Forty-three of 111 candidates who participated in the American Institute of Floral Designers' (AIFD) Accreditation Evaluation Session (AES) in Palm Springs, Calif., were successful in their quest, AIFD announced Friday.

The AES provides the Institute a forum in which candidates seeking to become accredited members of AIFD are evaluated by an international panel based on 10 points of professional floral design, including mechanics, balance, color, theme, line and creativity.

"To receive the AIFD accreditation is a very prestigious honor awarded only to those who are able to achieve a successful AES evaluation and who have indicated their desire to help promote the art of professional floral design," noted AIFD President Tom Simmons, AIFD, of Palm Springs. "AIFD has high standards, and even though we are very anxious to grow membership, we will never lower the standards we have set for Accredited Membership. AIFD strives to hold the bar high and motivate designers to achieve that mark."

The candidates who were successful in their AES evaluations will be inducted as members of AIFD during the 2008 Symposium that will be held in Chicago July 3-8, 2008.

During an AIFD AES, candidates have a four-hour window in which they receive flowers and materials and must create five designs (funeral, base arrangement, flowers-to-wear, bridal, and designer's choice). AIFD Communications Manager, Eric Grammer, says candidates do not know the specific type of design for each category -- for example, a standing easel in the funeral category -- or the provided materials until right before they begin their designing.

Twenty-nine of the 43 accredited designers were from the U.S., eight from Korea, two from Mexico, two from Canada, and one each from Indonesia and Puerto Rico, Grammer says. According to AIFD, the U.S. state adding the largest group to AIFD was California, with 15, followed by Arizona with three. AIFD has approximately 1,500 members worldwide

--Kate Penn
kpenn@safnow.org

Previous Article    Next Article