NEWH - November 2007 - (Page 26)

OSCAR EINZIG scholarship What is the Icon of Industry Award? Each year NEWH gives out its most prestigious award, the Icon of Industry, at the Gold Key Awards Breakfast in New York City held in conjunction with the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show in November and then again at the Platinum Circle Gala during HD Expo and Conference in May. The award celebrates the leaders of the manufacturing side of hospitality, those who have uniquely impacted the industry through their innovative work, consistently dedicated their time and efforts to community or industry outreach through education and/or corporate giving, and been doing business in hospitality for more than 30 years. In addition, each year an international scholarship is given to two exemplary students in the recipient’s honor, who have completed at least half of their program toward a degree in the hospitality industry, have a minimum 3.0 GPA, participated in an industry internship, and exemplify the highest standards of professionalism and scholarship. This year, Manfred Steinfeld, will be honored with the award on November 12, at 7:30 am, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City during the Gold Key Awards breakfast. Left, left to right: Icon of Industry Scholarship Award winners Kandice Pierce (accepting it at this year’s Platinum Circle Gala) and Stacey Shiring. The Next Generation Past Icon of Industry Scholarship Award winners Kandice Pierce and Stacey Shiring look to the future By Alia Akkam AMBITIOUS AND DEVOTED to putting their own eco-friendly stamps on the hospitality industry, Kandice Pierce and Stacey Shiring, the two recipients of the 2006 NEWH Icon of Industry Scholarship Award, understand sustainable practices is a must for modern hotel design. Pierce, who graduated from the Savannah College of Art & Design in May, always knew she’d wind up in a creative field. “They had to pry me away from crayons,” she recalls. Her success led her to be first recruited by ForrestPerkins. But wanting to work in a design firm with a broader breadth of work, she opted to work at Gensler in the Washington, D.C. office. Luckily, her new home puts her in close proximity to the NEWH Washington DC Metropolitan chapter, so she can continue to be involved. Although Pierce is just discovering her niche, one of her goals is to combine her love of hospitality with LEED. “Design is a positive way to impact people. The more customers are aware, the more they will look for it,” she says. “It’s about the little details; one big container for shampoo versus the little containers, and Seventh Generation and Method products for housekeeping. If you are going to renovate every seven years, you may as well recycle. Why not be at the forefront?” Meanwhile, Shiring (formerly Schield, she was recently married), who also snagged the NEWH Sustainable Hospitality inaugural scholarship award in addition to the Icon of Industry Scholarship honor, didn’t think a design career was in her cards. Growing up in Colorado, she went to school with the hopes of becoming an opera star. But when she was around 22, she shifted gears and moved from Florida to attend the University of Cincinnati’s five-year program at the School of Architecture and Interior Design. “When I applied for Icon, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I was excited about the money and what it would do for me financially,” reveals Shiring, who is also grateful about the people in New York City she’s met through NEWH who are only too happy to give her their cards and offer to look over her work. Shiring, who’s done internships at both Hixson and FRCH in Cincinnati and Steven Ehrlich Architects in Los Angeles, recently took one quarter off to take her first trip to Europe, where she gawked at hotel lobbies (“I always loved the lobby; the people, the excitement when you go in,” she points out), saving fact sheets for when she can afford to stay there—or design them—herself. She is well on her way when she graduates in June. For Shiring’s senior project due this spring (which will be exhibited as part of a weeklong showcase where local firms come in and critique the designs) she is hoping to fill a void in Cincinnati’s boutique hotel scene. Her plan for a new hotel taps into the younger generation of business travelers heading to Cincinnati who crave a small, stylish hotel. Bypassing the front desk for check-in and energy-saving key cards are just two highlights of her inventive design. As for green hotel design, Shiring is happy to report that she is noticing that more people her age are eager to bring sustainability to the forefront. “The design of certain materials is going to have to go through a change. How can we make something amazing to touch that is not bad for the environment? It’s the mindset that needs to change,” she explains. I 26 november 2007 www.newh.org tel 800.593.NEWH http://www.newh.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - November 2007

NEWH - November 2007
Table of Contents
Network Leaders
News
Sustainability Column
Sustainability: Green Luncheon
Have you Seen?
On the Scene
Cover Story: Passing the Torch
Scholarship: The Next Generation
Project: Harmonious Duet
Project: Second Act
Service: Recognizing Excellence
Save the Date
New Members
Partner Profiles

NEWH - November 2007