The Northwest Region ROCKS!
Greetings to all of our AIFD members and guests as your President I would like to welcome you.
This “family” we call AIFD stands for many different things to many different people. To me, AIFD is a standard of excellence in floral design, camaraderie between fellow floral designers, and a pathway for future growth. In this new information age, we can instantaneously see each others work and share in each others lives, exemplified by Facebook, Twitter, email, texting cell phones, remote downloads, You Tube, just to name a few. Almost instantaneous communication and data transfer has intertwined our lives unlike any other time in history. I challenge all fellow AIFD designers to make use of these tools and share the Art of Floral Design, to push excellence to a higher level, never before seen. We as AIFD florist are at the point, leading the way to validate floristry as an art and vocation that is respected and rewarded both financially and extrinsically.
Our region is leading the way in education. Paul Jaras AIFD held a hand on design seminar in Boise Idaho, September 2009, in conjunction with the Idaho State Floral Association, and sponsored by LW Flowers. There were approximately 20 florists attending including several from a local high school. Our entire board was involved teaching and demonstrating. Our program, “The Extreme Design Makeover,” demonstrated how to take the basic materials the students used and add low cost items such as branches found in the yard, chicken wire, stems, and then creatively add them to the composition for maximum impact.
Several of our board members recently competed in the Sylvia Cup and the California Top Ten Design competitions. Lets all give special recognition for Gerry Gregg AIFD who place 2nd at CTTD and Toni Chow Tibbets AIFD who placed 4th. Kudos to all who participated and put their design styles on display for all to see. This is what AIFD encourages. Share your talents and time and don’t be afraid to take risks.
Northwest AIFD region is in the process of setting up a special design seminar with the popular Tomas De Bruyne from Belgium this spring. Keep checking and we will let you know about this program as it develops. We are looking at several locations across the region, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver BC. Stay Tuned!
David and Leanne Kessler AIFD are the Symposium Chairpersons for Symposium 2011. We are on a countdown everyone. Now is the time to get involved! “IMAGINE,” Dream, Create, & Share…our mantra: imagine, dream, create and share…
Communication is very important to any organization. Please feel free to contact me or any board member with your questions or comments. Remember this is your region. It takes “U” to make it work.
Respectfully in your service,
Mike Hollenbeck AIFD
President NWAIFD
