October General Meeting By Cynthia Prizant, Allied ASID 2014-2015 Programs Co-Chair
For our October 15th kick-off meeting, RSSA Home Improvement Center welcomed designers and industry partners into their brand new 26,000 square foot showroom for a sneak preview of their fabulous line-up of home appliances and fixtures. Ali Allahbakhshi and his family, owners of RSSA, arranged for a tasty Italian buffet catered by Roma d’Italia, complete with a variety of specialty pastas, salads, sausage bread and an array of scrumptious desserts.
New President, Gigi Harris, introduced the 2014-2015 board and enlightened members on the events and activities that she and her team have
Farrah E. Smith, Allied ASID, CID; Liza Hausman- Guest Speaker from HOUZZ; Miko Krisvoy, Allied ASID; Celeste Lehmann , IP Member, Representative from Cambria Stone
planned for the new fiscal year. Chairs for Charity will be revived this year, and Ronald McDonald House has been designated as our chosen charity. Gigi also announced the establishment of a new committee, iDOD (Interior Designers Open Dialogue) mentorship program, co-chaired by Julie Mataya and Sonya Zamora. iDOD will create a place where every ASID OC member, whether they are students, emerging professionals or seasoned designers, can exchange knowledge and ideas to help one another grow towards excellence.
Our CEU presentation for the evening was delivered by Liza Hausman, Vice President of Community and Industry Marketing at Houzz. Liza shared current industry trends, including plans and budgets for home remodeling based on a survey of nearly 200,000 respondents. She also addressed how to best set up a professional profile on Houzz and thereby
Syna Allahbakhshi - RSSA; Ranna Allahbakhshi _RSSA; Ray Allahbakhshi President, RSSA, Host; Ali Allahbakhshi CEO, RSSA, Showroom Manager; Sylvia Allahbakhshi, Host
increase exposure of one’s business on the platform.
Throughout the evening, members were enticed to expand their horizons with a fun “Meet Someone New” activity that offered an opportunity to win the grand prize of the evening – a lovely basket of wine accoutrements donated by Cambria. Other raffle prizes included gift cards to Target, Cheesecake Factory and Regal Cinemas, all contributed by Pental, along with a beautiful gift basket provided by RSSA Vintage.
Special thanks to the Allahbakhshi family for their wonderful hospitality throughout the evening, and to Kerry Anderson, of AudioVisions, for once again arranging the audio-visual support for our presentations.
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WINTER 2014 |
CA ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER
Cynthia Prizant, Allied ASID; Veronica Lawrence, Allied ASID; Gigi Harris, Allied ASID; Nazgol Seyedi, Allied ASID