By Kirsten Gable, Allied ASID; NKBA Chapter Programs Chair

An unseasonably warm night in February helped kick off the NKBA’s Baltimore/Washington Chapter’s first general meeting of 2018. With 40 members registered to attend, we were looking at a great turnout at Circa Lighting’s showroom in Washington’s

Kirsten Gable, Allied ASID, of Anthony Wilder Design/Build, serves as the Baltimore/Washington chapter’s Program Chair and represents the chapter on National’s Chapter Leadership Committee.

Georgetown neighborhood. The topic for the evening was recapping KBIS and sharing the highlights of the show. A benefit for council members is attending NKBA Chapter Officer Training provided by national headquarters and held at KBIS, specific to each chapter leadership position. To continue giving back to the chapter, council members gave a presentation about what they learned, saw and took away from KBIS. Among the topics were virtual room designers; the interconnected home utilizing products such as Alexa and Google Home; Thirty Under 30 team presentations on a “Product of the Future,” and a full recap of what you can experience at KBIS.

KBIS is more than just walking around the expo and seeing what’s new from manufacturers. It’s about being involved with the kitchen and bath industry, making new connections and cultivating friendships.  Each year, our chapter pushes for high involvement from our membership and our council members.  One way is promoting the different programs available through the NKBA such as the Thirty Under 30 honors, National Design Competition, Voices from the Industry, and being involved on the national level.

Our chapter’s work all year long pays off at KBIS, too. In 2018, we were fortunate to continue the tradition of having a Baltimore/Washington Chapter member be a Thirty Under 30 honoree: Kevin King of Barger. Part of his responsibilities as a winner was to take his presentation from KBIS and present it to our chapter members to show them what being a Thirty Under 30 is about. Everyone found his presentation on his team’s “Product of the Future” — The Living Fridge — to be informative, and we hope that one day it comes to fruition.

Our chapter also had an National Award Winner in the Professional Design Competition. Richard Anuszkiewicz of Alt Breeding Schwartz took Second Place for his Large Kitchen, dubbed “Timeless Luxury.”

Baltimore/Washington Chapter member Richard Anuszkiewicz of Alt Breeding Schwartz took Second Place in the national Professional Design Competition in the Large Kitchen category for his design dubbed “Timeless Luxury.”

I was chosen for a Thirty Under 30 honor in 2017 and am delighted to continue my involvement with the Association. On the local level, I’m our chapter’s Programs Chair, and on the national level, I serve on the Chapter Leadership Committee as a liaison between our and the National Board of Directors.

As council members shared their KBIS experiences, our hope was to encourage members to attend the mega-show in the future. We are promoting attendance at our 2018 chapter meetings by holding a yearlong incentive: a chapter member will win a trip to KBIS 2019 in Las Vegas. It’s simple for our members to qualify. Every time they pre-register and check-in for a chapter meeting, they’re entered to win the trip. The more chapter meetings they attend, the greater their chances to win!