4.21.08 | During NeoCon 07, an alarm was sounded for the interior design profession. The warning was loud and clear: a serious decline in the pool of interior design educators was and is putting our profession in jeopardy. We realized we need to do something fast to continue fostering future generations of interior designers with the ever increasingly complex skill set demanded by our clients. The original Call to Action Dialogue at NeoCon 07 to address the declining pool of interior design educators, sponsored by Kimball Office, was well attended by interior design educators and practitioners. It became clear that the problem has many challenging and disparate components.

9.17.07 | Robert Kennedy, Jr. was the Catalyst Breakfast keynote created for NeoCon Xpress by IIDA So.CA. He was introduced by Barbara Dunn, Gensler, president elect, who noted that, well before environmental vigilance became fashionable Robert Kennedy, Jr., was already there. His career includes his work as an environmentalist, non-profit executive, law professor, and author of The New York Times best seller Crimes Against Nature (HarperCollins 2004).

1.15.07 | From January to December, 2006 from the pages of offi ceinsight.

11.27.06 | Ethanol is all the rage. We’re being told that ethanol will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut our nations dependence on foreign oil. The Bush administration has been promoting ethanol as the renewable, homegrown alternative to gasoline since the 2005 State of the Union Address. Earlier this month Bill Clinton and Al Gore stumped in California for a $4 billion tax to fund research for alternative energy vehicles and bio-fuels. General Motors has spent barrels of cash on its marketing campaign, “Live green, go yellow,” referring to the corn from which most U.S. ethanol is made.

Right now automakers are hard at work pushing their 2007 flexible-fuel vehicles (FFVs), which are designed to run on either gasoline or E85 – a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. According to a recent Harris Interactive survey of vehicle owners more than half of them were interested in purchasing a flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) mostly for reduced dependency on petroleum and improved fuel economy.

9.18.06 | The Mohawk Group’s New York City showroom was completely packed with people wielding auction paddles and glasses of wine as the stage was set for what would be a thrilling night of designers putting themselves up for auction to benefit the Interior Designers for Legislation in New York (IDLNY).