Countdown to Blogfest: Want to Come Along?

Well you all know that I'm excited about Blogfest, right? So, I decided that while I've been looking up additional information related to the activities planned for us, I should let you in on the excitement and share it all with you too.  On May 16th, I'll be heading to New York for this fabulous event....

Bustling through NY Crowds

It's not that far away, and our "tour" could not start off anywhere more appropriate.  We will all meet in New York for a kickoff Lunch at Cafe57 in the Hearst Tower, home to Hearst Magazines - including House Beautiful, Veranda, and Town & Country - all sponsors of Blogfest, along with Kravet.

Of course I needed to look up Café 57 and in doing so, found that it is simply the personal cafeteria of Hearst Tower. No biggie really, but what is cool is that they regularly feature monthly menu items that had been features of the various Hearst publications. Well that could be fun, since you know who.... none other than The Barefoot Contessa has been featured in all of the above!! We all know she can whip up more than your average deliciousness, and who knows, maybe they'll surprise us with a treat of the Contessa herself preparing our lunch....(I know, I know...don't get carried away!). 

Yes, I fear that food may be a central portion of our energy boost for the three days, considering they just announced the "The Official Ice Cream of Blogfest 2011." Thank heavens Tamara, over at Nest, has planned a walking meetup for the morning! Whew! Okey, dokey, enough about food... time to move on.

The World's First Designer Ice Cream

The Hearst Tower, in and of itself, is worthy of a visit on its own too.  The first building to be Gold LEED certified - core, shell and interiors - in New York City; well, to me, that is pretty impressive, so I'm looking forward to taking in its magnificence.  Not sure what the big fuss is with LEED? Take a look-see here to find out more.  Yeah, it's a pretty big deal and this "46-story big deal" I'm sure can't be captured in a photo, so the live visit is one I'm really looking forward to.

After our lunch, we'll head off to a panel discussion on "The Importance of Blogs to the Print Magazine Industry Today". With the major players of the design magazine houses I've mentioned above, and speakers that include Beth Greene, Newell Turner, Dara Caponigro and Mark Rozzo, this is sure to be an enlightening and captivating dialogue!

Can't wait!! And stay tuned, I'll be posting more details in the days ahead as I countdown to Blogfest 2011!