One of the coolest things about my job is that I get to see all the crazy and interesting people who for one reason or another want to come visit Savannah.
One such group of crazy people, the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) decided to hold their board meeting here. If youve never heard of the IDSA, dont worry but listen. The IDSA IDEA Awards are like the Oscars of design. Ask any SCAD student worth his or her retro-80s punk jeans the IDEA awards are it.
The new president of the organization, Frank Tyneski is about as big a bad-ass as you can get in the design community. The dude has more than 50 domestic and foreign patents and was Director of Design Integration at Canadas Research in Motion (RIM you know, the makers of the beloved crackberry) and led the design efforts on the Blackberry 7100 series (the one with the small two-letter-per-button style keyboard predecessor to the Pearl.) We got to hang with him for dinner recently, and hes definitely a cool cat.
(left: IDSA Southern Conf. flier, right: The Butlers pimptastic pad (pic courtesy of Attic Fire)
At any rate, we got wind of this and decided it was the least we could do to throw them a schmoozy cocktail reception. After all, we are in Savannah and thats what Savannians do. We thought wed do it with a twist however and host it at one of Savannahs most schizophrenic homes: Malcolm and Julia Butlers, on Gaston. I use the schizo reference lovingly and only because from the outside, it looks like just another beautiful Savannah historic home but when you walk in the door youre bombarded with one of the coolest and funkiest interior design jobs in town. It reminded me more of some swanky NYC penthouse than anything else and it was well, it was stylish, quirky and funky. Our kind of place. The kind a SCAD furniture or industrial design major would wet their pants over.
Just as we hoped, the board members matched the interior a funky, eclectic and brilliant bunch, they came from as far off as California and as close to home as Alabama. The funky bunch mixed and mingled with our brightest stars and biggest cheerleaders to help us expand the traditional perceptions of hospitality, and express our progressive entrepreneurialism and the idea of Savannah as an ideal business destination. Many collaborations came out of this reception, including another visit to Savannah for their Regional conferences and were working on more. (They held the IDSA Southern District Conference March 6-8th at SCADs River Club. We sponsored the IDEA Awards reception.)
We always think these kinds of things are a GREAT thing for Savannah. Smart, progressive, sophisticated and tolerant folks flooding the city with their big brains and worldly experiences AND better yet, carrying Savannah warm-fuzzies back to wherever they came from is always a good things for economic development and the community in general.
Anyway, just a reminder that cool, creative and meaningful connections happen here every day.
P.S. And were always grateful when folks like the Butlers lend us a hand by showing us their down-home Savannah (funky) hospitality. Thanks to everyone whos done the same you know who you are!
Our apologies for the comments being closed…we got hacked over the weekend and for some reason WordPress closed comments on this post. We’ll be keeping an eye on it, but in the meantime, comment away!
Fitz, make sure you upgrade to Version 2.3.3 ASAP
The Butler’s, among others, offered a fantastic introduction for this group to Savannah and all we have to offer. I hope we’ll be seeing more of them soon!
Thanks, Nick! That should do the job…pesky spammers. Grrr.
I can attest to the wonderful event and hospitality by the Butler’s! Did you know though that one of the Board members lives right here in Savannah ; ) She is the Southern District VP….and yes, she plans to help spearhead more design events of this caliber here in the SAV!
Thanks for pointing that out, Heather – We certainly could not have pulled this off without the work of you and Brynn Grant from SEDA! Your dedication to bringing IDSA groups, small and large, to Savannah is much appreciated!
Whoa…I had no idea. Sounds like a cool event and a neat organization.
BTW…looked up Mr. Tyneski. DAMN…would love to spend a day pickin’ his brain. (P.S. I’ve still got my blackberry 7100…still works as good as ever, although I must admit I’d love to get my hands on one of them snazzy Pearls.)
I think it is important to note that we didn’t just “get wind of it.” We actively solicited this group. We learned about them last spring when they hosted their conference in Charleston and had been looking for ways to connect since then. Interestingly enough, I saw an old friend Michelle Berryman at my high school reunion in October and learned that she happened to be the national pres of the org (and longtime personal friend of Georgia Tech Savannah President David Frost). What a small world! They were considering Asheville as the location for their late January board meeting but booked Savannah instead. So the whole deal was not completely by chance… though it surely evolved in an unexpected way.
The real point though is that this industry represents the kind of businesses, the kind of thinking and the kind of people that we want more of in Savannah, the melding of creativity and technology into tangible reality. Many of its members have been or are currently associated with SCAD and Georgia Tech as students or as faculty. Being home to both further expands Savannah’s appeal in major ways.
There are a lot of locals involved in building this relationship between IDSA and Savannah Heather Bailey, Victor Ermoli, Scott Tobin, Julia Butler, Scott Center, Jim Goodlet, Hannah Meurer, Lynn Pitts and Chuck Stallworth, to name just a few. Sincere thanks to all. It is still early, but the opportunities seem endless. Well keep stoking the fire.
Oh! And Frank Tyneski is quite a rock star in the design field, but he is also one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.
I knew I would forget someone if I started naming names. Thanks Jamie Wolf and Leigh Lawless for all you have done to get the IDSA ball in the air and keep it in play!
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