Industrial Designers Society of America Design Conferences

It is my pleasure to welcome you to IDSA’s 2014 Northeast District Design Conference in New York City. At this year’s conference a fantastic group of featured keynotes and other top-notch presenters will inspire us to Design It. Build. Fund It! 
For decades, New York has been the Financial Capital of the World. The last decade has seen tremendous growth–over 120%—in design with all major industrial design firms now having offices here, along with a design friendly mayor and the home of US’ only National Design Museum. According to the study conducted by the Center for an Urban Future, New York is hands down ahead of other cities such as San Francisco, LA, Chicago or Boston and has become THE CITY for DESIGN. With the explosion of the DIY movement nationwide and local manufacturing sprouting up all over the tri-state area, especially in places like Dumbo in Brooklyn, NYC is now a city that has it all—the trifecta for design, innovation and success! 
New York design firms include IDEO, SMART, ECCO and PENSA! We will have speakers representing the local design community that will share with us what it means to Design It: New York Style! 
As a key figure in the New York IDSA Community often says, “design is making” or “design is doing.” Innovative manufacturing firms in NYC include Makerbot, Shapeways and Makersrow. With companies representing this group telling us how they manifest the democratization of manufacturing, you will learn how to Build It: allowing anyone to make anything they can imagine. 
The local venture capital community is vast in New York and crowd-sourced model companies such as Kickstarter and Quirky are right in our back yard. We will have venture capitalists reaching out proactively to Fund It: enabling designers and makers to take their designs to market. Local government will be empowering people to make their ideas a reality and totally new business models like crowd-funding will break down the barriers of venture capital funding. 
We will have parties, talks, panel discussions, debates and workshops all around the three areas of this year’s theme. Our inspiring speakers, practical workshops and in-depth discussions will leave you both inspired and motivated, just in time for New York Design Week! Come see why the DDC in NYC is where to be next spring! 
The 2014 Northeast District Design Conference is going to be another unforgettable conference— let’s get together on May 15 in the center of the modern world to kick off New York Design Week and enjoy another fantastic District Design Conference. I look forward to seeing you in the city that never sleeps for the most energizing conference yet!

Stephan J. Clambaneva, IDSA
Northeast District VP
Welcome to IDSA’s 2013 Northeast District Design Conference, The Color of Design. 
What do you think of when we talk of color in the context of design? Does red make you think of a Ferrari or a stop sign or traffic light? Does Green make you think of a John Deere Tractor or environmental or sustainable design? What kind of i-phone do you have, black or white? 
Whether a product we own or covet is black or white, red or green, it was designed that way. Color, by design, has always had a profound impact on the things we wear, the houses we live in, the cars we drive and the phones we use. Colors have inherently been associated with certain key actions or functions, social, economic and environmental issues. So close is our affinity with color that we even use it to describe our moods.
At the IDSA’s 2013 Northeast District Design Conference, a fantastic group of featured keynotes and other top-notch presenters will inspire us to explore what is The Color of Design? How does color affect the design and how is color affected by design? What is its role in the process? How does it differ by design discipline and how do we employ color to augment and alter the products, services and experiences we design? 
Let’s get together in Hartford April 19-20 for The Color of Design, where we will embark on a two-day deep dive with inspiring speakers, practical workshops and in-depth discussions on the vibrant relationship between design and color.
In addition, we also have some cool activities planned for you. Here's just a taste of things to come!
• Student Merit Awards
• Portfolio Reviews 
• Design Walkabout  
• Closing Night Gala  
It is going to be an unforgettable conference, full of awesome social functions and networking opportunities, innovative speakers and inspirational topics. I look forward to seeing you in Hartford!

Stephan J. Clambaneva, IDSA
Northeast District VP
Welcome to the 2012 Northeast Design Dialogue Conference: 
Forward Thinking Through Vintage Perspectives. Getting design right is recognized as essential for business success and equally beneficial in the social domain. How are design practices evolving to meet expanding demands and opportunities? At the Northeast Design Dialogue Conference, a fantastic group of featured keynotes and other top-notch presenters will share and guide you on a journey to what the future looks like through the lens of how we got to where we are today. The Northeast is full of history, daily reminders of how an entrepreneurial spirit built this nation and how innovation and design thinking have shaped and grown our country. Join us for this journey from the past, through the present and into the future of the design practice. There are three topics of conversation that each span half a day, thematically starting from the past, moving to the present and ending with the future.
Section One, Friday Afternoon: “To know your past is to know your future”
Section Two, Saturday Morning: Change is the new Norm - Now What?”
Section Three, Saturday Afternoon: “What’s next? Thinking beyond design” 

 Our master of ceremonies will be Gary Steuer, cultural officer, Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy for the city of Philadelphia. Our keynote for the overall conference will be Bill Moggridge, director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. Additionally, we are finalizing the speakers for each of the three sections, including Peter Bressler founder of the Bressler Group, Eric Chan, principal of ECCO Design, Steve Wilcox, principal of Design Science and Debera Johnson, executive director of the Pratt Design Incubator, just to name a few.
In addition to the great workshops, sessions and speakers, we also have some cool activities planned for you. Here's just a taste of things to come!

Student Merit Awards
Portfolio Reviews 
Design History Walkabout 
Closing Night Gala 
 It is going to be an unforgettable conference, full of exciting social functions and networking opportunities, innovative speakers and inspirational topics.
I look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia!

Stephan J. Clambaneva, IDSA
Northeast District VP