US Green Building Council Summit - Oct. 27th

 

What: Join the U.S. Green Building Council North Carolina (USGBC North Carolina) for the first annual Sustainable Hospitality Summit at the LEED Silver Hilton at Biltmore Park in Asheville, N.C. Our main programmatic goal will be tooling hospitality professionals with the basic information and skills necessary to explain why sustainable hospitality is a best practice and how it yields a competitive advantage in the industry. We will explore sustainability challenges and opportunities for hospitality leaders and glean experiential knowledge from seasoned hospitality market transformers. Throughout the summit, we will return to best marketing practices and how to dismantle common misconceptions associated with luxury, sustainability and guest comfort.

Who: Speakers include:

Keynotes from:

Dennis W. Quaintance, CEO & CDO (Chief Design Officer) Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels
Leah Cooper, Sustainability Coordinator at Sierra Nevada Brewing
Rhiannon Jacobsen, VP, Strategic Relationships, USGBC
Sarah Beth Harkless, Director, USGBC North Carolina
Marcus Munse, Manager at Courtesy Management Inc.
Samantha Borgen, Director of Facilities and Construction, Charleston Harbor Resort
Feletia Lee, Environmental Coordinator, Blockade Runner Beach Resort
Steve Ramos, Architect, LS3P Associates LTD
Brock Hennings, Project Manager, Omega Construction
Renne Hutcheson, Project Manager, The Weidt Group, Contractor for Duke Energy

Where:
Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park
43 Town Square Boulevard, Asheville, NC, 28803

When: Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 from 12:30-6:30 p.m.

Contact: To register as a member of the press, contact Jessica Wilson, Project Manager, U.S. Green Building Council at jlwilson@usgbc.org / 910.777.1246 or Lauren McDevitt, Director of Marketing, Biltmore Farms Hotels at lmcdevitt@biltmorefarmshotels.com

From Africa to Asheville: consulting firm establishes USA headquarters at The Collider for work on intractable problems

Wasafiri Consulting presents event on Nov. 3, “Leadership for Intractable Problems: Lessons from Navigating Complex Change in Africa”

Whether it is violent extremism, climate change, Ebola, or food production, Wasafiri Consulting has helped navigate Africa’s most intractable and complex challenges. Now it is setting up its U.S. headquarters in Asheville, at The Collider, to apply its expertise to America’s own wicked problems.
“Large-scale problems appear intractable when the quality of our collective response is inadequate relative to the nature of the problem," said the head of Wasafiri USA, Ian Randall. "We help diverse partners come together to better understand an issue and then collaborate on ambitious change agendas.”

Randall said he hopes that Wasafiri’s approach, forged in the crucible of Africa, will prove catalytic in addressing issues here, whether it’s rocketing opioid addiction, the shortage of affordable housing, or the resilience of Appalachian forests to climate change.
“Our current clients are leading development funders such as USAID, the UK Government and the Rockefeller Foundation,” said Randall. “Whilst we’ll need to develop new clients and business models for U.S.-based work, we are confident that our approach is vital in a world that is ever more interconnected, volatile and uncertain.”
Wasafiri’s debut event at The Collider, “Leadership for Intractable Problems: Lessons from Navigating Complex Change in Africa,” is Friday, Nov. 3, starting at 6:15 p.m. Whether from business, government or the nonprofit sector, anyone working on systemic challenges is invited to join a conversation with Wasafiri’s leadership team about how change happens.
For more information on the event, visit www.wasafiriconsulting.com/blog.

The Collider is a nonprofit innovation center focused on catalyzing solutions for climate change, located at 1 Haywood St., on the top floor of the Wells-Fargo building. 

Grovewood Gallery hosts Holiday Sip & Shop in December

Grovewood Gallery’s annual Holiday Sip & Shop event will take place from 10am – 5:30pm on December 8-9 and again on December 15-16. Shop unique holiday gifts handcrafted by local and regional artists as well as a large collection of American-made art and craft. All gallery merchandise will be 10% off and shoppers can also enjoy complimentary wine, warm cider and cookies. Local artists will be performing craft demonstrations and interacting with guests from 11am to 4pm each day.

On December 8-9 and 15-16, Asheville fiber artist Karen Kennedy, a graduate of Haywood Community College's Professional Crafts Program, will be demonstrating needle-felting using locally dyed wool, creating bird nests and snowmen. Big and little pre-mades will be available to purchase.

Also on December 8-9, local painter Patricia Cotterill will demonstrate brushstroke techniques in oils. She paints animals, people, and still lifes; providing a glimpse into scenes of everyday life. Patricia’s work was selected to be a part of the set paintings for the hit NBC television show Parenthood, and also featured in Art for the Traditional Home, part of The Handmade Home book series. In 2015, four of her paintings were purchased for the HGTV series Urban Oasis, and were showcased in their home renovation project in West Asheville.

On December 15-16, metalsmith Audrey Laine Sawyer will demonstrate her process of piercing delicate, nature-inspired silhouettes on the face of hand-fabricated hollow forms. Audrey is a 2010 graduate of Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Program who creates shadowbox jewelry out of brass and sterling silver. Her jewelry also incorporates lost-wax castings of her own carvings and of found objects like bugs or bird bones.

All demonstrating artists will have original works of art for sale. The 10% discount does not apply to demonstrators’ artwork or custom/special orders.