Austin Businessman Wins National Floral Industry Design Competition and Receives National Honor
Palm Beach, Fla. - Sept. 18, 2008 - Austin businessman Coby Neal, AIFD, PFCI, owner of The Flower Studio, won the Society of American Florists' (SAF) Sylvia Cup Design Competition on Sept. 18 during the association's 124th Annual Convention at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla. He also was inducted into the association's speakers bureau, the Professional Floral Communicators - International (PFCI). "It is an incredible feeling to know that I can count myself among an elite group of individuals who can claim to own the prestigious Sylvia Cup," Neal says. As the grand-prize winner, Neal received the Sylvia Cup (an engraved silver champagne bucket), $2,500, complimentary registration to SAF's next convention and recognition at SAF's Industry Awards Dinner.
Neal is among the 80 professionals who hold the PFCI designation, which represents excellence in floral business communication. He presents programs for the Texas State Florists' Association, garden clubs, art galleries, and local chapters of the American Institute of Architects and International Special Events Society (ISES). He won the Florists' Review 2008 Best Wedding Reception Award, and Wedding Day Magazine's 2008 Best Creative Contributions Award. Neal also received several honors from local ISES chapters including the Austin chapter's Lifetime Achievement and Spirit of ISES awards, and the Dallas chapter's Texas Star Award for Best Tabletop & Best Floral Design. He served on the local ISES Board of Directors, as TSFA's décor chairman and is an Allied Florists of Houston member.
The Sylvia Cup is the U.S. floral industry's longest running annual, live national floral design competition. This year's competition tested the skills of 24 designers, including 18 who have placed in other design competitions, and 14 members of the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD). Contact Shelley Estersohn at (800) 336-4743, or sestersohn@safnow.org for photographs from the Sylvia Cup and the PFCI induction.
The Society of American Florists is the association for all segments of the floral industry including wholesalers, growers and retailers. SAF is proud to provide marketing, business and government services for more than 12,000 participants in the U.S. floral industry.