Last year was the International Furnishings and Design Association – New England Chapter’s first series of IFDA Take A Seat events (the third for our international organization). To recap, go to Take A Seat – 2015.
As IFDA NE chapter president for the third year, I am so proud of our work last year, and this year will be even better! A percentage of the proceeds of the events will benefit our amazing affordable housing non-profit partner, The Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development.
This year, IFDA New England is thrilled to do the Take A Seat events again! Do you want to design a chair (I am!!), attend one or all of the events, culminating in our Take A Seat Gala on June 1 at the deCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA? Here’s all the information you need to participate in this year’s series of events:IFDA NE Take A Seat 2016.
In January of 2014, I started my presidency of the IFDA – New England Chapter. It”s a great organization made up of design professionals and our industry partners. We had over 130 members at the end of 2013 and we hope to grow that number this year! Our first newsletter of the year went out last week, and it”s available on our chapter website – to find out more about our chapter, go to www.ifda.com/new-england-chapter. We hold some wonderful events, and as the year goes on, I will highlight some of them here.
I wrote a letter to our membership which was included in the newsletter, and here it is:
LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear IFDA Colleagues,
As incoming IFDA New England Chapter president, I am looking forward to 2014, working with our excellent board and building on what we have accomplished under our outgoing president, Nicole Hogarty.
To introduce myself, I have been a member of the IFDA New England Chapter since 2009, and became a board member in 2012. I opened my own design firm, KDZ Designs, LLC in 2009, after receiving my Master of Arts degree from The New England School of Art and Design-Suffolk University in 2006. Prior to that, I had worked for a number of years in software development in the computer industry. I live in Western Massachusetts, just outside Amherst. I love that IFDA helps me to stay in touch with what’s happening in my profession in Boston and throughout New England.
We continue to be the largest IFDA chapter in the country, and in the last year, we welcomed more student members than we have in the past. We will also continue to highlight our professional members and their accomplishments and encourage new professional members to discover all that the IFDA New England Chapter has to offer.
“We continue to be the largest IFDA chapter in the country, and in the last year, we welcomed more student members than we have in the past.”
I have often heard from our members and sponsors that our events have a camaraderie that can be unusual in professional associations. As an organization of vendors and design professionals, we learn from each other and make contacts that are helpful not only for our professional projects, but personally as well.
For 2014, we are again planning a great year of networking and educational events and will vary location and timing, based on feedback from our membership. We thank our current Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors for their considerable involvement in our organization!
Some of my additional 2014 goals include working with our IFDA national board to take advantage of grants and scholarships for our students and to support our educational events. And, I would like to broaden our connection to non-profit enterprises related to the building and design industry, through our membership’s expertise.
Having spent the last year working on membership for the IFDA-New England, starting in 2013, I will be continuing as a board member, working on special projects, as well as being the President-Elect for the New England Chapter. It”s a great organization and brings design professionals and vendors together! I was also given the Rising Star award by the chapter at our annual Holiday Party, last Friday night. It”s been great working on the board this year, with so many committed people and working with Rob Henry as president has been a fab experience. I look forward to working closely with Nicole Hogarty, our incoming president for 2013.
Karen at the IFDA New England Holiday Party 2012, at The Boston University Castle
As of January, 2012, I am pleased to be part of the New England Chapter of the International Furnishings and Design Association”s Board – I am the board member responsible for membership retention. It”s a great board, and I am looking forward to working with all the other members this year!
I am so pleased that “Living Spaces” magazine has chosen the Craftsman Bungalow project, that I completed in 2009, as their cover story, published on October 24, 2011! For more information and images on this web-site, go to my Portfolio images.
For the on-line magazine, go to Living Spaces Magazine and choose “Archives.” Click on the Fall, 2011 Cover Page and you will be able to page through the entire issue – the article begins on page 42.
