Events, Support, Awareness Updates

REA Reminder Tom Mirabile, senior vice president of Global Trend and Design for Lifetime Brands, is being honored with the Gift for Life Industry Achievement Award during Gifts and Decorative Accessories' 64th Annual Retailer Excellence Awards taking place Sunday, August 16, 2015, in New York City. The award recognizes overall excellence and contribution to the gift and home industry. Mirabile provides creative direction and consumer insights internationally for many well-respected retailers and brands in the home, housewares and tabletop industries. He also serves as Consumer Trend Forecaster for the International Housewares Association and a Contributing Editor for Pantone. Previously, he served in senior merchant and product development positions with companies including Neiman Marcus Group, Macy’s and Bloomingdales. He has designed home collections for iconic brands including Vera Wang, Calvin Klein and Kenneth Cole. For more information on the REAs, please visit giftsanddec.com Tom Mirabile is the recipient of Gift for Life’s Lifetime Achievement award to be presented at the 2015 REAs. RM Innovation receives GHTA/Gift for Life Honor of Excellence during the ICON HONORS RM Innovation — creators of RM Datalink, a program that automates retailers’ data product management process by streaming a vendor’s entire product catalog directly to a retail web store — was presented with the Gift and Home Trade Association / Gift for Life Honor of Excellence during the sixth annual ICON Honors on July 9 in Atlanta. RM Datalink greatly reduces the time- and cost-intensive data uploading and management processes and allows retailers to search and filter entire vendor catalogs online, giving smaller independent retailers the ability to compete with larger websites by greatly expanding web store product depth and breadth. Bob Ricciardi, GHTA President (President and Owner, About Face Designs), with RM Datalink’s Monica Kaufman Pearson, Patrick Bain, Chief Operations Officer, David Khazai, Founder & CEO, Babak Joze Abbaschian, Chief Technology Officer, Frank Joens, Gift for Life Chair and Sr. Vice President, General Manager, LA Mart Gift + Home + Design Center, gathered for the 2015 ICON HONORS this past July. Las Vegas Market Raises $10k through Up On the Roof event For the fifth consecutive year, Las Vegas Market hosted a fundraising event benefiting Gift For Life. This year’s event, “Up On the Roof,” took place Monday, August 3, at the World Market Center during the Las Vegas summer market. Guests sipped cocktails, nibbled on hors d’oeuvres and enjoyed a silent auction. Las Vegas Market raised more than $10,000 for Gift for Life’s sole beneficiary, DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS), through ticket sales and the auction. Dorothy Belshaw and Bob Maricich from International Market Center with Gift for Life Board members Peter Schauben and George Kacic and designer Roger Thomas at Las Vegas Market’s Up on the Roof fundraiser. Save the Date: Gift for Life’s 24th Anniversary Party for Life Fundraiser Gift for Life’s annual signature event – the Party for Life Fundraiser – will take place Monday, February 1, 2016, at the Loeb Boathouse in New York City’s Central Park. The annual gala brings the industry together for an exciting evening of fun and fundraising during NY NOW®, the Market for Home, Lifestyle + Gift. 2016 honorees are: Arun Agarwal, of Nextt (Bert Tonkin Gift of Giving Award); Suzy Batiz of Poo-Pourri® (Norman Glassberg Trailblazer Award) and Howard Henschel of The Norman Group (Chuck Yancy Lifetime Achievement Award). A silent auction featuring a wide array of industry-relevant, entertainment and experiential offerings adds excitement to the evening of fundraising. Tickets and sponsorships are available.

Why I’m a GFL Supporter Monica Loving, a new member of the Gift for Life board and Vice President of Vendor Relations at Ivystone, has been volunteering her entire life. She’s been very active with ART (Accessory Resource Team) and on the board for nearly ten years. She wanted to get involved with something else and she saw what great work her friend Peter Schauben and the Gift for Life board was doing. “I’ve had a lot of friends who have suffered through this horrible disease and I wanted to get involved,” she says. “This really is a cause for the entire industry — gift, home, accessory and everything in between.” Monica Loving Attendance Increases at Picnic By Design DIFFA’s annual Picnic By Design was held Wednesday, August 5, at New York City’s Ramscale Studio. Guests dined on the roof of the scenic venue while appreciating design work and overlooking the iconic Manhattan skyline, Hudson River and New York Harbor. Guests were able to sample gourmet picnic fare from fabulous restaurants at tables stationed throughout the venue, enjoy a delicious selection of cocktails and wine, and have the opportunity to bid on show-stopping picnic baskets conceived by top designers — all for a good cause. Notable judges in the design and culinary industry will vote for their favorite creations, which will be highlighted on Interior Design magazine’s website. Attendance at the event increased from previous years with nearly 250 guests showing up and bringing in $40,000 for the cause. Vanessa Deleon’s basket titled “Picnic Word Play in the Park.”