loves their job at Kravet Inc and it shows.  Often times throughout the three days, I considered throwing in the towel as a designer and sending my resume to Kravet Inc.!  I can't wait to share more about our fascinating "behind the scenes" tour of their studio with you.  We learned why this company is a global leader in the "to the trade" home furnishing industry.  We were also given a sneak peek of up coming designer collaborations, that will be unveiled in the near future! There is much to be excited about, but for now, mums the word!  A big thank You to The Kravet Family and their amazing team for making this event possible!
  

 Meeting Cary Kravet, President of Kravet Inc. in the Kravet showroom in NYC. 

The Kravet Inc. Marketing Team who worked so hard to make it all happen.... 
 Beth Greene, Executive Vice President , Jennifer Powell, Social Media Coordinator and Ann Feldstein,
 Kravet's Senior Director of Marketing and Communications.  What can I say?  Awesome, awesome, awesome! 

The amazing Beth Kimless Greene and  energetic Jennifer Powell!

The fabulous Ann Feldstein 

I am sad to say I failed to get a picture with precious Ann!  (Sorry for this old photo Ann!) Not only did she give me dinner suggestions, but also pulled my luggage down the street! Talk about going the extra mile!!!

Thank you Ann!  I hope to return the favor if you ever  come to Charlotte!

Kate Kelly Smith, Vice President, Publisher Chief Revenue Officer of Hearst Corp, with Newell Turner, Editor in Chief of House Beautiful, welcomed us at the opening breakfast on the 44th Floor of Hearst Towers.  Who doesn't love Newell Turner, he is a fabulous speaker and so entertaining!

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We had amazing panel discussions with well known designers such as Darryl Carter and Timothy Whealon lead by Dara Caponigro of Veranda.  Editor in Chief of House Beautiful, Newell Turner lead a discussion on "Ah Ha moments" with House Beautiful's next wave designers, Jon Call, Jill Goldberg and Michael Herold.     

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Interiors Magazine Insider Panel with Editorial Director, Michael Wollaeger, noted Architectural photographer Peter Aaron, former editor and StyleBeat blogger, Marisa Marcantonio, Interior Designer Miles Redd in a discussion about how the most beautiful work in our industry is created on the pages of magazines.

We were given all kinds of fabulous goodies, but one of my favorites was glassybaby.  The founder and owner Lee Rhodes, a cancer survivor, gave a very emotional and inspirational talk stating her reason for creating glassy baby was to help other cancer patients.    Please check out glassybaby and buy lots!!!!  Not only will you get a beautiful item, but you will be helping others.  As Lee says, " glassybaby are gifts of celebration, consolation, joy and healing."  I'm ordering for graduation gifts today!  Look for a full post on glassybaby soon!

Glassybaby

Another fun aspect of being at Blogfest 2012, was connecting with so many of my online blogging friends and meeting new blogging friends. Here are some of my friends, be sure to check out their blogs!
 Shelly Van Rozeboom of Van Rozeboom Interiors, Laura Trevey of Bright, Bold and Beautiful

Elizabeth Moyer of Pretty Pink Tulips, Kirsten Nease of Living In Design, Whitney Hoek of Between the Boxwoods, Erin Olson of House of Turquoise, Amy Meier of Amy Meier Design

Danika Herrick of Gorgeous Shiny Things and O'verlays, Daniela Shuffler of Aesthetic Oiseau, Barbara Fransceski, Kathy McGee of My Interior Life, and Cheryle Rhuda  of O'verlays, 

Aesthetic Oiseau

Maria Killam of Color Me Happy, Erin Olson of House of Turquoise and me.

Maria is a color expert, if you have questions about paint, she is your girl! Erin is editor of

a blog that features my favorite color  turquoise and was one of the first blogs I started following.  

The Charlotte, NC Girls!!!  Amazingly, I had to travel to NYC to meet these women.  

Holly Phillips of The English Room, Rosa Dest from Rosa Dest Interiors

Beth Keim of Lucy and Co., Amy Martineau Vermillion of Martineau Vermillion, Traci Zeller of Traci Zeller Design, me, Catherine Austin of Bespoke Banter

We also had the privilege of meeting many fascinating designers.  I can't wait to share more about all of them. Thom Felicia hosted a cocktail party for us the first night. He is as amazing as his work! Of course I had to show a pic of ...Thom Felicia, he is awesome!

Its no surprise we were all plugged into social media while there...twitter, 

Facebook, instagram,etc...after all the point of this event was social media!

As you can see with this little recap, Blogfest 2012 was incredible!  I made so many new friends and was privy to so much insider info about our industry.  We were truly treated like we were special in the "Big Apple" by the entire The Kravet Family.  They went out of their way to make this event one that I will surely not miss again!   I would like to say a special thank you to The Kravet Family for such an incredible experience!

 The History of Kravet

If I haven't lost you and you are still reading this, you will want to stay tuned for more

about the individual events we enjoyed at BlogFest 2012!!!