Monday, March 15, 2010

A Modern Eye Has Guest Bloggers!

What’s a PR company without the people who make it run? That’s what we ask ourselves at our weekly Monday morning meetings – after we’ve had our coffee, of course. And we’ve found that BDE has a pretty diverse staff: we live in New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. We have brothers, sisters, husbands, step-parents, dogs, and kids. We love all things design, and we just moved into a brand new office! We rock out to Pandora radio on days when we’re feeling a little sleepy.

The moral of the story is that we’re a lot more than just PR. And we want you, our loyal readers, to know about it. So let’s meet Team BDE:

Beth Dickstein, President: If you’re not sure who Beth is, we have to wonder what you’re doing reading her blog. But you probably only know Beth as the dynamo behind BDE, and let us be the first to tell you, Beth’s passions extend far beyond the public relations realm. Travel? Italy? New York? Great friends? These are the things that get Beth Dickstein’s heart pumping. From her days at Metropolis to steering the helm of BDE, Beth has embraced these elements in her life. Of course, family is first and foremost…very closely followed by her love for food and wine – and lots of it! Happily, Beth is able to incorporate all of this and more into her life with energy, joy, vim (what’s vim?) and vigor.

Karen Brooking, Vice President: Karen is our queen of trade clients, focusing her seemingly endless energy on Humanscale, Artemide, Carnegie, Coalesse and Trove. But again, that’s just her day job. Karen also has a three-year-old son, “Baby Jake,” and a new dog, Tango. Karen is also newly obsessed with Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter, and we challenge you to find an 80’s song she doesn’t know by heart, or an 80’s movie she hasn’t seen. On weekends when she’s able to slip away, you’ll find her in Atlantic City gambling away her hard-earned BDE dollars (but don’t worry, she always does it responsibly!)

Marlene Capron: Originally from Buffalo, Marlene has lived in NYC for over 13 years. During her time here, she has worked in the fashion industry, switched to the (much kinder) home design industry, met and married her husband of 4 years (the very talented furniture designer, Todd Capron) and, in July 2009, welcomed to the family - baby girl Elliott Jayne (who looks nothing like her mother…and who the girls at BDE may love more than Marlene!). Marlene joined the BDE team almost two years ago as an Account Manager. She absolutely loves her job and feels very lucky to work with an amazing group of girls at BDE, as well as an incredible list of clients. Apart from work, Marlene enjoys spending time outdoors, exploring this unbelievable city with her friends and family, working on the finishing touches of a 2 year + apartment renovation project, and tossing little baby socks at Elliott's face, which results in the most joyous giggle fest imaginable.

Sarah Sanzari: Sarah loves singing to any and every song on the radio. We know, because we all sit in the same room! The sunshine does wonders to her outlook on the day, and she never met a dog she didn’t like. Sarah’s goal is to travel around the world within the next ten years or so. Her newest passion is learning to cook, and she hopes to add a few new recipes to her repertoire each week. Luckily, her main account is Alessi, so she’s all set in the supplies department. And, we are gifting her with a Moleskine Passions for recipes!

Emily Levin: Emily is perhaps BDE’s best candidate for the “Two Truths and a Lie” game so often played as an icebreaker, if only because there are so many interesting facts about her that it’s hard to believe that they’re all real! When Emily is not spending her days at BDE surrounded by Moleskines and Kartell chairs, you can find her training for her upcoming half-marathon, spending time outdoors, and, like the rest of the BDE staff, cooking. This southern native from Georgia is also a professional opera singer who sings regionally throughout the year – and who met her husband, a cantoral student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, singing in Lucca, Italy. Emily and her husband are so happy to be back in New York after living in Cleveland for 5 years!

Kim Krueger: BDE’s most remote employee, frequent flyer miles rack up for Kim as she splits her time between the prairies of North Dakota and the pavement of Manhattan. Fortunately, she’s quite comfortable on an airplane, as travel is one of Kim’s favorite pastimes. A former Miss North Dakota USA, and lobbyist for the American Cancer Society, service and giving back to the community are important fundamentals in her life. Nothing gets Kim’s heart racing like a J. Crew cardigan, but thank goodness for online shopping since there is no J. Crew in North Dakota. Kim also enjoys reading, running, learning about wine and spending time with her family at their lake home in Minnesota.

Rachel Lexier: Rachel is the newest member of BDE, a recent transplant from the now-shuttered Metropolitan Home magazine. Rachel is also a new(ish) New Yorker, a Colorado native whose co-workers are constantly frustrated with her love of the snow, and her enthusiasm for all things blizzard-related. Rachel is a voracious reader, an ambitious chef (although admittedly some of her experiments need work), and loves nothing more than the feel of a magazine page between her fingers. She feeds this love daily by devouring every publication in the office.

Now, for the most exciting part of this (admittedly) lengthy blog post: each of these ladies you just met will be guest blogging for A Modern Eye. The topics will range from the local to the global, the large-scale to the small, but we promise to always keep you on your toes – and hope you’ll learn a bit more about BDE and the design world in the process.

Until next time!

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