WeHo Design district's DIEM Talks Design

Classy Rug Company bag and notecards AND two of the latest AD editions scored!

Attended a pretty rad design event and didn’t even know how rad it was until I got there, perks of subscribing to local neighborhood newsletters I guess! This one-day event in its fifth year is called DIEM Talks Design and hosted by the West Hollywood Design District. This year’s theme was Co-Everything and I loved how they had branded each session as such to focus on the ‘Co’ aspect of each topic of discussion. The format was essentially an art walk or pub-crawl style event where you started at one location and ended at another, walking to multiple locations en route, and each location hosting a specific session.

Ashley Sumner of One Roof, Ava Bromberg of Maker City LA @ The Reef and Lauren Urband of The Consultancy PR at the Co-Working session

The day began with Co-mmunication - A Conversation With Eric Buterbaugh about Creative Branding, preceded by a light breakfast spread and followed by Q&A, held at POLTRONA FRAU. If the name sounds familiar, Buterbaugh is known for his florals and fragrances. A few tech issues made it a tad bit difficult to understand the general theme and flow but I hope to catch it online somewhere soon. 
 
The next was Co-Working - The Pros And Cons Of Sharing A Work Space and this was probably one of about three topics I thoroughly enjoyed. Helped that I managed to get front row seating but I appreciated the all-female panel with some extremely experienced resources in the co-working space voicing their take on the whole movement. This was held at LUXURY LIVING and boy did they have a beautiful showroom space. They should turn it into a co-working space, I’d go sit there and work all day! 

Rosamund Felsen, Owner of fame LA art gallery, Bettina Korek from For Your Art, moderator Frances Anderson, Alberto Cadros of SADE Gallery and artist Aaron Axelroad at the Commerce session

The Lunch and Learn session was Co-mmunity - Stories From The Frontlines Of Social Media hosted at B & B ITALIA. While it was a topic I’d usually be all ears, I zoned out a bit and later regretted that. The speaker was from Clique Media so that wasn’t a good move on my part. This was followed by a Co-ffee break at SNAIDERO where I connected with a few industry folks. 
 
Co-mmerce - Is LA Art An Industry, Yet? was hosted at THE RUG COMPANY which I was so alert for and all coffeed up I could have been jumping right out of my front row seat for all I know. The speakers were all experts in the field and brought their unique experiences to the discussion – a well-selected group of industry professionals on a topic that is relevant and current. Also big thanks to The Rug Company for the beautiful bags and notecards to attendees!

Mark Rios of Rios Clementi Hale Studio, moderator Darren Gold, Andrew Stevens of We Came in Peace, Chris Danton from In Good Co, Liza Cantu from Westfield Retail and Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics at the Connection session

Co-nnection - Collective Experience Through Programming held at WOVEN was another eye opener, especially after I realized the guy who created the Liquid Shard art installation in Pershing Square was one of the panelists. What!! Fantastic discussion that helped understand more not just about their work and role but also the trends in general addressing the topic of is there any such thing as too much programming.
 
The headliner of all sessions I guess you could call it was the last one titled Co-llaboration - Making Shelter Magic: War Stories From The Field With Mayer Rus, West Coast Editor, and Michael Reynolds, Design Editor, from Architectural Digest – the sponsor for the event. Held at DESIGN WITHIN REACH, this was a hilarious session with both industry leaders sharing stories of shooting for covers and features, working with animals, working in the desert and sharing the amazing stories behind some of the highlights that were scrolling on the presentation screen onsite. This was also the location for the closing party for the event.

Host Mallery Roberts Morgan with Mayer Rus, West Coast Editor and Michael Reynolds, Deign Editor from Architectural Digest at the Collaboration session

Overall a fantastic experience since I had absolutely no clue what to expect and had never been before. The fact that it is all free programming and so well executed made it well worth the time. Yes it’s a whole day but except for a few instances where my own energy/ interest died down a bit, the event itself was tops. Kudos to curators Mallery Roberts Morgan, Frances Anderton and producer Darren Gold! I am positively looking forward to next year and am thankful for the new connections made.
 
Are there similar design events you are aware of in L.A or that you have attended in your city? Leave me a link below in the comments, I’d like to check them out online!