Dialogue

Dear colleagues,

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that I first became a member of AIGA. It was 2001 and I had been working as a designer for six years in Baltimore. My boss received regular communications from AIGA and AIGA Baltimore — well-designed snail-mail goodness. I remember attending my first AIGA Baltimore event — Pulp, Ink, and Hops — an annually celebration of design, paper, printing, and beer. I also remember leaving the event wanting more — to be a part of this community that cared about our craft, supporting each other’s challenges and celebrating each other’s accomplishments. I knew then, as I do now, that AIGA nurtures designers.

Over the years, through good and bad economic times, AIGA was there, providing me with inspiration, guidance, and knowledge. AIGA conferences, competitions, publications, and seminars provided me with a source of inspiration and a sense of community. It became a place to meet people who shared my passion for design. Safe to say I was drinking the AIGA Kool-Aid.

Then things changed. AIGA became predictable: the same people, attending the same events, talking about the same issues, year after year. Even the well-designed snail-mail goodness was replaced by emails. I considered myself an active member in good standing, paid my dues on time, and attended half of the events throughout the year. Why was AIGA starting to feel stale? Why were they cutting services? What initiatives were they working on for us? Where was the design profession going? Why wasn’t I feeling nurtured? Was there still value in my membership?

Nearly a decade later, I began to think about the responsibilities and role of chapter president. Having served on the AIGA Upstate New York board for two years, these questions weren’t new to me. They did, however, take on new meaning and priority in light of the chapter’s geographical, social, economical, and technical challenges. During the past two years I’ve found that these challenges continually alter HOW we manage and execute WHAT we do. With that perspective, I’d like to share what I’ve learned about us, over the past two years.

How are we doing?

We’re doing well, thanks to active members and a collection of sturdy volunteers. In 2010, the board of directors embraced a pretty big idea — managing a chapter that nurtured events throughout the state. We regularly exceed our affiliation requirements, holding more than four events a year. We’ve introduced three new programs (Portfolio Workshop, Portfolio Review, SPARK mentor program) and a great design competition.

As a community, we are more diverse than ever in our backgrounds, training, practice, and ages. But our community is also fractured by geography, and despite our size and numbers, we have not been able to leverage this insight. What can we do to make sure we learn from each other and make the chapter better, for us?

Do the math

Say we have 240+ members scattered across New York. If a quarter of those members are active, that’s 60 members total. Then suppose we have six active cities where members have stepped up to nurture their local design community — that’s 10 active members per hub. Then let’s assume one active member in each hub is willing to volunteer. Is it fair to expect one person to nurture an entire local community? Simply put, your AIGA experience is directly related to your level of involvement — it is what you make it.

Due to the geographic challenges faced by our chapter, our board has been willing to support programming held throughout the state, a concept most members take for granted. Other chapters base their events in one city: AIGA Minnesota travels to Minneapolis; AIGA Wisconsin travel to Madison. To be a member is to be involved: Whose responsibility is it to bring AIGA to Ithaca — your president’s or yours?

The chapter has anticipated and shaped its own change. We have found ways to make sure we are ready to play when the next big idea comes. But the question is: will members play a new role in the chapter’s future?

My career to date was perhaps a dress rehearsal for my role as chapter president. But nothing prepared me to serve. There were decisions with which you agreed and disagreed. I trust that you will provide our next president with constructive suggestions on how to make the experience and the value of membership better.

I encourage you to give these statements some thought and send me suggestions. I will work with chapter leadership and the AIGA national staff to make sure our AIGA is an institution that helps us build on our past, make our present relevant, and make the future a place that we define, together.

Yours,
Chris

Posted by upstatenewyork | April 30, 2012

2:00 minutes left on the clock... you are wiped out... and awaiting graduation.

I recently heard a professor declare “we have everything we need to find our students jobs in New York City”. While this sounds very bold, I disagree. Yes, some colleges have the ability to carry on the task of finding student jobs, but more times than not, students enter the extra-ordinary task of finding themselves a job on their own, after graduation. Students are saying (again) to those who will stop and listen that they are in need of something more than instruction and a proprietary college portfolio. And that call to “something more” hasn’t changed or gone away in the year since I first wrote this letter. Which is why I am re-publishing it here.

Dear Graduating Graphic Design Students,

I appreciate you have had a considerable amount of feedback in the development and completion of your portfolio. However, at this point, it’s not what you know, but who you know, and who they know.

Assuming your ultimate goal is to gain employment following graduation, your main reasons for attending the AIGA Portfolio Reviews next Thursday are as follows:

• Network with professionals;
• have a potential employer become familiar with your work;
• practice your interview skills; and,
• get valuable feedback from professionals. That feedback can be on issues ranging from how best to present your portfolio to whom that person knows in New York City.

Worry less about whether the professional reviewing your portfolio works here in Rochester or in NYC. Worry more about learning whom that person knows. Many of the professionals participating in AIGA’s portfolio review have hundreds of connects along the east coast, not to mention throughout AIGA. Wouldn’t it be nice to have access to those contacts? Professionals are more likely to vouch for graduate they know well, and history shows students who participate in AIGA events build relationships with professionals who are willing to work on their behalf.

It’s not too late. Make the most of your time at the upcoming portfolio review and other events, meet as many people as possible, take business cards or copies of your resume, and practice talking about yourself and your work. You never know where it might lead.

Yours,
Chris

4^th Annual AIGA Portfolio Review - Albany, Rochester, Syracuse - Register today!

Posted by upstatenewyork | April 3, 2012

Call for Nominations

Our annual call for Board Nominations has been extended to Thursday April 19, 2012. Don't be shy. If you're interested in being considered for a position we want to hear about it. Know someone you think would be a rock star addition to the team? We'd love to hear about that, too.

New Board Positions begin July 01, 2012.

Nominations are now being accepted for the following positions:

Directors
Our Directors meet monthly to discuss and vote on agenda items. We're a collaborative team that has fun, too. Most Directors are in charge of a committee as well, so there is usually some work outside of the monthly board meetings. Directors may also have the opportunity to attend the annual National Leadership Retreat held each summer in June. Directors must be members of AIGA and commit to a one or two-year term.

Treasurer (2 year term)
Taxes, and money, and spreadsheets -- oh my! The Finance Director leads the charge in our chapter's fiduciary responsibility.

Secretary (2 year term)
Are you an organized notetaker? Serve as a historian/archivist for the Chapter recording meeting minutes and oversees all Chapter documentation.

Membership Director (1 year term)
Without members, we don't really have a chapter, now do we? The Membership Director encouraging new memberships, as well as, helping with the needs of our existing membership. They're also an ambassador in the community to raise awareness about the benefits of joining AIGA.

Events Director (1 year term)
Programming is at the core of what our chapter does. Help enrich our members’ AIGA experience by working your event management skills.

Mentor Director (1 year term)
Help connect younger emerging designers with established design professionals encouraging the future success of the design industry with SPARK.

Committees
These super-volunteers are the Board's task-force. Committees will meet with their Directors often and are not required to attend the formal board meetings. Committee members are all about getting things done. It's a one-year commitment, and AIGA membership is not required (but it is highly encouraged). If you're a go-getter and want to get involved, let us know.

Sponsorship (2+ people)
AIGA is a non-profit organization. Many of our programs wouldn't be possible without the generous sponsorships, both cash and in-kind, from local businesses. If you're a networker, this may be a great position for you.

Events (2+ people)
Programming is at the core of what our chapter does. You'll be helping to bring even more design-inspired events to the Upstate New York Area area.

Communications (2+ people)
Words more your thing? Fantastic! We're specifically looking for committee members with Public Relations and Social Media skills to help us boost media attention.

Web (2+ people)
In the next year or so, we'll be rolling out a new website, so we need committee members with good front-end development skills.

The Details
Send your nomination to mailto: vicepresident@upstatenewyork.aiga.org using the subject line: “Nomination to AIGA UPSTNY Board.”

Include the nominee's name, position(s) interested in and complete contact information by Thursday April 19. Once invitations are accepted, the current Board will put together a slate for our members to review online. New terms will begin in July. If you have any questions about the process or positions, contact our Vice President, Sarah Burns atmailto: vicepresident@upstatenewyork.aiga.org.

We're looking forward to bringing another year of programming. We hope you can be a part of it.

Posted by upstatenewyork | April 3, 2012

AIGA Upstate New York is committed to supporting the interests of professional designers and strives to play an authoritative role in promoting and communicating standards for ethical conduct and professional practice in the design industry.

Recently, AIGA Upstate New York has been made aware of a local design contest that include a solicitation of design concepts to be produced on a speculative basis.

The contest for the Friends of the Public Market (FOPM) Logo Contest hypocritically shows a disregard for the value of arts and design by asking creative people to submit—for free—finished logo options that will be used to identify the Public Market in print, media and selected merchandise, recognizing Rochester’s cultural and creative heritage. The winning logo would be rewarded with a cash prize of $200 and $100 in market credit.

The contest utilize speculative (or “spec”) work, a process that undermines the quality of each organization’s stated outcomes. Through competitions, both organizations risk compromised quality as little time, energy, and thought can go into speculative work, which precludes the most important element of most design projects—the research, thoughtful consideration of alternatives, and development and testing of prototype designs.

On behalf of its members, AIGA Upstate New York president responded on February 15th with an email and subsequently met on February 20th with the organizers of this contest in an attempt to explain AIGA’s position on spec work. Below, find an excerpt from that letter, which is based on language initially drafted by AIGA executive director Ric Grefé.

Excerpt from letters to Friends of the Public Market:

[...] AIGA, the nation’s largest and oldest professional association for design, strongly discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted on a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a project.

There are several reasons for this position.

First, to assure the client receives the most appropriate and responsive work. Successful design work results from a collaborative process between a client and the designer, developing a clear sense of the client’s objectives, competitive situation, and needs. Speculative design competitions or processes result in a superficial assessment of the problem and can only result in a design that is judged on a superficial basis. Design creates value for clients as a result of the approach designers take in addressing the problems or needs of the client and only at the end of that process is a “design” created. Speculative or open competitions for work based on a perfunctory problem statement will not result in the kind of work a client deserves.

Second, capable and professional designers do not work for free. While there will always be some designers who are willing to create designs in response to an open call for work, without any assurance of compensation, the buyer immediately relegates his or her choices among those designers who are least likely to be experienced, knowledgeable designers who are in demand among clients and who work according to the professional standards of the profession. Only too often, it results in a client eventually having to bring a more experienced designer onto a project in order to execute it.

Finally, requesting work for free reflects a lack of understanding and respect for the value of effective design as well as the time of the professionals who are asked to provide it. This approach reflects on your practices and standards.

If you would like us to work with you in developing a process that will benefit you most and maintain the professional standards we would expect of an organization such as yours, please do not hesitate to give me a call.

Sincerely,
Christopher Goldan
President
AIGA Upstate New York

Click here for further information regarding AIGA’s position on spec work.

AIGA's response to the NEA's call for logos
http://www.aiga.org/what-is-aigas-response-to-the-neas-call-for-logos/

AIGA urges the Obama campaign to reconsider its poster contest
http://www.aiga.org/aiga-urges-the-obama-2012-campaign-to-reconsider-its-jobs-poster-contest/

Posted by upstatenewyork | March 7, 2012

The AIGA Upstate New York Chapter nominating committee, chaired by current Vice President, Sarah Burns, is seeking nominations to be submitted by Monday, April 2, 2012. Serving on the board affords individuals abundant professional and personal development opportunities while helping to advance the design profession as a whole. Board descriptions can be found here: http://upstatenewyork.aiga.org/about/board_members/descriptions

Please send the name and complete contact information of individuals interested in serving a term on the AIGA Upstate New York Board of Directors. To do so, send an email to membership@upstatenewyork.aiga.org using the subject line: “Nomination to AIGA UPSTNY Board.”

New Board Positions begin July 01, 2012.

We encourage every AIGA member to consider nominating candidates for the AIGA Upstate New York board of directors. Self-nomination is permitted. If you are nominated by another, the board will notify you of this honor to ensure your acceptance.

To join AIGA visit: http://www.aiga.org/join/

Board members who are staying involved in one capacity or another are: Dennis Angelo, Chris Goldan, and Marc Stress.

Posted by upstatenewyork | March 6, 2012