Seventy-two awards were distributed in The Best of NeoCon® 2008 competition of contract furnishing products during NeoCon® at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago in June. Four Innovation Awards and a Best of Competition Award also were selected.

A total of 352 products were entered in 39 product and furnishing categories in the competition, sponsored by Contract magazine, Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc., The International Interior Design Association (IIDA), The International Facility Management Association (IFMA), and McMorrow Report.com.
           
The Files and Storage Category took the top prize as the Best of Competition with Teneo, manufactured by Herman Miller and designed by Birsel+Seck.  Last year, the Brazo light, designed by Pablo Pardo and manufactured by Haworth, took the Best of Competition.

The Best of NeoCon Awards can be viewed from the home page of www.mcmorrowreport.com by clicking on the Best of NeoCon Winners Presentation button to open or download the PDF file.
           
Innovation Awards were given to Details for the Walkstation in the Technology Support category; to Bernhardt Design for its Cardan conference seating; to 3Form for Parametre, a panel textile and in the wall treatments category for IdeaPaint.

The Best of NeoCon® jury is composed of 53 corporate, government, and institutional facilities management executives, interior designers, and architects who are responsible for selecting and buying furniture and furnishings for their specific organizations or clients. The eight jury teams visited Merchandise Mart showrooms and temporary market suites to judge each product in person. Manufacturers or product designers had the opportunity to explain and discuss details of the entered product and answer jurors’ questions.

The Best of NeoCon 2008 Facilities Manager Jurors were:

• Ms. Cynthia Alexander, Facilities Manager, The University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science and the Arts,  Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Ms.  Lynda Anderson, IIDA, Senior Designer, Indiana Convention Center Expansion Project Office, Indianapolis, Indiana.
• Ms. Debra Barresse,  CID, IIDA, Interior Design Project Manager, Princeton University,  Office of Design & Construction, Princeton, New Jersey
• Mr. Brian D. Bennett, President, The Facility Group, Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Mr. Greg Buse, Corporate Director, Purchasing, Great Wolf Resorts, Inc.,
  Madison, Wisconsin
• Ms. Phyllis Ewers, Furniture Program Manager, Cisco/CBRE Global Corporate Services, San Jose, California
• Ms. Doreen Fentress, Vice President of Facilities, Quality Technical Services Inc., Virginia Beach, Virginia 
• Ms. Joyce Gassett, Operations Project Manager, NIKE Space Planning, NIKE, Beaverton, Oregon
• Ms. Glenda Godwin, CFM, IFMA, Interior Designer/Project Manager, First Tennessee Bank Corporate Real Estate, Memphis, Tennessee
• Ms. Charlene Happel, Workspace Design Manager, Interiors/Facilities Planning, NIKE Space Planning, NIKE, Beaverton, Oregon
• Ms. Carole C. Hargett, CID, Project interior Designer, Virginia Medical Center—Hampton, Hampton, Virginia
• Ms. Kristi Hartwell, Industrial Engineer, John Crane Inc., Morton Grove, Illinois 
• Mr. Brian Denver Hicks, Workplace Planner, Pacific Gas & Electric/CBRE, San Francisco
• Ms. M. Alice Hogueisson, IFMA, U.S. Director of Facilities, Senior Vice President, Global Environmental Manager, Edelman, Chicago
• Mr. Tim Losch, IFMA, BOMA, Director, Facilities Management and Office Operations, FAAO/AAO, San Francisco
• Ms. Karen McKenzie, Facility Planer, Aurora Health Care/Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Ms. Susan Monroe, Facilities Manager, The University of Michigan, College of Literature, Science and the Arts,  Ann Arbor, Michigan 
• Ms. Kristin Reynolds, IIDA, ASID, Project Manager, Facilities Planning & Construction, University of Alaska, Anchorage, Alaska
• Mr. Dom Ruggerio, CFM, President, Ruggerio & Associates, Inc., Chicago
• Ms. Sandra Warner, IIDA, GS-13, DAF, Air Force Interior Design Program Manager, Built Infrastructure Division, Technical Directorate, U.S. Air Force, Brooks City-Base, Texas
• Ms. Sue Schmidt, CPM, Director of Facilities, Healthways, Nashville, Tennessee
• Ms. BJ Thomas, Facilities Manager, Gateway Health Plan, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Ms. Sandra Warner, IIDA, GS-13, DAF,  Air Force Interior Design Program Manager, Built Infrastructure Division, Technical Directorate,  U.S. Air Force, Brooks City-Base, Texas
• Ms. Trish Weidner, Vice President, Project Coordinator, First MidWest Bank,
  Itasca, Illinois

The Best of NeoCon 2008 Interior Designer Jurors were:

• Mr. Tod Babick, PLOW, Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Ms. Jennifer Barnes, IIDA, CID, Associate Vice President, RTKL Associates Inc., Baltimore
• Ms. Mary Mitchell Bartlett,  AIA, IIDA, LEED AP,  Director of Interiors, Associate Partner,  MarmonMok Architecture,  San Antonio, Texas
• Mr. Mark Baughman, AIA, IIDA, Partner, SKB Architecture, Washington, DC
• Ms. Monica Birkholz, IIDA, ASID, Associate, Senior Interior & Facility Planner, Kahler Slater, Milwaukee, WI
• Ms. Linda Porter Bishop, IIDA, ASID, AAHID, LEED AP, WHR Architects, Inc., Houston, Texas
• Ms. Jean Buckley, Principal, Buckley & Associates, Winchester, Massachusetts
• Ms. Mary A. Burke, Director of Interiors, Cetra Ruddy, New York
  Ms. Moriah Candotti, IIDA, Interior Designer, Huntsman Architectural Group, New York
• Mr. Peter Carey, RDA, Butler Rogers Baskett Architects, P.C., New York
• Ms. Maurya Cohan, RDA, Color & Materials Specialist, Associate, OWP&P, Chicago
• Ms. Victoria Danseco, RDA, Resource Manager, Ted Moudis Associates,  New York
• Ms. Gayle DeBryun, IIDA, LEED AP, Principal, Lake Affect Design Studio, Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Ms. Royce Epstein, RDA, LEED AP, Senior Resource Specialist, KlingStubbins, Philadephia
• Ms. Carrie L. Fitzpatrick, IIDA, Vice President, Solomon Cordwell Buenz, Chicago
• Mr. Rick Focke, Senior. Principal, Design Director, HOK, New York
• Mr. Chris Heard, Hendrick Inc., Atlanta
• Ms. Betsey Keefe, IIDA, Associate, CBT Architects, Boston
• Ms. Janet Kobylka, AAHID, IIDA, Principal, RTKL, Dallas
• Mr. Christopher Liu, Studio Director, NELSON, Chicago 
• Mr. M. David Lubin, IIDA, LEED AP, Interior Design Studio Director, NELSON, Dallas, Texas
• Mr. Richard Mark, Design Principal, Interiors, KlingStubbins, Philadelphia
• Ms. Karen S. Niemi, IIDA, Principal, MulvannyG2 Architecture, Portland, Oregon
• Ms. Elizabeth Peterson, IIDA, AIA, LEED AP, CREW, IFMA, CoreNet, Vice President, VOA, Washington, D.C.
• Ms. Kathleen Peters, Director of Interior Design, Arete3, Ltd., Tinley Park, Illinois
• Ms. Eileen Ragsdale, LEED AP, RDA, Resource Librarian, TPG Architecture LLP, TPG Planning & Design, LLC, President, Resource Directors Association, New York
• Mr. Ronald A. Reed, IIDA, FAIA, Principal, Westlake Reed Leskosky Architects, Cleveland
• Mr. Michael Sinkew, Senior Designer, Ted Moudis Associates, New York
• Ms. Kimberly Williams, Managing Principal, Interiors, KlingStubbins, Philadelphia

Best of NeoCon® Competition entrants and winners are featured on the Contract-Network, www.contract-network.com, and winners are featured on www.mcmorrowreport.com