8.4.08 | On a visit to Steelcase this year, I was a guest at the new JW Marriott hotel in Grand Rapids, and felt quite the prince, and not the less for having a Steelcase Leap chair in my room. Unexpectedly, my day of meetings began the next morning on the 21^st floor of the JW, where I met with Kathy Farquharson, Director, Corporate Sales, Paul Siebert, Director, Corporate Strategy + Brand Development, Frank Graziano, Manager, Advanced Applications, and George Aquino, Manager of the Grand Rapids JW Marriott.

8.4.08 | A cool breeze on a hot day in Manhattan is enough to generate a passing moment of gratitude in even the most jaded New Yorker. That was the refreshing welcome that greeted me as I passed through the elegant doors of the A&D Building on East 58^th Street.

8.4.08 | As soon as my husband declared we would cram our most treasured worldly goods into the modern day Conestoga wagon (aka “POD”), say goodbye to everything in Massachusetts – our home, businesses, friends, etc. – and ride off into the sunset, I swear, the next words out of his mouth were “photovoltaic cells”. He became a man obsessed with solar energy.

8.4.08 | How are you feeling? Are you comfortable? If you are reading this while you’'re on vacation, you’re likely bobbing in a boat or lounging on a nice deck chair on a wooden dock watching a duck or thinking about taking a dunk . . . off the dock (Sorry). Then again, if you’'re reading this on vacation, you might seriously reconsider how you spend your vacations.

7.28.08 | It has been 34 years since the First Oil Embargo and we still do not have a cohesive common sense approach to energy in the United States. Energy is at the heart of the top three issues confronting Americans today: our economy, our national security, and our environment.

7.28.08 | I was afraid I was going to begin a new life as a criminal, but it turns out I’'m not. I thought the law prohibited the reuse of electrical devices (outlets and switches); I was prepared to justify my actions by citing the environmental benefits, but I was still determined to disobey the law – if that was the law. I called my brother-in-law, an electrician, to ask about the regulations, and, if and why devices can'’t be reused: Is it dangerous?

7.28.08 | When I received the recent press information on the 2008 Applied Brilliance Conference, I immediately thought of the Knoll Cranbrook series led by Carl Magnusson in the late 1990s. These presented an array of outstanding individuals, practices and ideas ranging from teenage composers to students of genetic algorithms to noted architects and designers. This, to me, was the stimulant equivalent that others find in disco lights, outlandish customs and hairdos and thumping, screeching sounds.

“7.28.08 | Going green” requires doing the right things, a focused strategy based on your company’'s people, products and processes. Linking corporate direction, distinct capabilities and customer perspective through sustainability strategy promises competitive advantage with short-term gains, long-term yields and improved customer loyalty.

7.21.08 | JJ Falk just celebrated the 10^th anniversary of her firm, JJ Falk Design. We used the occasion to catch up with her and see how things had gone in the past 10 years.

7.21.08 | The weather was in the reasonable 80s for the 4^th annual First LOOK event at the New York Design Center, not like last year when the heavy morning rain was followed by an exploded steam pipe nearly in front of 200 Lexington Ave., or the year before when temperatures reach a scalding (for NYC) 107 degrees. So, we left the green, heavily wooded areas of Connecticut and, well, Queens, to venture into Manhattan to get our own first looks.

7.21.08 | When do revolutions start? Do they, as some suggest, simply burst into flame, in due course producing tectonic shifts in values and a new way of life? Or is there a period of rumbling and of belching of smoke before the great fire begins?

7.21.08 | The new Haworth showroom in New York was filled to capacity on Thursday, June 26, for the Fourth Annual Lester Dundes Interior Design Competition Awards, hosted by the IIDA NY (New York Chapter of the International Interior Design Association).

7.21.08 | Over 900 local architects and interior designers hit Chicago's Oak Street beach for the 26^th Annual Brenda Faist Associates Battle of the Design Stars beach volleyball tournament sponsored by Sedia Systems.

7.21.08 |  Knoll Miami celebrated the opening of its new showroom located in the Wachovia Financial Center, 200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 1700, Miami, FL, on Thursday, July 10, with a reception and open house for members of the design community and corporate clients. Benjamin Pardo, Knoll Design Director, and David Schutte, Knoll Chief Marketing Officer, were both in attendance.