Copyright
2010
The
Design Center
of the Americas, affectionately known by its acronym: DCOTA is a veritable
beehive of activity at beginning of January. For it's Winter Market it features a “virtual” Show House within its vast
confines. It is the only show house, that I have seen, that isn't really a
freestanding building. Instead, its sagacious owner, Charles Cohen, has
constructed a building within a building to feature some of South Florida's
brightest and talented designers. In typical Florida style, the rooms are
vibrant and sparkling as opposed to their Northern counterparts, which are
often more sedate. As always, in a show house, each designer's personality is
boldly expressed as you wander through the labyrinth of interconnecting rooms
and corridors. The Show house is open to the public until June 11th. Well
worth a trip to South Florida especially if you're looking for an interior designer to do
your home.
To
add luster to this event, The DCOTA features an awards evening called Stars Of
Design. The awards cover a broad range of the arts…no discipline is left out.
This year the award for Interior Design was given to Sam Robin, Architecture to
Max Strang, Photography: Robin Hill, Jewelry Design: Nicholas Varney. Art to
Carlos Betancourt, Landscape Design & Architecture: Jeff Blakely and
Graphic Design: Laura Paresky…. What brought me to this event was that I was to
be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
From Left: Charles Cohen (President and CEO of DCOTA), Ana Dinese Miranda (Friend of Art Honoree Carlos Betancourt), Max Stang (Architecture Honoree), Sam Robin (Interior Design Honoree), Vladimir Kagan (Lifetime Achievement Honoree), Laura Paresky Gould (Interior Design Honoree), Jeff Blakely (Landscape Architecture Honoree), Robin Hill (Photography Honoree).
Now starts my saga: I dutifully fly to Palm Beach on Monday night, where we have a winter hideaway. Emergency repairs were in progress in our cabana as we were plagued with the scourge of Florida: Termites. Tuesday was spent with the contractor reviewing progress and digging though the shambles of our possessions.
You will NOT believe what happened!
In my calendar, the DCOTA event was to be on Wednesday.
Being anal about commitments, I called the marketing director of the DCOTA to confirm my expected time of arrival.…Unfortunately, I could only be connected with an assistant in the department, who promised to call back. That call finally came at 4:45 PM.
“The event starts at 5:30.... GREAT.... tomorrow? NO Today!!!!”
Turns out that originally the date was for Wednesday, but months ago it was changed to Tuesday. A stack of invitations had been mailed to my office clearly stating the date, but all I checked was that my name was spelled correctly!
What followed was chaos.
“No
problem…I'll be there” was my feeble response. We quickly changed from casual
shorts and T-shirt into presentable clothing and Erica and I dash off to Ft.
Lauderdale. Traffic was horrendous… Thanks to the HOV lane, I was able to make
good time…. we stayed in touch by cell…. Fortunately, I was scheduled to be the
last person to be presented with the award. Careful calculations indicated each
award would take 8 minutes (giving me 54 minutes for the drive.) I arrived,
just three recipients away from my award!.…It was a near catastrophe, but I
survived with bells on. My dilemma made for an amusing acceptance speech with
my most profound design observation; All the ladies in their stiletto heals and
revealing costumes were the highlight of the show.
Reward…a
silver Tiffany bowl for my trophy shelf!
Fellow Honorees Max Strang and Laura Paresky Gould
Honorees Sam Robin, Vladimir, and Robin Hill
Vladimir with a friend
Erica Kagan, Vladimir, and Charles Cohen
A great After Party!
The talented Ashlee Harrison, Director of Marketing at DCOTA
Congrats!
Posted by: Henry Babcock | 01/19/2010 at 01:23 PM
hello guys, I really like this post, the events in general are things that draw little attention, thanks for sharing the information, and answer many questions I would like updates to this article, thanks
Posted by: viagra online | 04/06/2010 at 04:03 PM
I'm a huge believer of the importance of design. I'm not so sure about design + marketing >> engineering. Design should incorporate engineering, not be opposed to it or somehow differentiated from it. It's important to remember that these are processes, not discrete elements
Posted by: cialis online | 04/26/2010 at 10:05 AM
I will not question your designs or marketing but, simply drool over the Silver Tiffany Bowl.
Looked like a very nice event and well worth the run in with the termites.
Keeping an Eye Out For More Landscape Design Ideas
Maxwell Landscaping
Posted by: Kevin Maxwell | 07/24/2010 at 04:04 AM
Don't know what is wrong what is rite but i know that every one has there own point of view and same goes to this one..
Posted by: company logo design | 07/26/2010 at 08:58 AM
What a great story. Too funny about making sure your name was spelled right & not noticing the date. I'm glad you made it! Congratulations on your award!
Posted by: Portland Interior Design Gal, Pangaea | 08/02/2010 at 05:36 PM
Looked like a very nice event and well worth the run in with the termites.
Keeping an Eye Out For More Landscape Design Ideas
i like it
Posted by: LOGO DESIGN | 09/17/2010 at 11:22 AM
Congrats for the nice model and it is very nice and unique.
Posted by: Recepti | 10/11/2010 at 05:55 AM
Interior design is a multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment.
Posted by: showerscreens | 10/21/2010 at 07:04 AM
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure.
Posted by: Trampoline Mats | 10/22/2010 at 06:46 AM
Congratulations! That Tiffany trophy is just fabulous! I love it when architecture and interior design are merged on functionality and beauty.
Posted by: Caitlin Backlinks Checker | 10/23/2010 at 02:46 PM
I am a lover of design. I thought in choosing this field as my major, but I prefer to leave it as a hobby. However, I know that DCOTA is extremely prestigious and your article results very catchy for me at least.
Posted by: Viagra Online | 11/16/2010 at 01:39 PM
wow congratulations I'm very happy for you..
my biggest dream is being a big and recognized interior designer, and receive an award like you
Posted by: Miami Web Design | 05/01/2011 at 12:08 PM