It is a busy Day 1 of the Elements Showcase in New York City. Starting with a sponsored panel by Six Scents on Multidisciplinary Collaboration and ending in the evening with the first ever Fragrance Foundation Fifi Award for best Indie Fragrance of 2011. I'll be checking in all day from the opening panel right through to the award so keep checking back for the latest news direct from the Elements Showcase expo floor.

12:30PM The panel on Multidisciplinary Collaboration sponsored by Six Scents just finished. Levi Pharoah hosted the panel and there were a number of interesting views put out over the hour. The one that is going to stay with me came from Chandler Burr The Curator of Olfactive Art at the Museum of Art and Design. He said that the collaboration really begins in some farmer's field where the raw ingredient which eventually finds its way into a perfume bottle is grown and harvested. He said when you view it that way "The entire world is in every bottle of perfume."

2:00PM Was just downstairs experiencing Andrea Maack's collaboration multidisciplinary installation of her art posted on a board in giant strips. After you experience all five, yes I said five, of her fragrances you choose which one you want sprayed on one of the strips and she removes it and gives it to you in an envelope. Best. Scent. Strip. Ever! Now to the fragrances there are two new ones Dark and Silk. Which one is on my artistic scent strip? That would be telling.

4:00 PM Just did the rounds with a very pregnant Dawn Spencer Hurwitz and her Gemini-to-be work in progress. We both enjoyed the new Asian inspired line Di Ser. The whole line has an amazing Japanese clean architecture that is almost palate cleansing in its quality.  I also spoke with Tony Perez from Belle Fleur and he surprised me and told me to expect a fine fragrance line before the end of the year to accompany the room sprays and candles. I hear Ralf Schweiger might be the nose…Shhh! it's a secret.

5:30 PM In a short time we will know who the first winner of the Indie FiFi award will be. While waiting for the ceremony I am having a huge amount of fun meeting some of my colleagues in the blogging community. Victoria Jent of EauMG, and DJ Ron of Notable Scents were two of the many I have spent time talking to today. Ineke pressed me into service behind her booth while she heeded the call of nature. In exchange I found out her next alphabet fragrance will be called Hothouse Flower and the flower in question will be…..gardenia. We also found out the next Juliette Has A Gun fragrance by Romano Ricci is going to be a non-rose floral.

7:30PM The winner of the first ever Indie FiFi Award which carries a $10,000 prize from Givaudan is……..Odin 06 Amanu! A very awesome ceremony and hopefully the beginning of a tradition for the Elements Showcase.

That's it for me tonight. I'll be back tomorrow with more news from the floor of the Elements Showcase in New York City.

Good night.

–Mark Behnke, Managing Editor