(Warning: The following post contains unabashed praise of awards ceremonies.  Love of awards shows, or covetedstatuetteitis, is known to be contagious.  Read on at your own risk.)

What can I say?  I admit it.  I love awards shows.  Always have.  Always will.  Maybe it's the romantic side of me, but I find something truly magical about those grandiose nights... something beyond the glitz that locks each one of them in a special place close to my heart.

Even as a kid, I never missed an opportunity to take in an awards show.  Grammys, Oscars, Emmys... it made no difference.  I was there, wide-eyed, soaking in every second. And yes I literally mean every second, as those friends of mine forced to watch countless hours of The Blockbuster Movie Awards can attest to.  Others yet can tell you of crazed 5am frantic phone calls revolving around just announced Oscar Nominations (The years Julia Roberts was nominated were particularly bad and I should probably apologize once again for the hysteria).  And yes I am aware that most nominees are not even awake at that time.  I throw mass viewing parties.  I even pre-print ballots for guessing the nights honorees.  My own personal favorite awards moment from years past involves me huddled under the world's hottest and heaviest duvet at 1am, trying to hide the light of a 13-inch TV screen and the fact that I was still awake, waiting for the announcement of Dances With Wolves as Best Picture. I think I lost 15 lbs that night.

Why all the excitement you ask?  Am I crazy?  Am I not aware that these awards shows are nothing but shameless self-promotion by industry insiders intent on selling me more stuff?  Have I been brainwashed by some secret Daytime Emmy cult led by Susan Lucci?

Now who's being cynical?

You see, on those magical nights, everyone stops, and for just one moment, remembers the beauty of what they do, where they were a year ago and how exactly they got to this moment.  Awards nights are memory-making nights, mile markers on the path of history, with each year another chapter to be added to the story.  While the ceremonies themselves may range from basic to overly flamboyant, it's what's going on behind the glitz that I am seeing.  Beneath all the pomp and circumstance, is one simple truth: for the people sitting in that room, this is it... this is their moment.  That's the beauty I am watching for.

Obviously, The FiFi Awards are even-more-so dear to my heart.  But beyond the obvious reasons why, lies their connection to fragrance history. For six decades, The Fragrance Foundation has been dedicated to elevating the love and importance of fragrance in people's lives.  Since it's founding in 1949, two years after the success of Dior's New Look and a decade after the New York Expo, The Fragrance Foundation has been dedicated to educating people about the beauties of fragrance.  At that time, the world was still recovering from the aftermath of WWII.  After a harsh decade, people's attitudes had changed, and consequently, businesses were being forced to rethink old strategies.  At the center of this rethinking was a new tool in the marketers arsenal: public relations.  

And it would be public relations that would lead industry leaders from Elizabeth Arden, Coty, Guerlain, Helena Rubenstein, Chanel and Parfums Weil to sit down at the table together and officially form The Fragrance Foundation.  This was a monumental moment that would see known competitors allying to better understand this new fragrant world.  Companies would join forces to educate people about the pleasures of fragrance in all its forms, a move that would see fragrance elevated into the world of the elite... a piece of glamour achievable by anyone.

This would prove to be an exceptionally creative time for designers, with such classics as Miss Dior, Femme, and L'Air du Temps.  From this creativity would also rise industry giant, Estée Lauder, and the birth of the American Prestige market.  The industry was seeing exceptional growth worldwide.

By 1973, The Fragrance Foundation's membership roster included designers, retailers, packagers, manufacturers, and suppliers, as well as media and public relations representatives.  In order to highlight the accomplishments of industry leaders over the past years, The Fragrance Foundation would create what would later be known as the FiFi Awards.  Each year, industry leaders would gather to honor the achievements of their fellow members and mutually acknowledge the current state of the industry. They would gather to celebrate where they were and look to where they were going... together.  

So you ask why do the FiFi Awards mean so much to me?

Because the FiFi Award is a symbol of 60 years of camaraderie.  On May 27th, while I admit I will enjoy getting dressed up, will probably get lost talking to celebs, will most certainly be inspired by conversations with master perfumers, and will quite possibly eat and drink too much... none of that will matter.   What will matter is the memories that dance across the room, permeating from the skin of the people in it.  Memories that grew from that one moment 60 years ago.  Those fragrances dancing across the room, old and new, will tell the stories of where I have been and where I'm going.