ASID History
1979 – 1980
The Late
Peg A. Gorson, ASID
The first meeting of 1979 was held Thursday February 15th at the Omni Hotel Florida Ballroom on Biscayne Blvd. Rita St Clair, FASID the National President was there to meet our members. Ausby E. Lee, FASID was the keynote speaker speaking on the “Challenges for Today’s Professional Designers.”
The second meeting was May 3rd at Patricia Murphy’s Candlelight Restaurant. The Keynote speaker was Charlotte Liebler on “Color Consultation to leading fabric and wall covering Manufacturers.”
The third meeting was held at the Boca Del Mar Golf & Tennis Club and the keynote was William L. Pulgram, AIA, President, Assoicated Space Design, Inc. He spoke on the “interior environment and human behavior.
In December the Christmas party was held at the Omni Hotel where Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre installed the new officers and presented the presidential awards.
Board Members
William Andrews
Ray Boorstein
Charles Lehman
Robert Clark - Treasurer
Austin Bernstein
Industry Foundation Anita Gardner
Information collected by
ASID Florida South Chapter
September, 2009
1980 - 1981
1981 - 1982
William F. Andrews, FASID
1981 & 1982 ASID We had about 700 Professional & Associate Members at that time. I followed Peg Gorson as president.
Tasks and responsibility for doing ASID tasks seemed loosey-goosey at best when I came in, so I brought in a "Flow Chart" that showed clear lines of responsibility based on tasks. We went to V.P. of Industry Foundation, Programming, Membership and something else, I forget. Then we had board members that worked under the V.P.s to work on specific areas such as Industry foundation...new member recruitment. Programming would have gone like this, local programming, annual conference, C.E.U.s
By the way, The year before I brought the Univ. of Wisconsin professors down for the first CEU as a chapter. It was on lighting and held at FAU. Very well attended and far superior to most CEU programs. This was all day and I think part of the next day.
The BIG DEAL my first year as president was to pick Key West as our annual conference site for '81. WELL you would not believe the yells about how "industry" would not come down and how members would not drive that far etc. etc. Well we had Joan Spector as our PR agent and Steve Hefner and Ray Boorstein co-chair pulled off the most successful conference, held at Casa Marina, by a local chapter in the nation. That conference was talked about at the national board meeting and really put us on the map in "National's" eyes. Thank Steve Hefner. Steve also did our holiday party at the OMNI. Another "TOP DRAWER" event.
The next year we had the annual conference at a new downtown hotel...forget the name, right there on Biscayne & Dupont area. I forget all the board members but Janet Gable was my key support as she helped "cool the jets" of the older members who were not used to the young "out of the box" president. Charles Lehman was also on the board. He was great too. Bob Clark was always the treasurer. Quiet but consistent guy also an architect. Shelley Siegel was on the board maybe by '82. Lorraine Dunn-Glispin was a great person. No job was too small for her. She did so much of the grunt work; I don't think many appreciated her enough. Jean Sloan, Mellisa Luitgert and a man who worked at Robb & Stucky represented the West Coast. Three great people. Virginia Courtenay was on the board and served many years. A great friend as well as board member.
We got into licensing. Leslie Cheek helped me and then when I got in the legislature she worked the bill. By the way here is an ironic twist: My first committee meeting was the Professional Regulation Committee. The Democratic Chairman took up the first bill of the session for that committee...IT WAS OUR LICENSING BILL! The Chairman looked at me and said "you take this, you know this stuff" so with a senior Democrat, Fred Lippman of Hollywood, helped me move the bill in the House. I’ll never forget, he made the AIA lobbyist & our lobbyist go in a room. He said, I'm locking the door. You are not coming out till you agree on a bill. The rest was history, but boy year after year that AIA lobbyist gave me dirty stares when he saw me in the Capital. I used to stall some of the AIA stuff every now and then as years went on just to give him grief. When the Republicans took over they wanted to cut DBPR so I had to defend the logic of having licensing. One time a Republican Chairman talked about killing our license. Within 15 minutes of hearing that through the grapevine I was in his face
and the bill was pulled.
As an aside, when I first had to speak as President to our group my stomach was ready to "give it up" I carried a dramamine in my pocket for a year just in case. ASID gave me the opportunity to be a City Commissioner & Legislator by allowing me to be comfortable in the public eye. Being on the National Board of Directors was a great learning experience. I owe a lot to ASID.
Officers
William F Andrews, president, Delray Beach
Melissa B Luetgert, first vice president, Naples
John M Venters, second vice president, Pompano Beach
Chuck Neal, secretary, Naples
Charles Lehman, treasurer, Miami Beach
The Board of Governors
Bud Merle, Fort Lauderdale
Robert W. Clark, Miami
Jeanne M. Booth, Miami
Rosalind Merritt, Miami
Andrew Krecicki, Naples
Jean Sloan, Naples
Virginia Courtenay, Delray Beach
National Board Member 1980, 1983-86, 1988-89
National Treasurer, 1987
Personal recollections of
William F. Andrews, FASID
September, 2009
1982 - 1983
1983 – 1984
The Late
Melissa Bornquist, ASID
Chapter Administrator
Sandy Argow
The Board of Directors will continue to research the historical year of the late Melissa Bornquist, ASID.
1984 – 1985
1985 - 1986
Virginia W. Courtnay, FASID
Chapter Administrator
Sandy Argow
1986 - 1987
1987 – 1988
The Late
Bud Merle, ASID
Board Members
Leslie Cheek
Shelley Siegel
Mark Benson
Steve Hefner
Alene Workman
Chapter Administrator
Sandy Argow
The Board of Directors will continue to research the historical year of the late Bud Merle, ASID
1988 – 1989
1989 - 1990
Leslie E. Cheek, FASID
Chapter Administrator
Sandy Argow
1990 - 1991
John Venters, ASID
Chapter Administrator
Sandy Argow
The Board of Directors will continue to research the historical year of John Venters, ASID 1991 – 1992
Mary Jane Grigsby, FASID
1991-1992 was a time of economic slowdown. We were very pro-active and set up two "forums" to help the industry deal with this issue. First, the Presidents of all of the organizations started meeting every month to discuss and implement how we could work together to help the general design community. We also were a major player in the forming of an "Interior Design Marketing Council", made up of 3 designers, 3 showrooms, 1 design center rep, 1 manufactures rep, and 1 consumer. The goal was to raise funds to market the "value added" of interior design to the public. The entire design community came together to work on this.
The Florida South Chapter was also a part of the South Florida Coalition, a group made up of members of the 4 organizations with the goal of bringing state certified CEU's to Chapter members at reduced rates.
During this year designers of the chapter spearheaded the Palm Beach County AIDS Clinic re-do and helped re-model the public spaces of a HUD building for the Aging. Community service was always a part of chapter business.
We had 2 student chapters: Bauder College and the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale. Carl Donato spent countless hours of volunteer time helping in the office. Most of our fun this year came from a product show called "Design Spectrum", put on by the chapter and held for two days in June at the Broward County Convention Center. It was a huge undertaking and a great success.
All in all we had a fabulous board that worked hard, accomplished a lot and got along famously, for the most part.
Board: Board of Directors: Administrator:
Mary Jane Reeves (Grigsby) – President Jeffrey Browner Sandy Argow
Alene Workman – Pres-Elect Carl Donato
Florence Pion – Vice-Pres Jane Feldot
Joyce Shore - Vice-Pres Rodney Harrison
Roy Siegel - Vice-Pres H. Allen Holmes
Barbara Tartak - Vice-Pres Diana Kroll
Elizabeth Bishop – Secretary Jan Merle
Shelley Siegel – Treasurer Toni O’Neill
John Venters - Past-Pres Grenville Pullen
Michael Thomas
Personal recollections of
Mary Jane Grigsby, FASID
September, 2009
1992 - 1993
Alene Workman, FASID
Although I have been asked to write a few things about my term as chapter president I could probably write a book about the experiences, excitement and happenings in 1992-1993.
I loved being president of the South Florida Chapter. Personally it allowed me to grow and develop as a leader helped by the wonderful leadership programs offered to chapter members as I moved into board positions. As president I met and befriended amazing and dedicated designers and industry partners from our chapter and leaders in ASID throughout the United States at our national and regional gatherings, that remain friends today.
Many of the ASID national leadership I met as president went on, like me, to hold national positions in ASID. I was fortunate to be elected to the National Board for 2 years in 1994-1996 and found other chapter past president friends sitting there with me including some that went on to become ASID National Presidents including Roz Cama, Rita Guest, Gary Wheeler, Anita Baltimore, Bruce Brigham and others. (I can’t remember all).
During my chapter presidency there were many exciting, fun and fulfilling moments as well as monumental shifts happening within ASID.
The Washington DC blizzard of 1993 is part of national ASID history. For me and the other 49 chapter presidents, president-elects and ASID Headquarters staff attending a tumultuous national meeting in mid March to the discuss the divisive unification talks between ASID, IIDA (then IBD and ISID), ISP, IDEC and CFID, an unusual DC blizzard occurred outside that day, the hotel fire alarm went off and everyone escaped out of the huge hotel to be left standing and stranded in 4” of snow and freezing weather without their coats. No fire, thank goodness, but we all bonded and joined in a common historic event. Unification never went forward but that’s another story.
During my tenure, the chapter developed an extremely successful product show called Design Spectrum. With the extraordinary help of board member Jeffrey Browner, ASID and others, our chapter created the event hosted at the FT Lauderdale Convention Center. We were proud and amazed to raise over $40,000.00 in our second year. Our previously depleted budget was energized and helped to offer more services to our members.
We did amazing things during this time. With my help as president, we also established the Bud Merle Foundation and Award, to recognize an individual licensed interior designer who exemplified outstanding volunteerism in the design community, while displaying the overall highest quality of their interior design work and donated service to his or her community. Bud Merle was a past Florida South chapter president who had recently died and was clearly a person who demonstrated all of these qualities. The award was named in his honor.
I must say looking back that the most rewarding and fulfilling part of my presidency was what I gained as a person from the people I met. I was able to reach out, learn from others, make new and long lasting friends, and feel really good about my hard work and accomplishments.
As you can see, as the Sinatra song goes, “it was a very good year”.
Alene Workman, ASID, Pres
Shelley Siegel, ASID, Pres Elect
Vice Presidents
Jeffrey Browner, ASID
Roy Siegel, ASID
Joyce Shore, ASID
Toni O’Neal, ASID
Barbara Tarkak, ASID Treasurer
Elizabeth Bishop, ASID Secretary
Mary Jane Reeves, ASID Past Pres
Board
Janet Bishop, ASID
Michael Ellingwood, ASID
Jan Merle, ASID
Donna Overly,ASID
Patricia Salvant, ASID
Cheryl Wilson, ASID
Carl Donato, ASID
H Allen Holmes, ASID
Grenville Pullen, ASID
Stacy Straub, ASID
Michael Wirtz, ASID
Jack Furnari, IF
Students
Karen Krasny
Denise Zollo
Personal recollections of
Alene Workman, FASID
1993 - 1994
Shelley Siegel, FASID
Each year as the new chapter president is sworn in, they are excited to implement their agenda, spotlight the issues and programs that are closest to their own hearts and I was no different. Honored to join the 9 former Presidents who served the previous 14 years, I was ready to bring the chapter to all members, professional, associate (now allied practitioners), industry and students. I had envisioned educational programs, social events, a marketing plan to bring ASID designers and consumers together, and a healthy chapter treasury. With a strong board of 22 members, a relatively new chapter administrator and the support of many members who I proudly call friends, it seemed like nothing would stop us --- or so we thought.
At my very first board meeting as president, I was called out of the meeting for an emergency telephone call, only to learn that the IDAF representatives (designers from around the state) and the lobbyist representing us had filed the bill with legislature that was soon to become our Interior Design Practice Act. This legislative effort became a major focus for my administration and caused some of our plans to be set aside. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to Tallahassee to work with legislators telling the story of ASID and the interior design industry. This could only have happened with the support of my board and dedicated chapter members.
During my administration, my hard working board never lost sight of who we represented and continued to implement programs to serve our membership. Although many of my plans took the backseat to the legislative efforts, we continued to present educational programs (before continuing education was required) and worked with industry and students to bring ASID to consumers. The third annual Design Spectrum Conference, one of those events was a large success.
The most memorable event for me was a small brunch in the chapter office that my president-elect, past-president, and chapter administrator helped plan to honor our past presidents and ASID award winners. It took quite an effort to locate them all, but to be in that room and hear the stories they all had to tell was well worth the effort. I also had the privilege of presenting a life membership to Lillian Barber, ASID that day.
As each president learns from those before them, I hope that some of what happened in 1993-1994 helped those who held this important office in the following years. Nothing could have been accomplished without the help of my board:
President Elect Joyce Shore, ASID
Vice Presidents Carl Donato, ASID
David Landau, ASID
Frederick Sargent, ASID
Toni O’Neil, ASID
Treasurer Barbara Tartak, ASID
Secretary Lauraine Dunn-Glispin
Past President Alene Workman, ASID
National Board Member Mary Jane Reeves, ASID
Chapter Administrator Karen Gershkow
Board of Directors Janet Bishop, ASID
Michael Ellingswood, ASID
Barbara Courtney, ASID
Donna Overly, ASID
Patricia Salvant, ASID
Cheryl Wilson, ASID
Roy Siegel, ASID
Tui Pranich, ASID
Stacy Straub, ASID
Maura Taft, ASID
Industry Foundation Michael Shaeffer, IF
Student Representatives Maria Velazquez
Elizabeth Lindholm
Personal recollections of
Shelley Siegel, FASID
1994 - 1995
Joyce Shore, ASID
In reviewing some of our old newsletters this is a synopsis of my year as president. I did save the newsletters so if someone would like them, I would be willing to donate them
In 1994 we had a practice act for interior designers but there was no organization to represent our membership’s legislative interest in Tallahassee. A state wide meeting of all of the presidents of the design organizations (ASID North, ASID South, IBD North, IBD South, and ISID and IDG) was held and it was unanimously decided to restructure and support IDAF. With the new Interior Design Association Foundation in place the financial responsibility for legislative issues was to be handled in a fair and equitable manner. The monies would be raised through contributions from its members’ organizations, corporate underwriting and continuing education. The board of IDAF met on a regular basis to represent the professional members at rotating locations around the state
During the 1994-1995 year the board attempted to add new dimensions to ASID membership. A local referral program was established and Peer Tables were created to bring together small groups of ASID and IF members . Peer Tables were small groups of chapter members who built close alliances during a series of meetings designed to discuss business solutions to commonly shared problems
We were very fortunate to have our chapter develop a television program called” Blueprint for Interior Design.” We taped a 13 week series that was broadcast on WLRN (Cable Chanel 36 in Miami) and was a half hour long. Some of the topics discussed were: How to Select an interior designer, Life Span Design, Environmental Issues in Design and Lighting.
The first series was so successful that the television station asked us to expand the original shows. As a result 26 additional shows were planned. The new programs were an hour in length and after a topic was discussed viewers would call into the show to ask questions., The show format was one of a host and two guests and slides of the designers’ work was shown and discussed when no one was calling in
We also had a newspaper column in the Sun Sentinel called “Dr Design“ and the editor was Charlyne Varkonyi Schaub. The syndicated column ran once a month and readers would write in with questions . An ASID designer would then go to the reader’s home and solve the design problem There was a before and an after shot of the project. Some of the topics were ,” How to hang pictures and accessorize an entrance hall”, and” How to make a family room with 20’ ceilings warm and inviting”
We ended the year with the fourth annual Design Spectrum which was a very large trade show held at the Broward County Convention Center. There were exhibits, continuing education courses, and a cocktail party.
Joyce Shore President
Fred Sargent: President Elect
Donna Overly Vice President
Tui Pranich Vice President
Roy Siegel Vice President
Maura Taft Vice President
Lauraine Dunn- Glispin Secretary
Patricia Salvant Treasurer
Board of Directors:
Dalia Berlin, Barbara Cortney , Jane De Boe, Stephen Lloyd, Sonia
Longchamp, Elaine North, Toni O” Neil, Michael Saruski , and Gloria Lahoski
Shelley Siegel Past President
Martin Hershbein Industry Foundation Representative
Nominating Committee:
Janet Bishop, ASID; Carl Donato, ASID; Sandra Landers, ASID; Mary Jane Reeves, ASID; Leslie Cheek, ASID
Newsletter Editors: East Coast; Shelley Siegel, ASID, West Coast; Rita Caskey, ASID
Karen Freifeld Chapter Administrator
Personal recollections of:
Joyce Shore, ASID
1995- 1996
Fred Sargent, ASID
When I was asked to consider the Presidency of the Florida South Chapter ASID, I was happy to say yes. I had been President of the Michigan Chapter in 77-78 and looked forward to leading the Chapter. Our Board worked hard during the year 1996 and we also had a lot of fun. We developed monthly membership meetings and created a Design Magazine which featured our designers’ projects. We developed programs for the students in our locale and supported the interior design programs in our school with our design talent. Our Design Excellence Awards Program was extremely well planned and presented at Country Club in Boca Raton. Everyone pulled their own weight to produce a year of design oriented events for the benefit of our members. Joyce Shore was my mentor when I was President-Elect and I will never be able to thank her enough for the time and patience she devoted to preparing me for my reign. I am so fortunate to have had a Board of such quality and I have very vivid memories of that special year.
Personal recollections of
Fred Sargent, ASID
September, 2009
1996 - 1997
Patricia Salvant, ASID
Regarding the board size of ASID, when I was president, ASID mandated that the size of the board be reduced. Ours was the last board with a large number. We had 19 members plus a national director. I was president for the term of
1996 -1997. All of the records I had were lost after hurricane Wilma as they were in a public storage facility. Only this one directory survived.
I do recall some milestones during my years on the board (6). As treasurer for 2 years (actually 1 1/2 ) during the 2 previous years to serving as Pres Elect, I put the treasurer’s functions on computer the first year and during the second (which I served 1/2 term before becoming Pres Elect when Jan Merle resigned) I trained the office administrator to carry out the duties to insure that funds were accounted for in the same way each year with continuity, before that Treasurers each had their own "twist" on how they kept the checkbook and filed the numerous reports that ASID required. My husband (Jack) and I were responsible for bringing the program Quick Books to the attention of National and eventually they adopted it so that our records could be forwarded that way.
During the years that we hired a PR firm to promote FL. South we worked with Lynne Peterson and during Joyce Shores term, as co-chair of the PR Committee we produced a series of about 32 local television programs out of Miami Public TV. These were called Blueprint for Interior Design and we involved over 70 plus different ASID designers in these programs. These were live TV and featured a call in for viewer questions. I have a couple of tapes that I purchased for the episodes I appeared in with others, many of us did but I don't have a list of the participants. We were FIRST with the design programs on TV before all the other big ones!
You should contact Dalia Berlin about the Design Spectrum events which we did for 2 years, then weighing the monetary risk with ASID funds went to 4 table tops (Miami, Broward, Palm Beach, and Naples) which proved more profitable than the second Design Spectrum, and again involved more members and vendors.
As you might have guessed, one of our goals during some of the years that I served on the board was to involve more members and raise their appreciation of ASID member benefits and the public awareness of ASID. We also during those years had monthly programs with our industry foundation members as sponsors; depending on the topics, most of these were well attended. I think after my year there were not so many programs as it was not a priority of subsequent boards. I am very proud that after a hiatus of about 10 years our board forwarded Lauraine Dunn- Glispin’s name for medalist to National, and it was approved. She was recognized at our awards banquet that year. Sorry I can't offer more but you probably could contact the board members from my board for more information about their involvement in other events. I believe Carol Farkas and Astrid Rush were instrumental in keeping the ASID magazine going during my term of office. Jane DeBoe could fill you in on the smaller board size for her year in office.
During 1996 I had the opportunity as a member of the DCOTA designers to become involved in the 1996 summer games for the Olympic Village at Nova University. In putting together a team of designers they were of course all ASID members. Dalia Berlin, Pepe Calderin, and Elizabeth Lindholm, and myself. We designed two spaces for the Soccer athletes, one contained a mayor’s office, entry and press room and stage/gathering space for the functions, the other was the dining tent. I have a copy of the presentation booklet which we made to the committee to win the competition and complete the design. I will drop off a copy of the design booklet this Thursday when I am in Hollywood for a Dr. appt. As I recall we had a lot of fun, lot of work and a minuscule budget. Somewhere I probably have photos but I will have to go through a lot of pix to find them. If I come across I'll let you know.
Personal recollections of:
Pat Salvant, ASID
September, 2009
1997 – 1998
Jane DeBoe, ASID
1997-98 were very busy years with much going on. Those were the days when National flew pres & pres elect to meetings. Michael & I went to Seattle for a week for training and then National Conference. It was a great week of learning during which we spent one day at the Pilchuck School for Glass Art. What an incredible learning experience.
Our chapter hosted "La Casa Bell" designer's show house Feb 28-March 15. Designer's who participated in that event were:
Steering Committee:
Madeline Bronte ASID
Kevin J. Loy allied ASID
Dale Miller ASID
Joseph A. Mirable, ASID
Those who did rooms were:
Kevin J. Loy allied ASID - loft
Carol Farkas, ASID - Bedroom 4
Joseph A Mirable, ASID - Bedroom 3 (he was integral in getting this show house going)
Daphne Weiss ASID - Bedroom 5
Dale Miler, ASID & Maura Taft ASID - Master Bedroom
Jane DeBoe ASID - music room
Elaine Starling Baer ASID - & Rene Evans - Living Room
Madelaine Bronte, ASID - dining room
Steve Halpern, ASID - breakfast room
Mary Jane Reeves, ASID Family Room
Pat Reed, ASID - kitchen
Rebecca Kaweske, student member ASID & Suzanne MacPhail student member ASID - laundry room & powder room
Douglas Feldman, allied member ASID (yes, Doug was allied at that time) - Home Office
This was a lot of work for those who participated. I do not recall how much money it raised, but it did add to the treasury.
We ended the year with our chapter's first Annual Conference & Expo. There were many CEU offerings, great food, a fabulous expo & great participation by many of our chapter's then 1300 members. Ros Merritt, ASID was a huge part of the committee that planned the Conference, designing the brochure which was mailed out to all chapter members. That event was an unbelievable HUGE success--I can't say how delighted I was. And to see it continue for all of these years thrills me!
Pres - Jane DeBoe, ASID
Pres Elect - Michael Thomas, ASID
Treasurer - Pat Reed, ASID
Past Pres - Pat Salvant, ASID
Board of Directors:
Tom Auer, Allied ASID
Rebecca Kaweske, student chapter member
William Kobrynich ASID
Sonia Lise Longchamp, ASID
Rosiland Merritt, ASID
Marie-Josee Parise, Industry partner
Astrid Newton Rush, ASID
Michael Saruski, ASID
Personal recollections of:
Jane DeBoe, ASID
September, 2009
1998 – 1999
Michael Thomas, FASID
This was a very good but quiet year with nothing of real significance occurring during the twelve months– at least that is worth reporting for historical purposes.
It was a really compatible board with directors who worked thru the same issues as all chapter boards seem to do – getting members to realize and take advantage of the benefits of ASID membership. We faced the typical challenges of running a chapter, how to reduce overhead costs, and how best to use the office at DCOTA, since it was showing signs of wear. We began to tap into the emerging technologies of the time such as direct emails + automated fax blasts over traditional snail mail options. But very, very few members had computers at that time and believe it or not, not every chapter member had a fax machine. We upgraded the phone system and for the first time, the chapter had voice mail plus a fax machine on a dedicated line
The President served as newsletter editor since no one wanted the enormous task. So he not only wrote it, sold the ads but cut and pasted the master copy together before handing if off to the mail house. Very early in the fiscal year, the chapter administrator abruptly left, leaving leadership to put a temp in place from an employment agency while the search for a permanent replacement began. Before leadership could hire a new administrator, the temp absconded with chapter funds. The President-Elect, Carol and the Treasurer Pat aggressively sought law enforcement’s help and the temp went before a judge and off to jail. In the fourth month of the year, the leadership hired a gentleman named Peter who worked successfully with the President and was a huge support to the board directors for the remaining year.
Yes indeed, it was a very good year. Nothing much. Just volunteers with a passion to raise the waters for all boats.
1988-1999 Board of Directors
Michael Thomas, ASID, President
Carol Farkas, ASID, President-Elect
Jane DeBoe, ASID, Past President
Pat Reed, ASID, Treasurer
Mareen Bruner, Allied ASID, Director
John P. Cialone, Allied ASID, Director
Ted Stahl, ASID, Director
Sonia Lise Longchamp, ASID, Director
Bernadette V. Upton, ASID, Director
Lucy Anderson, Student Rep to the Board
Martin Herschbein, IP rep to the Board
Personal recollections of:
Michael Thomas, FASID
September, 2009
1999 – 2000
Carol Farkas, ASID
During my year as President, I had the great pleasure of planning the renovation of our ASID Chapter office at DCOTA. I also had the great good fortune of having a Board of Directors who really made it happen! Martha Puente, Bernadette Upton and Roy Siegel worked together on the project to create a really handsome and comfortable space for our design office and meeting space - as did many contributors. Our space was renovated and furnished largely through contributions of furniture, wallcoverings, flooring, etc., but perhaps the most important aspect of the change was that our office was the first Green chapter office in ASID. A unique and important accomplishment for 2000!
The memories of that year are rich - a Designer Evening program which provided our members’ interactive evenings with our Industry Partners on a weekly basis; an outstandingly successful Design Conference over a two and a half day weekend; a series of purely social member events -- the list goes on and on. The one overriding memory of that presidential year is one that always makes me feel happy - that of working with a dedicated group of volunteers who worked as one to achieve our chapter goals. I feel lucky to have worked with all of them- it was a great year.
Board of Directors:
President: Carol Farkas
Past President: Michael A. Thomas
Vice President: Janet Bishop
Treasurer: Carl Donato
Directors: Michael Rosenthal
Bernadette V. Upton
Donald Lilly
Martha Puente
Ted Stahl
John Cialone
Bill Kobrynich
Martin Hershbein
Personal recollections of:
Carol Farkas, ASID
September, 2009
2000- 2001
Janet Bishop, ASID
My year as President was a transition year due to the renovation of the ASID offices. Many board meetings were conducted outside of the office. By the end of my year we had successfully moved back into the office. Even though the end of the year concluded with the 911 event ASID continued moving forward with positive minds and into the future with the internet generation. The ASID conference that was held during this year was “Back to the Future,” our first ever green design conference that proved to be a successful event. In attendance and conducting seminars were such notables as Penny Bonda, Bob Kobit, Bernadette Upton and Will Spates.
President Janet Bishop
Past President Carol Farkas
President-Elect Bill Kobrynich
Treasurer Roy Siegel
Secretary Emeritus Lauraine Dunn-Glispin
Director, Education Donald Lilly
Director, Marketing Martha Puente
Director, Program/Publications Michael Rosenthal
Director, Legislation Sandi Samole
Director, Events Monique Ogilvie
Director, membership Zalo Lopez-Garzon
Industry Partner Representative Jim Blanz
Student Chapter Representative J. Michael Ray
Chapter Administrator Peter Lorenz
Personal recollections of
Janet Bishop, ASID
September, 2009
2001 – 2002
Bill Kobrynich, ASID
It is a privilege and honor to have been entrusted to serve as President of ASID for 2001-2002. I looked forward to working with our existing administration, the new board of Directors and our new in-coming President Roy Siegel to serve the membership of our society. ASID has achieved several accomplishments over the past year in advancing interior design, education and scholarship and has brought our mission to the attention of the profession and members of industry.
The tireless efforts of our membership, the board and the leadership of the past presidents are starting to bear fruit and cement the idea of ASID as an organization not just representing a design position in the community, but as an organization willing to take on a leadership role in understanding critical issues of culture, design and the profession at large.
As designers, ASID members have the knowledge and the understanding to assemble what has occurred in the past and how it is likely to affect our future.
We had the communication means and skills, access, to the vehicles to develop and distribute vital research not just for the health, safety and comfort to our societies inside buildings. But for the advancement of ideas and the education of those that follow. We must continue this path and pursue a professional leadership position.
As Past President, I would like to thank the many ASID members who helped me during my 2001-2002 year!
I enjoyed representing such a fine and respected organization. I was incredibly honored to have worked closely with so many of you. It was a very fulfilling experience for me---Personally and Professionally!
In conclusion, my year as President was an experience I will treasure always and the friendships I’ve made are worth every minute of hard work.
I THANK YOU ALL for the OPPORTUNITY!
Officers
William A. Kobrynich President
Roy Siegel President-Elect
Janet Bishop Past President
Board of Directors
Gregg Love Education Chair
Steven M Hefner Marketing/Communications Chair
Jacqulyn Yde Programs/Publications Chair
Zalo Lopez-Garzon Membership Chair
Monique Ogilvie Events Chair
Jim Blanz Industry Partner Personal recollections of:
Lauraine Dunn–Glispin Secretary Emeritus William A. Kobrynich, ASID
Gulcin Okcur Student Representative September, 2009
Peter Lorenz Chapter Administrator
2002 - 2003
Roy Siegel, ASID
It was a year of change, during my year we were settling in the newly renovated office in DCOTA.
On the National level it was a time when the National leadership of ASID and IIDA were on again, off again with talks of unification. As you know it did not happen.
As with every board we struggled with the budget and always focused on getting timely information to the Membership and to increase Member participation. With that in mind we negotiated with Diversified Publishing & Design and created “Professional Designer” This quality of member news magazine was the first of its kind in the National organization.
We held the “First Annual Midnight Affair Awards” which was collaboration with ASID, IIDA, IDAF, IFDA, IDGF, The Bud Merle Foundation and Dacra. It was held at the old Moore Building on 40th Street, “What a fabulous event!”
My last change was to dismiss our Chapter Administrator, Peter, and hired Lana Meadows as our new Administrator.
None of these changes, and I hope for the better, could not have happened with the support and hard work of my Board of Directors. We worked so well together.
Roy Siegel, ASID President
William Kobrynich, ASID Past President
Bernadette Upton, ASID President Elect
Donald Lilly, ASID Treasurer
Gregg Love, ASID
Alexandra Karram, ASID
Jacqulyn Yde, ASID
Steven Hefner, ASID
Douglas Feldman, ASID
Cheryl Wilson, ASID
Lauraine Dunn-Glispin, ASID
Jonathan Gegerson, Industry Partner
Personal recollections of:
Roy Siegel ,ASID, CBC, Leed AP
September, 2009
2003 - 2004
Bernadette V. Upton, FASID
It was the year we introduced the new Professional Designer magazine. Formerly we had a Design Flash Newsletter, and it reached approximately 18-20 pages, so it was time for a magazine. Although Professional Designer has gone through a few changes since then it is still our main chapter publication for all of our news.
The editor-in-chief and communications director was Rhonda Grammer, ASID who did a phenomenal job. She dedicated far too many hours every month and just before deadline would pull all nighters! I believe this driving force single handedly was the impetus for its success. When she rotated off the board two years later we knew it would be a challenge to find someone to fill her shoes.
This was also the year of the beginning buzz of “Green Design”. How fortunate for me that green design was finally catching on and I was in a position to encourage this new aspect of design. I was a founding member of the ASID Sustainable Design Council since 2001, and our groundbreaking work was beginning to take shape.
The highlight of our year was in Savannah, at our National Conference when three of our chapter members received Fellowships. This was an indication of our chapter’s commitment to excellence. Leslie Cheek, FASID, Shelley Siegel, FASID, and Michael Thomas, FASID were the three recipients.
The entire year was eventful because it was the 25th Silver Anniversary of our chapter’s existence. In celebration we dedicated the Professional Design cover to all our Past President’s and our Member Directory cover to all of our Fellows.
My Board of Directors were absolutely the best and made my year as President most worthwhile. I will always be grateful to them and all the ASID FSC members for giving me the opportunity to serve as their President.
Bernadette Upton – President Alexander Karram – Events Director
Rhonda Grammer - Communications Director Steve Heffner - Treasurer
Theresa Bartolo - Director at Large Donald Lilly – President Elect
Jonathan Gegerson - Industry Partner Rep Yemi Bryan – Student Rep to the Board
Cathleen Saraduke - Membership Director Lana Meadows, Administrator
Tamara Tennant - Education Director Cheryl Wilson – Marketing, West Coast
Roy Siegel - Past President Douglas Feldman – Marketing, East Coast
Lauraine Dunn-Glispin – Acting Sec’y Emeritus
Personal recollections of:
Bernadette V. Upton, FASID
September, 2009
2004 - 2005
Donald W. Lilly, ASID
Our Chapter membership continued to grow and we became the largest Professional and Allied membership in the country, as well as the second largest student membership.
Professional Designer magazine, which had been created during Bernadette Upton's term, continued to expand and evolve into the model for many other chapters. A great deal of thanks again to everyone who helped to make this such a huge success!
The new chapter website was created with the help and input from everyone on the board. It became the best ASID website in the country.
Continued success with our product expos, real estate expos, student career days, and designer evenings.
Annual Conference held at the Boca Raton Resort and Club on Sept. 30th, with our 2nd. Annual Golf Tournament held the day before as the kick-off event. All proceeds of the Tournament helped to support the American Lung Association as well as our ASID Florida South Chapter Student Scholarship Program.
It was a privilege and an honor serving you as your President for 2004/2005, I was very fortunate to have such a diverse and selfless board of directors, Member's at Large and Volunteers.
The support and participation of our Florida South Chapter, at all levels of membership, is what continues to propel us to this tremendous level of success and growth.
Administrator: Lana Meadows
Personal recollections of
Donald W. Lilly, ASID
September, 2009
2005 - 2006
Steven M. Hefner, ASID
October, 2005 marked the beginning of a new ASID chapter model with an eight member board organized around areas of functional responsibility. This new chapter governance structure was devised to provide a more effective way to serve the needs of all members and broaden opportunities for member involvement.
The “New” chapter web site was designed so well and with so much forethought that it was the best ASID chapter web site in the country.
A special segment of our chapter’s new web site was created as the weekly “New News” newsletter which provided via email to members the latest information as it became available that pertained to our chapter and our profession. This was the forerunner to the email blast that the chapter is using today.
The chapters News Magazine continued to grow and became more informative thanks to the tremendous efforts of its editor and the volunteers that spend countless hours putting it together. We produced the most professional chapter news magazine in the country and it became the model for several other chapters.
Our chapter co-sponsored an ASID showhouse with the American Lung Association and the 2nd Annual Conceptual Design Competition was sponsored by Baylights. The first USGBC / LEED Standard Green / Environmentally friendly multi-family condominium in South Florida.
We opened a chapter satellite office at the International Design Center in Naples.
We sponsored the Interior Design Excellence Award and the “Event of the Year” was held at DCOTA with the MC being Tommy Tune. It was very successful and had over 500 attendees.
The historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables was the sight of the Chapters Annual Conference and Expo. Again, another sold out event for the chapter due to all of the hard work of the Board members and the Committee members.
A West Coast Product Expo and Mini-CEU Conference was also a sell out and extremely well attended.
DCOTA was sold to the Cohen Brothers in the fall of 2005 and under the new ownership the ASID office lost its favorable status for only $1.00 per year rent. The new owner’s were not as favorable to the chapter.
Lana Meadows resigned her position of many years as the Chapter Administrator the end of March 2006. Carmen Taylor became the new chapter administrator in April 2006.
Comedy, pranks and good spirits were provided by the team of Douglas Feldman and Martin Hershbein; Maxine Corbett showed us how poise, grace and elegance work under stress; Zenaida Espinosa brought us the educational view point and was then consumed by its demands; Daniel Giordano provided the board with his generous helping hands and quiet strength; while the newbie Susan Morgan hit the ground running and became the “Can-Dobie”. Our student rep, Yemi Bryan, whose Latin soul and refreshing enthusiasm kept the board informed of what was coming with the new wave of young designers.
Personal recollections of:
Steve M. Hefner, ASID
September, 2009
2006/07
Douglas Feldman, ASID
The achievements during my tenure as ASID FSC president were due to the hard work from the numerous members and volunteers throughout our chapter. I must thank my board for making that year one of the most successful in our chapter’s history; L. Maxine Corbett, Susan Morgan, Pam Durkin, Martin Hershbein, Daniel Giordano, Mayda Zayas-Bazan, Luis Monzon and Lisa Cornell.
We started our year by traveling to Washington DC for CLC training. Any rumors of Hawaiian shirts, team building exercises, and a great time will remain with the board.
The rumors of our hard work and new friendships did allow us the opportunity to begin discussing new programs and ideas based on the strategic plan for the coming year.
Our goal to broaden our objectives saw the name change of the chapter magazine from “Professional Designer” to “Professional Design”. In this way the chapter became more inclusive of all ASID members; designers, IP’s and students. We also introduced issues that would highlight specific groups within the chapter as a way of introducing them to the entire membership. The board also made an effort to be more responsible to the entire membership by instituting the “Design Community” model. The communities included three on the east coast, two on the west coast, one for students, and one for IP’s. I am very proud to continue to see the continuing success of these communities. It was the goal of our board to better represent and be more inclusive of our expansive chapter. The seed that was started by this board is still very evident today by its volunteers and successful events throughout the chapter.
Our year also saw the transition in Chapter Administrator from Carmen Taylor to Jeff Gillis. Jeff had worked for DCOTA and for industry showrooms. As we have all learned his dedication to the ASID FSC membership has created a truly exemplary chapter.
Personal recollections of:
Douglas Feldman, ASID
September, 2009
2007 – 2008
L. Maxine Corbett, ASID
On Friday, September 28, 2007 the following 2007- 2008 ASID, Florida South Chapter Board of Directors and Community Leaders were installed during The 2007 Annual Installation and Design Excellence Awards Reception. The event took place at 7 PM in The Immokalee Room at The Naples Beach Hotel in Naples, Florida.
2007-2008 ASID Florida South Chapter Board of Directors
Maxine Corbett, ASID President
Jeffery Gillis, Chapter Administrator
Susan Morgan, ASID Pres. Elect
Emilio Sadez, IP Finance
Mayda Zayas-Bazan, ASID Membership
Pam Durkin, ASID Professional Development Director
Pamela Willis, IP then Cherie Montanez, IP Communications Director
Trisha Estabrook, ASID Member at Large
Luis Monzon, SRB
Florida South Chapter Design Communities leaders:
Harriet Aronson, ASID, Jupiter (representing North –Northeast
Shelley Seigel, FASID, Lake Worth (representing Mid - Northeast)
Jane DeBoe, ASID, Boca Raton (representing Central East)
Dahlia Berlin, ASID, Miami (representing Southeast)
Lynn Stambouly, IP, Fort Myers (representing Northwest)
Gaile Dorio, ASID, Naples (representing Southwest)
Martin Hershbein, IP (representing Industry Partners)
Luis Monzon, Student Member (representing Student Members)
Douglas Feldman, ASID Nominating Committee
Douglas Feldman, ASID IDAF Rep
ASID Florida South Chapter acquired and furnished second administrative 178 sq. ft. private office space gratis from International Design Center located in Estero, Florida.
ASID, FL South Chapter 2008 STUDENT CAREER DAY, attracting students from design schools and universities around the State of Florida for a day of enlightenment. The year’s Student Career Day was titled, “Under the Umbrella of Design” The event was held Thursday, January 31, 2008 in Atrium B at DCOTA. Our keynote speaker, Mario Echeverria, Principal of Echeverria Design Group presented: “Contract Design- Designing Businesses with Purpose”
Martin Hershbein, IP received the 2008 Industry Partner Merit Award during Interiors 08 in New Orleans, LA. The Merit Award is the highest Industry Partner Award bestowed by the American Society of Interior Designers. It is given to those Industry Partner representatives elected to Merit status in accordance with guidelines adopted by the ASID Board of Directors.
2008 ASID, FSC West Coast Mini Conference, Product Show, and Student Career Day including all three Florida chapters.
FL South Chapter’s West Coast ASID STEP classes added to our roster of STEP classes. Location: International Design Center located in Estero, Florida.
First Real World Design Week. October 19 - 25, 2008.This event existed exclusively for ASID student members with the active participation of ASID Professional Members, Allied Members and Industry Partner members and was launched simultaneously nationwide in every ASID chapter
Personal recollections of:
L. Maxine Corbett, ASID
September, 2009
2008 - 2009
Susan Morgan, ASID
Thankfully no hurricanes but the economy had a strangle hold on South Florida and our industry. We saw many friends of our industry businesses close, downsize and move. Many designers were laid off, moved their business to their homes or even out of the state or changed careers. The price of gasoline for a while was over $4.00 per gallon. The stock market tanked, General Motors filed bankruptcy, and Bernie Madoff went to prison. The population was actually decreasing as many fled the state. Foreclosures and short sales were the norm and the housing market ceased to exist. On the streets you saw For Lease and For Sales signs on every block. Stimulus packages were given to big corporations and banks. The first African American President Barack Obama becomes the 44th President of the United States
The economy took a toll on the Board, as 3 positions became vacant and needed to be filled. As a board we decided our chapter is too large to have a board of 8 and created 2 additional director positions of At Large and reinstated the past Presidents position. We subdivided the communities even more to create closer nucleus’ for more members to be able to attend. We invited community leaders and student chapter presidents to our Board of Director meeting. We created a new website that members could be featured on with links to their websites.
HQ had “Interiors” at NeoCon for the first time and it’s last CLC in Cincinnati. Talks with IIDA came and went again. HQ announced that it could no longer defend the term “Interior Designer” as many states lost the language in their statues.
The Institute of Justice (IJ), Interior Design Protection Council (IDPC), National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) and others took aim on Florida licensing and filed a law suit in Federal Court. The year was busy defending the profession as the grass roots began to march. With the support of IDAF we were able to be included in the Florida Building Codes as being able to sign and seal drawings for non load bearing commercial interior work although the AIA is fighting it.
Sustainable design finally was seen as the future to making any green ($$$) and finally not seen as just a trend. Green is here to stay and classes and events were held by every organization. Our chapter partnered with the Sustainable Furnishings Council and offered certification classes to our members.
One of our goals was to give value to all of our membership, whether practitioner, industry partner, or student and where ever they were located in the chapter. We had four Industry Appreciation evenings, four holiday parties and member evening all over our region. We had two state wide Student Career Days, one at DCOTA and one at IDC that the North and West chapters participated in with us. We took the ASID brand on the road and participated in the Florida Green, Energy & Climate Conference/Expo at the Palm Beach Convention center, MiaGreen at the Miami convention center, and HD Boutique.
Our own Bernadette Upton became a fellow and Michael Thomas, FASID was nominated to be President Elect on the National level. Douglas Feldman, ASID became the President Elect of IDAF. Mary Jane Grigsby, FASID became a board member of NCIDQ.
Since the board had been made smaller starting October 2005 we realized we were losing history. We also discovered there was no permanent archive of history in the office. One of my goals was to recreate the history of our chapter and to share the remarkable history of our society, the industry and the pioneers we should know and be grateful too.
We ended the year with our 30th anniversary celebration at the Ritz Carleton in Naples. We had classes, keynotes lunch, product expo, cocktail reception, a live auction, live band, Hall of Fame recipients, Design Excellence Awards (22), networking and fun.
It was indeed a busy and memorable year. As those of us who continue to volunteer know – the rewards are great and the experiences valuable!
Susan Morgan, ASID, CAPS, LEED AP President
Pam Durkin, ASID, LEED AP President Elect
Trisha Estabrook, ASID, CAPS, LEED AP Professional Development
Emilio Sadez, IP Financial Director
Nancy DeSantis, ASID Member at Large
Alex Matamoros, ASID Member at Large- East
Julie Leufvenius, Allied ASID Member at Large-West
Staci Ziccardi, IP Communications Director
Carol MacMartin, Student Student Representative
Bobb Hipps, Allied ASID Membership Director
Jeffrey Gillis Chapter Administrator at DCOTA office
Community Leaders
Carol MacMartin, student representing students (chapter wide)
Martin Hershbein, IP representing Industry Partners (chapter wide)
Harriet Aronson, ASID representing the Treasure Coast
Deborah Hiltzer, Allied ASID representing N. Palm Beach
Donna Sloan, Allied ASID representing S Palm Beach
Tracy Hammonds, student representing Central East
Irene Resptrepo representing South East
Diane Fornell, Allied ASID representing Miami downtown to Keys
Jacqueline Drake, ASID representing South West (Collier County
Lynne Stambouly, IP representing North West (Charlotte, Lee & Hendry)
Personal recollections of Susan Morgan, ASID, September, 2009
Pam Durkin (2009-2010)
Trisha Estabrook (2010-2011)
Nancy DeSantis (2011-2012)
