Inspired.talk

Blogfest 2012 Day Two

Continuing the fun from the first day of Blogfest 2012, take a look at our continuing photo recap.

Tuesday morning, Kate Kelly Smith from Hearst Home Group welcomed our group to the 44th floor of Hearst Tower.

VERANDA editor in chief Dara Caponigro chatted with designers Darryl Carter and Timothy Whealon about the May/June issue.

House Beautiful editor in chief Newell Turner invited three New Wave designers (from left, Michael Herold, Jill Goldberg and Jon Call) to discuss their career paths and the "a-ha" moments they've experienced along the way.

The ELLE DECOR Modern Life Concept House, awaiting bloggers for a pre-lunch reception.

Anne Foster, Marisa Marcantonio and Suysel Cunningham at the ELLE DECOR Modern Life Concept House.

Robert Brown discussing his collection of furniture for Holland/ Macrae, on display at the Lee Jofa showroom at the D&D Building, where Traditional Home magazine hosted a Nantucket-themed luncheon.

Management consultant and author Keith Granet spoke to our group about design branding and taking your business to the next level at the Kravet showroom in the D&D Building. 

Alexa Hampton and Traditional Home editor in chief Ann Maine had the crowd in stitches talking candidly about the industry.

Designers lingered at the Kravet showroom for a chance to meet Alexa after the Traditional Home panel.

Marisa Marcantonio and Brunschwig & Fils showroom manager Andrea Brooke selecting a favorite piece to photograph for the Brunschwig Laduree Twitter contest. 

Baccarat invited designers and bloggers at Blogfest, along with guest of honor Vicente Wolf, for a "hard hat" preview of the new showroom. We sipped champagne and beautiful crystal chandeliers hung at eye level for perfect photo-ops.

Enjoying delicious food and drink from the kitchen experts at GE Monogram, our host for Tuesday's cocktail party. From left, Beth Greene, Ann Feldstein, Paula Cecere, Cary Kravet, Lisa Kravet, Jennifer Powell. 

Best of Blogfest 2012 - Social Media Contests

If you attended Blogfest this week, you know there were lots of opportunities for future collaborations with magazines. We’ve compiled all of the contests and incentives here in case you missed any of the details. All winners will receive a Best of Blogfest thumbnail logo to feature on the sidebar of your blog to call attention to your win and collaboration with a major magazine.

House Beautiful – The Aha Moment

The editors from House Beautiful want to know what inspires you, and what “aha moment” you have created in your own work. Ten winners will be chosen, and their photos will appear on House Beautiful’s Aha Inspiration Pinterest board, with links back to each individual blog.

To enter, write a blog post about your own “aha moment” inspired by the House Beautiful. You must own the rights to any images you feature in the post, and images of your own work are strongly encouraged. All posts must be published by May 29^th and please limit copy to 500 words. Once the post is live, tweet the URL to @HouseBeautiful using the hashtag #myaha. Editors will read all entries and select ten winners.

VERANDA – Memorable Rooms

Starting today through the following Wednesday (May 30^th), attendees are invited to email VERANDA’s web editor Candice Braun ([email protected]) their most memorable room of all time. It can be any room, from one they’ve seen in a magazine to their very own spaces. Along with an image of the room, describe in 75 words or less why you love the interior.

The contest will end at 5 p.m. on the 30^th  at which point our decoration director, Carolyn Englefield, will review all entries and select the top three. Those three winners will receive a copy of VERANDA’s new book, “The Houses of Veranda,” and will be featured on their Facebook page on Friday, June 1^st, at 10 a.m.

NY Spaces – Guest Blogging 

NY Spaces held a business card drawing and selected five attendees to write blog posts on the NY Spaces blog as contributors throughout the year. Congrats to the winners!

Interiors Magazine - The "Wow" Factor

Interiors magazine challenges you to peruse the current June/July issue, and find your favorite "wow" factor in each of the five featured spaces in the editorial well. Then, add one WOW of your own work or something you love. Submit your entry by posting the blog to the Interiors Facebook page.

Winning entries will receive a free one-year subscription to Interiors magazine. One "WOW" blogger will be chosen to guest blog for the magazine and be featured in Interiors' insider page in the printed magazine, as well as on the Interiors website and Facebook page.

Glassybaby

Glassybaby is inviting attendees to share their own inspiring stories on their blogs, and post a link to the Glassybaby Facebook page. Glassybaby will repost the blogs and share on their web site and social media. In addition, for the first time ever, they are inviting suggestions for Blogfest attendees to help name some of the beautiful colors that emerge from the glassblowers’ studio. Who better than a group of savvy designers and writers to tackle a fun task like this?

Kravet

In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting and reposting many of the recaps we’ve seen of Blogfest. A few of the recaps will be excerpted for the Fall issue of inspired.news, Kravet’s printed newspaper that is circulated within the industry to designers, magazine editors and showrooms across the country. We’re also inviting you to post your photos to our Blogfest Pinterest board. We’re in the process of inviting everyone to have access, but once it’s up and running you can pin away!

We hope you take advantage of these great opportunities to engage with your favorite magazines and brands. We can’t wait to see all of the posts and photos about Blogfest!

Blogfest Day Two – What to Expect

Whew. We’ve gotten through day one. Well, talking about day one. Are you tired yet? No? Good. Moving right along…

Hearst Tower

House Beautiful and Veranda have great presentations prepared for us this year. After you arrive, check in and get settled (please, please don’t be late!), take in the floor to ceiling 180 degree view of New York City from the 44^th floor of the Hearst Tower. WOW! Ok, time to kick things off. House Beautiful editor in chief Newell Turner, joined by a few up-and-coming designers, will talk to our group about what it takes to get your projects, and yourself, noticed by a major magazine.

Veranda editor in chief Dara Caponigro will talk with Timothy Whealon and Daryl Carter about how the May/June issue came to life. Both designers have projects in the magazine, and they’ll discuss all aspects of a large scale project, a magazine shoot, and Dara will speak to how a magazine like Veranda comes together every month. Inspiration overload!

Elle Décor Modern Life Concept House

Buses will be waiting to whisk us from Hearst over to the west side where we’ll be some of the first to see this stellar show house. Snap photos, chat with editor in chief Michael Boodro, and meet some of the designers of the space. You’ll have lots of time to take it all in before we head to the iconic D&D Building for lunch.

Traditional Home Lunch at Lee Jofa

Traditional Home has prepared a summer feast for us, featuring Luke’s Lobster, Nantucket Nectars and more. Designer Robert Brown will be on hand to chat about the furniture he designed for Holland/ Macrae, which will be on display in the front room. Management consultant Keith Granet will speak to the group about some of the amazing work he’s done in our industry, and sign copies of his book, Business of Design.

Ann Maine and Alexa Hampton at Kravet

Following the lunch, we’ll head upstairs where Traditional Home editor in chief Ann Maine will lead a lively discussion about what it means to be “traditional” in today’s world with interior designer Alexa Hampton. Hampton designs fabric and trimming for Kravet, and her work is on display in the Kravet showroom.

Brunschwig & Fils and Laduree Twitter Contest

When you have a few minutes to explore the D&D Building, stop by the Brunschwig & Fils showroom on the 12^th floor. Snap a photo of yourself with your favorite item in the showroom, fabric, furniture or otherwise, and post it to Twitter for a chance to win a beautiful gift basket from iconic French brand Laduree. Be sure to use the #blogfest2012 hashtag and mention @BrunschwigFils.

Hard Hat Preview Party at Baccarat

Champagne and sweet treats await upstairs at Baccarat. Our group of Blogfest attendees will be the very first to see Baccarat’s brand new showroom in the D&D Building. It’s so new, in fact, that the space is still under construction. You’ll see how they hang chandeliers and some of the behind the scenes care that goes into the brand’s beautiful crystal products. You’ll also meet designer Vicente Wolf, who is involved with the brand and will join us as a special guest speaker.

Party at GE Monogram

The partying doesn’t stop there! Following Baccarat, we’re heading across the street to GE Monogram, where chefs will have been busy whipping up some great treats for us in their state of the art kitchens. Food and drink will be plentiful, and you’ll love interacting with some of GE’s great products.

Ok, you didn’t get to change your shoes all day, but we sure had fun, didn’t we? Go get some rest and we’ll see you on Wednesday!

Sweet Thoughts for the New Year

 

We want to thank everyone who entered last week’s giveaway for a copy of Inspired Styles (Assouline). We were only going to give away three books but at the last minute we decided to give away four. Congrats to Catherine from Avery Design Interiors, Sara Kate from Dwell and Design, Bridget from the McMullin Design Group, and Cheryl from Cheryl von Tress Design.

Above, take a look at our newly unveiled holiday window at the D&D Building in New York City. This blog is all about inspiration, and we are inspired every day by our wonderful customers and supporters, so we’re sending our best wishes and sweet thoughts for the year ahead. Cheers!

-JP

New Online Outlet and iPad Giveaway on e-designtrade.com

At Kravet and Lee Jofa we know that days as a designer are often spent on-the-go. That’s why we created e-designtrade.com, an online site where our customers can search and order our products 24 hours a day.

For customers who use e-designtrade.com regularly, we’ve got exciting news. We’ve added a feature called the Kravet Outlet, which will serve as an online sale for fabric. Launched today, the Kravet Outlet has more than 10,000 items offered at up to 90% off original wholesale prices.

 

And, just to sweeten the deal, we have a contest that started on October 22. Customers who use e-designtrade.com to place orders with us before Dec. 31 will be automatically entered in a drawing to win a free Apple iPad. The more times you order, the more chances you’ll have of winning.

Not an e-designtrade.com customer? Sign up for an account between October 22 and Dec. 31 and you’ll be entered into a separate drawing to win an iPad. So we’re giving away two iPads, one to existing customers who place orders before the end of the year, and one to customers who sign up for a new e-designtrade.com account before the end of the year.

The fine print: Minimum purchase at the Kravet Outlet is five yards. Quantities are limited to stock on hand. No CFAs, memos or reserves. Discounts, promos or special pricing are not applicable on items at the Kravet Outlet. The iPad will be awarded in the form of a $600 Apple gift card. If you sign up for a new account AND place orders before Dec. 31, you’ll be entered into both contests.