Lessons Learned from COVID: The Free Range Workplace

A conversation with Gensler, Room & Board and Cambria on how the future office will be “open section” — providing multi-level settings where our views, movements, and ideas are not constrained by windows and walls — and is better for our health, well-being and the environment.

Moderated by:

Dean Horowitz
CEO & President, commARCH (Commercial Architecture Magazine)

Dean has spent his career connecting with audiences through contemporary media/communication practices, research, data, events, audience development, and big, profitable ideas. He is experienced with start-ups and Fortune 100 brands. He has been recognized in FOLIO, Publishing Executive, MeetingNet, and within diverse industries such as building & construction, beauty, agriculture, woodworking, consumer enthusiast brands, and home furnishings. Awards include Lifetime Membership/Recognition from NAHB, FOLIO’s TOP 40, Reed Elsevier’s Innovation Award, Habitat for Humanity and others. He has given talks at events such as International Builders Show, BIMS, Connectiv, CRMA, AM&P, High Point Market, and HFA.

Panelists:

Erin Greer
NCIDQ, LEED AP BD+C, Co-Director, Work Studio | Senior Associate

Erin Greer is a Senior Associate and Co-Director for Work Studio in the Gensler Atlanta office. An interior designer with over fourteen years of experience, Erin also leads the Tech Practice Area for Gensler’s Southeast region where she oversees the design of creative spaces that support the future of work for the sector’s top companies and talent.

Her passion for creating great working experiences for her team and clients guides her Point of View. An experienced project director with a focus on design and background in design and construction management, Erin has overseen a wide range of major projects locally & globally for clients including Pinewood Atlanta Studios, NCR, Fitzco / Momentum / Weber Shandwick, Inspire Brands, Kimberly-Clark, 22squared, Jamestown, Cox Automotive, CSE, Atlanta Tech Village, The Gathering Spot and Erwin Penland.

Elise Nicpon
Outside Sales Manager, Room & Board Business Interiors

Elise Nicpon is Outside Sales Manager for Room & Board Business Interiors (BI). She brings more than 20 years of retail and direct sales experience to this position. Nicpon has been with Room & Board for 12 years, most recently as Retail Market Manager where she excelled at leading and inspiring focused sales teams.

With a passion for finding creative design solutions, Nicpon is dedicated to aligning solutions for clients and making the entire experience easy from initial contact through delivery. She believes residential and commercial spaces can be made better through the craftsmanship, beautiful materials and design of the Room & Board assortment.

Summer Kath
EVP Design, Cambria

Traveling the globe to reference
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list inspiration for Cambria’s continuous pipeline of new design innovations, Summer Kath is the creative force behind all new design launches at Cambria. With over 200 designs and growing, Summer is responsible for translating trade professionals and consumers’ existing and unmet wants and needs into product development, combining her trend-spotting, keen eye with the art and science behind quartz.

As EVP of Design, Summer most recently spearheaded a collaboration with world-renowned design, build and architectural firm, Gensler, on the launch of 14 new designs called “The Coordinates Collection,” as well as Cambria’s most significant launch to date in January 2020 with the introduction of twenty new designs tied to the brand’s 20th anniversary, created using proprietary technology with tones and movements never before accomplished. Summer also led the launch of Cambria’s first-to-market innovation – Cambria Matte™, a breakthrough surface finish with a low-sheen akin to honed marble.

With multiple design launches per year, Summer responds to demand in the marketplace by staying at the forefront of what’s new and next by offering designs that are unlike anything else in the surface industry and pushing the R&D team to the max. In addition, Summer strategically grows operations across North America and oversees the elite design sales channel at Cambria. Summer orchestrates white-glove celebrity and corporate alliance partnerships, from rockers and ball players like Steven Tyler and Dwayne Wade, to like-minded brands like Kohler and Sub-Zero Wolf Cove and high-end hotel and restaurant alliances such as The Baccarat Hotel in NYC and David Fhima’s new restaurant in Minneapolis.