I’m back from Blogfest and am almost fully recovered; chatting with so many amazing bloggers and designers can really wear a girl out! But I have lots to share and thought I would start with first part of conference held at Hearst Tower. The opening lunch hosted by House Beautiful was gorgeous — peonies were the unofficial flower of the event, everyone was taking advantage of their short season. And do you see those giant bags on the chairs? These were the swag bags of all swag — magazines for days and my favorite freebie, a copy of the new book, House Beautiful Blue: 360 Ways To Decorate With Blue. I already started to pick through it on my train ride back and it’s beautiful.
Following the delicious welcome lunch and after making lots of new friends (whose blogs I’ll share later in the week) we listened in on a panel discussion with Hearst editors Newell Turner of House Beautiful, Dara Caponigro of Veranda, and Mark Rozzo of Town & Country. All three were incredibly gracious and very open when talking about magazines’ relationship with blogs, they all agreed that there’s a place for both mediums in the space. In fact, they called on bloggers for being the beat editors that find trends and sources in the places that big magazines don’t have the time or staff to cover. My favorite moment of the day was when Newell Turner proclaimed he maintained a no-diva policy at House Beautiful, he doesn’t waste his time on that — which is probably why the magazine has such a down to earth feel to it.
Then we capped off the day with some champagne before we were whisked off to the ELLE Decor Modern Life Concept House … more on that tomorrow!
