This past Saturday, I attended the third Canadian Design Bloggers Meetup. The event was held at Toronto's Brassaii, a perfect spot to mingle, network and listen to special talks from some of the best industry leaders out there. Design bloggers from all over Canada braved the snow to attend the event, which is expanding every year. Along with more than 120 attendees, organizers Vitania Liscio, Daniella Zitella and Amy Boudreau Parrag also had a few special guest speakers on hand!
House & Home sponsored the event, along with great brands like Ikea, CIL and Aya Kitchens.
Delta was also a sponsor, and donated this sleek faucet with touch technology as a giveaway. This year's top design books were also part of the raffle.
Vitania Liscio of Verdigris Vie (right) planned the event, which went off without a hitch. (Thanks again, Vitania!) She was lucky enough to land Cassandra LaValle (left) of Coco + Kelley as a guest speaker (all the way from Seattle!).
Here are Amanda (far left) and Justyna (middle left) from Aya Kitchens, Jeanette of This Dusty House and Kimberley of Restoration House.
Smile, bloggers! Here are Maureen Coates of Modecor (left), Sonya Kinkade of Sonya Kinkade Design, Lisa Goulet of Lisa Goulet Design, Kelly James of Jax Does Design, Nicole Duguay of Solace Interiors and Donna Hargrove of DH Designs.
Here is designer Glen Peloso (left), H&H's online director Lisa Murphy, Michele of Modmissy and Aya Kitchens president David Marcus.
House & Home's Cameron MacNeil took to the podium to share the upcoming trends for 2012, while Lisa Murphy spoke about H&H, blogs and our new iPad and mobile apps.
Coco + Kelley's Cassandra LaValle shared her tips on how to jump-start a successful design blog. Do: adopt your own voice and offer readers something they aren't seeing elsewhere. Don't: underestimate your value and readership when approaching advertisers. She started Coco + Kelley back in 2007, and has since been featured on Marthastewart.com and in House Beautiful, along with being credited as one of the 50 Best Design Blogs by The London Times.
Everyone was thrilled when a surprise guest, Toronto designer Brian Gluckstein, stepped up to the podium! He spoke about how he ended up in interior design (he originally thought he might become a pediatrician!), why his cell phone camera always keeps him inspired to blog and why the blogosphere is so important in the design community. Here he is with Tim Lam (left) of Design Maze and Cheryl Kozoriz from GlucksteinHome.
Here are a few of the lucky prize winners: Anita from Delta (far left), Kerry of First Time Fancy (front), Lisa Ferguson of Decor Mentor, Iela Snow of Cultura Femenina and Jennifer Brouwer of JB Designs.
All in all, a fabulous night! It's such a great opportunity to meet new bloggers and we're looking forward to the next event! Read about the first meetup and last summer's meetup as well.
Photo credits:
1-6, 10-11. Alessia Lamonaca
7. Aya Kitchens
8-9. Gwen McAuley
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