Recap of Day 3: Academy for Planners + Designers

Day 3 was the final day of our Academy, and it was another full day of valuable education for attendees. We began the day with Tara Guerard's class on 'Spatial Planning' and her southern charm surely won everyone over. Between all the great knowledge we obtained from her, we got some good laughs as well! She really tells it like it is, and everybody loved her sense of humor.

The first panel was focused on the important relationship between photography, event design, and editorial. Gene Higa and Catherine Hall represented the photography aspect, Youngsong Martin of Wildflower Linen represented event design, and the lovely Grace Ormonde represented editorial. It was an interesting mix of personalities that came together to teach us the essence of getting your work published in magazines.

The second panel was made up of our uber talented designers for the Design Showcase at The Academy--Asiel Design, Grant & Co., Nancy Liu Chin Designs, and Tara Guerard. Each of them were given a small meeting room at The St. Regis to transform and they all pulled it off in their own unique, spectacular way. The styles were dramatically different, and it definitely inspired our attendees! We invited them to talk about their individual showcases, so that we could understand the inspiration behind the design as well as the production process.

At the end of the day, we concluded with a final class on Food & Wine, taught by Ethan Mantle of Componere Fine Catering and Henry Wine Group. Ofcourse, what's a food and wine class without an actual tasting? We got to enjoy some really creative bites from Ethan, paired with just the right wine and champagne from Henry Wine Group. As a farewell, attendees left with 'Nitro Ice Cream' made to order with -320 degree liquid nitrogen!

It was too hard to say good bye to the new friends we've made, so we had to have one more drink together! Credo, a new hip bistro in the heart of the financial district in San Francisco, hosted a Happy Hour for our attendees. As sad as we were to see everything come to an end, we also knew it was just the beginning for something extraordinary......

Photos by Orange Photography