Archive for June, 2006

Hats Off to Master Design Entrants: Winners List Coming Soon

Thursday, June 29th, 2006

CHICAGO — About eight hours into the judging process to determine the 2006 Master Design Award winners, it hit me. This business of separating the truly great remodeling designs from the really good is much tougher than it appears. Despite the long hours and many tough calls, each year we manage to attract some of the best remodeling contractors to serve as judges and to pore over the hundreds of entries we receive. This year was no different.

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I want to thank our excellent team of judges: Dennis Allen, of Allen Associates, Santa Barbara, Calif.; Patricia Davis Brown of PDB Fine Cabinetry, Vero Beach, Fla.; Tony LaPelusa, CR, of LaPelusa Construction, Niles, Ill.; Greg Miedema, CGR, CAPS of Dakota Builders, Tucson, Ariz.; and John Quaregna, CR, of Jay-Cue Construction in North Bergen, N.J. If you know them or meet them at our Master Design Awards event Oct. 18 in Chicago, let them know that you appreciate the excellent work they did this year.

In the next couple of weeks, those of you who entered the 28th Master Design Awards will be notified how you did. I want to take a moment to congratulate all of the entrants. The feeling among our judges was that the level of competition was higher than ever before. This year, for the second time, a copy of the actual scoring sheet will be sent to all entrants. The sheets include a series of scores and comments about the project. At the very least, those that did not win will know why and what they might do in the future to improve. The winners will be published in the October issue of Qualified Remodeler. Many are being considered for feature stories in 2007.

I brought our office camera to the judging this year. And I also took some short, low-quality video-clips. I invite you to download them and to get a flavor for the final judging process — a period at the very end of judging when a Best of Show project is selected from the “Gold” award winners.

If you are interested in attending our Awards Event, please contact Heidi Riedl at heidi.riedl@cygnusb2b.com. If you are on the staff of a winning company, your ticket is free. Others can purchase tickets for $25.

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An Outstanding 2006 Chrysalis Awards Dinner

Friday, June 9th, 2006

Patrick O'Toole

ATLANTA — So much of what happens on a daily and weekly basis in the remodeling industry never makes it to the pages of Qualified Remodeler or any of the other fine publications which serve our industry. A perfect case-in-point is the Annual Chrysalis Awards Banquet, honoring the top remodeling companies from around the United States. It was held last night at the Cobb Galleria Centre here and there is a lot to report.

If you have ever entered a project into the Chyrsalis Awards, you are undoubtedly acquainted with two of the most enthusiastic and energetic proponents of professionalism in remodeling — Ken Kanline and his wife PJ. Over the course of a dozen years their Southern Building Show and awards competition has grown to be a favorite with remodelers and small volume builders, yet it remains a “family affair,” Ken told the audience last night. He cited the contributions not only of his wife but also their college age children who are fixtures at the show and awards each year. “You,” he said at one point to the audience, “are our board of directors.”

And Ken is not far off the mark when he makes this claim. Many of the remodelers like Gary Marrakol of San Diego and Geno Bienvenuiti are regulars at this event. Others in attendance included NARI’s Don Vossburg, Carl Seville, Jermone Quinn of Sawhorse, Joe Cracco, of Modern Yankee Builders.

Click here for the complete list of winners

One of the touches that make the awards program so much fun to attend each year is Ken Kanline’s humorous musical interludes. On occaision he even brings along his band Biscuit Joint from his home town of Talahassee, Fla. Ken had the crowd rolling with a rendition of “I’m Missing My Remodeler Tonight”. “… the only time my bathroom looks finished is when I turn out the lights… I’m missing my remodeler tonight… Have you forgotten the draws that I paid…. we were the closest of friends…”, Ken sang.

To download a clip or two of Ken’s song’s you can go to www.buildingsongs.com. If you would like to hear him perform in person, mark the evening of Oct. 18, 2006 in your calendar. That is when Ken travels to Chicago to serenade attendees to our Top 500/Master Design Awards event at the very swank Peninsula Hotel in Chicago. (Because this a blog… presumably a place of greater editorial flexibility…. I want to also mention that the Peninsula Hotel is where Jennifer Aniston was holed up for weeks while filming a movie last summer… )

Lastly, I want to mention that the Chrysalis Awards and Qualified Remodeler have had a long partnership. Remodelers who send their binders into the Chrysalis competition can send them directly to us with out any reformatting. The process of creating one binder is tough enough, no sense remaking it for each panel.

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