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HD Expo Preview: Development Update

Posted by on March 28, 2018 in Events | 0 comments

We’re less than 40 days away and counting from our highly anticipated event of the year, and the HD team could not be more excited to share with you what goodies we have in store for HD Expo 2018. We’re back at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas from May 2nd – 4th for more networking and, of course, to show off innovative products from the more than 800 exhibitors on the show floor.

Indeed, HD Expo is known for its thought-provoking discussion panels, and this year is no different. While we tackle many different topics impacting the hotel industry, this year we have a few that hone in on the owner and development side of the business, especially as the hotel industry’s future continues to be promising. Mark your calendars: Here are a few development panels you won’t want to miss.

Where in the World: Development Update
Wednesday, May 2nd: 3:15 pm – 4:15 pm

Join Bruce Ford of Lodging Econometrics as he leadsa panel of four hotel executives, including Jay Stein, Dream Hotel Group; Trevor Horwell, Nobu Hospitality Group; Gary Dollens, Hyatt; and Larry Traxler, Hilton Worldwide Hotels & Resorts to talk the latest in booming developments around the globe, including design-driven projects that are paving the way, as well as new hotbeds in the forecast. Continue reading →

Brand Identity: The DNA Behind Design

Posted by on December 4, 2017 in Events, Trends

Panelists included Paula Scher, Terry Young, Arne van Oosterom, and Debbie Millman

The Pratt Institute held its second Design Symposium at the TimesCenter in New York where designer and professor Marc Rosen led a panel including Debbie Millman, brand consultant, educator, and artist; Paula Scher, designer and principal at Pentagram; Arne van Oosterom, founder and partner of DesignThinkers Group and DT Academy; and Terry Young, CEO of Sparks & Honey, to discuss the marriage between design and brand identity. They dug into how to build a successful brand, highlighting “the crossover of design as a state of mind in every discipline,” notes moderator Rosen.

Millman kicked off the presentations, sharing her philosophy: A brand is what allows you to understand a company, but the design shows you what it can do. There are four critical concepts that lead to good branding, she says: cultural anthropology, behavioral psychology, economics, and creativity. Sparks & Honey’s Terry Young delved deeper into cultural anthropology, explaining “To design great brands today, you have to be culturally relevant. Continue reading →

A Night to Remember

Posted by on November 15, 2017 in Events, Hospitality

Last night it was a full house at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York as we honored four hospitality veterans for their diverse and captivating breadth of work at our annual 29th Platinum Circle Awards Gala. The black tie festive affair brought out more than 400 people to celebrate the recipients’ career achievements and milestones and to enjoy an evening of socializing and mingling in an intimate setting—proving that those in hospitality always make for a good party.

Our past and present Platinum Circle honorees

Kevin O’Shea, Salt Hotels; Kemper Hyers, Starwood Capital; Stacy Shoemaker Rauen, HD; and David Bowd, Salt Hotels and West Elm

Along with honoring NEWH’s scholarship winners, we spent time getting to know our honorees, which included Sage Hospitality’s cofounder, president, and CEO Walter Isenberg. He spoke about humble beginnings in the industry and first mentor Phil Pistilli, who taught Isenberg that knowing the value of all of your employees was vital to success, and it’s one he’s never forgotten. Continue reading →

MoMA Exhibit Asks “Is Fashion Modern?”

Posted by on November 8, 2017 in Events, Trends

It seems more and more that designers are experimenting in the realm of fashion, such as Jamie Hayon and Clico Sage, so it comes as little surprise for the Museum of Modern Art to introduce an exhibition that explores the undeniable marriage between fashion and design. Enter Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design at MoMA. Antonelli set out to create a new experience at the museum called Items: Is Fashion Modern?, which draws inspiration from Bernard Rudofsky’s Are Clothes Modern? from 1944, one of the few fashion exhibits the museum has hosted.

Recently, she spoke more on the exhibit as part of Surface magazine’s Design Dialogues series held in an intimate setting at MoMA’s Design Store in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. “You cannot tell a history of modern design without fashion,” she says, so she put together an advisory committee to gather a list of items that speak to both. Continue reading →

Magic Carpet: Designers Team Up to Support DIFFA

Posted by on October 31, 2017 in Events

Great design always speaks for itself, but when paired with a great cause, it’s elevated to a new level. Case in point: when Obeetee was set to launch its new quick-ship program, the handwoven rug company wanted to do something special, so it partnered with Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) to create a collection of customizable pieces that are received in six to eight weeks with 10 percent of net sales benefitting the organization.

Participating designers with their rug samples at the New York launch party with Gretchen Auer, Obeetee sales manager (back row, third from left)

Needless to say, there were numerous designers and design firms that jumped on board—17 to be exact—to showcase their creativity for a good cause. They included Antonino Buzzetta, Arlene Angard, Asler Valero, William Reue, Christopher Trujillo, Darrin Varden, dash design, Marks & Frantz, Michael Tavano, M Moser, Patrick Hamilton, Reeta Gyamlani, Tina Ramchandani, Verda Alexander for Studio O+A, V Starr Interiors, Wesley Moon, and WUNO. Continue reading →