October 25, 2017

Hospitality Giants 2017 Take Over Seattle

Interior Design’s Hospitality Giants summit, an annual meeting of the top design firms and manufacturers in the sector, concluded today. Over 100 guests traveled to Seattle for discussions about the state of the industry and design-minded adventures in the Emerald City.

The festivities began at the Thompson Seattle, where editor in chief Cindy Allen provided the welcoming remarks and introduced guest speaker Tom Kundig. The Interior Design Hall of Fame member and Olson Kundig principal designed the Thompson, the attendees’ home base for the conference. After a conversation about Seattle’s design scene, guests attended a cocktail reception at the North Nest, the hotel’s rooftop lounge.

Monday provided a packed day of talks and excursions. Cindy kicked off the day, leading a panel with Huxley Wallace Collective, a restaurant group that runs hot spots Westward, Great State Burger, and Scout. Next, Cindy interviewed artist Malcolm Hill, who was the contract muralist for Barney’s New York for 12 years and has created murals across the globe. Cindy also spoke to multi-media artist Windy Chien, whose session included an interactive knot-tying exercise based on her latest work, The Year of Knots.

After the morning sessions, the guests all boarded buses and were whisked away to a private tour and lunch at Chihuly Garden and Glass, a permanent exhibition of the famed glassblower Dale Chihuly’s work. This was followed by a build-your-own-pendant activity hosted by Seattle-based lighting design company LightArt. Designers gave LightArt conceptual designs before traveling to the seminar and then assembled their creations on site. The Seattle Cider Co. provided a tasting menu during the event.

Dinner on the second night was held at the award-winning RN74, a cozy French-American restaurant designed by AvroKO. The warmly hued subway tiles and plush leather couches provided a comfortable reprieve from the damp chill of the Seattle air.

Before returning home to their respective cities, attendees gathered one last time on day three. The day began with a talk given by Interior Design publisher Carol Cisco on the business of design. Cisco then passed the mic over to managing editor Helene Oberman and Julie Benezet, author of The Journey of Not Knowing: How 21st Cenutry Leaders Can Chart A Course Where There Is None. A seasoned leadership consultant, Benezet takes her foundational knowledge of both business and law to prepare today’s leaders to navigate the changing landscape of 21st-century commerce and technology.

A very special thanks to our sponsors for making Hospitality Giants possible: Sunbrella, Valley Forge Fabrics, Interface Hospitality, Shaw Contract, Artistic Tile, Aceray, LightArt, Emuamericas, Silver State Textiles, Preciosa, Kinon Surface Design Inc., Lexmark Carpet Mills, Kravet Contract, Ann Sacks Tile & Stone, RH Contract, Cosentino, Fabric Innovations, Design Within Reach, Durkan Hospitality, Florim, Montague, Craftmade/Woodard, Phillip Jeffries, and Janus et Cie.

Check out our roundup of Instagram highlights from the event and follow #idgiants for more from the conference and our past events. 

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