Overcast, with Intervals of Sun

Cindy Allen -- Interior Design, 10/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Yes, as I sit at my desk with my Apple, computer not golden delicious, the calendar says October, but the weather still feels like September back-to-school. And there finally seems to be a school to go back to—we are perhaps in business again. (Cross your fingers. Knock on wood.)

The global financial markets appear relatively stable after a climb, and some of our larger firms, on the tail of that news, are rumored to be doing quite well abroad. Here in the U.S., the (great) depression in real estate has been downgraded to a mild malaise, with many regional markets now steadily on the mend. Most important for all of us in the design profession is the word that some firms are actually hiring—though picture a trickle, not a Mississippi flood. I heard these positive stories with my own ears, from unimpeachable sources, during the series of interviews that I customarily piggyback onto my fall Hall of Fame video shoots.

Speaking of which, the 25th annual Hall of Fame gala dinner on December 2 promises to be the bright spot that everyone deserves as we celebrate the silver anniversary of the union between our magazine and the whole design world. New York's Tony Chi and Vladimir Kagan, Chicago's Nick Luzietti of VOA, Leo Marmol and Ron Radziner from L.A., and the Gensler team worldwide have been chosen by our community as the 2009 icons of the business of design. My heartfelt congratulations go out to the honorees. To the rest of you, I say: Be there, or be verrrry square.