March 2009 | Newsletter

Collectively, all of us in the Upstate New York Design have been making steps forward into building a stronger community. Creative Eats has been very effective in identifying designers in specific geographic locations. These collegial meetings have generated lots of wonderful ideas. To help harness them, the board has created an online form for you to submit your ideas for events and/or projects in your region at GOT AN IDEA?

To help us better understand the state of our industry and what we can do to make the most of it. We have added a few resources that are very timely and helpful. These resources are for members in good standing, you gain access to the Center for Practice Management. After logging in, there are many PDF resources and one free webinar “GOOD IDEAS FOR BAD TIMES�. More webinars have been added for you in the coming months.

Watch the March video summary of the chapter news. VIEW VIDEO.

Have a great month and please attend your local Creative Eats!
Bill Klingensmith
AIGA UPSTNY - President

2009 AIGA UPSTNY ROUNDTABLE

During the first week of April, we will be conducting our annual roundtable—where a small cross section of our members will come together for two hours one evening and share their thoughts on the strategic choices facing AIGA as it approaches it's 100th year as America's professional association for design. We will use your valuable feedback to define our strategy going forward on such matters as who we serve, what we do, how we communicate and how we can support the current and next generation of creatives. You'll interact with fellow AIGA members on a one-on-one basis in a comfortable, friendly environment and refreshments will be served. More importantly, however, your voice will be heard on how best to transform the future of AIGA.

If you would like to have your name added to the list of potential roundtable attendees, please email Roundtable Chairperson, Lori Reed at treasurer@upstatenewyork.aiga.org no later than Friday, March 13. Invitations to participate will be sent out later this month and we hope that if you are one of the few being asked to participate that you will give serious consideration to contributing your time and thoughts to this effort.

How Has the Economic Downturn Affected AIGA?

by Richard Grefé | AIGA Excecutive Director |  February 26, 2009

This is included from the AIGA National web site. We know this article applies to many of us in the UPSTNY design community.  Any comments, Please feel free to add them here : ECONOMIC DOWNTURN COMMENTS

AIGA is developing services to help designers prepare for the economy’s beginning to grow again—in particular, several training partnerships that will help designers take advantage of this slow period by improving their skills and becoming more competitive. We have also reinforced the AIGA Center for Practice Management by launching a new series of affordably priced webinars, offered exclusively to AIGA members, to help them get through the management challenges of this slowdown. We believe strongly—and many management experts concur—that the mantra of any professional designer must be: train, train, train, learn, learn, learn.
>>READ MORE

Center for Practice Management | Webinar Season

Members-only benefit: new series of CPM webinars to help you with your business!

AIGA is proud to announce six new webinars offered exclusively to our members to provide insight and hands-on tips for handling the most pressing issues facing freelance designers and design firms today. Led by Shel Perkins, each one-hour session begins at 11:00 a.m. Pacific/2:00 p.m. Eastern and includes a 45-minute PowerPoint presentation and 15 minutes of Q&A.

AIGA members, register for single presentations at $55 each. Or better yet, save $60 by purchasing the package of all six webinars for $270! Sign up for one or all:

• Income Taxes for Freelancers
  THURSDAY, MARCH 19  >>VIEW DETAILS


• Copyright and Trademark Basics
  WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 >>VIEW DETAILS


• Terms and Conditions for Design Contracts
  TUESDAY, MAY 26 >>VIEW DETAILS


• Calculating a Freelance Rate
  THURSDAY, JULY 2 >>VIEW DETAILS


• Insurance Basics for Designers
  WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5 >>VIEW DETAILS


• Setting Rates for a Firm
  TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 >>VIEW DETAILS

Productivity Tip: RSS Feeds

By Paul Stonier | Associate Member
I have to admit, I took to the use of RSS feeds a little late compared to some people. At first, I was a bit confused. I’d go to a link for a feed and just see what seemed to be a plain text version of the blog I was just reading. It wasn’t until I realized that you could manage your subscriptions to these RSS feeds with a “Reader�. The lightbulb came on and I realized why so many people were such big fans of these plain text blogs. All of a sudden, I could work through the content of all the blogs that I spent hours typing in addresses, clicking pages of bookmarks in a fraction of the time. We all feel like there is never enough time in a day, this let’s us fly through and pay attention to only what we want.

>>READ MORE

NITTY-GRITTY:
Abdication, Delegation or MicroManagement: What’s Your Style?

Micro-management is one of the biggest challenges facing designers turned managers. Suddenly, behaviors that helped you succeed could now be holding you back. Are you a creative director, manage your own studio staff or just hire freelancers sometimes? Are you frustrated because you need to check everything and do so much re-work? If so, join us for a quick hour and a heads up on how to avoid the micro-management trap. Join Pam Bryan at the Nitty-Gritty and learn:

• What is micro-management and why does it happen


• 5 Ways to tell if you are micro-managing


• 8 Ways micro-managers can cure themselves


• The rules of effective delegation and what they mean in a design studio

WEDNESDAY, March 11th, 2009 @ 10:30 A.M.

This is a teleforum. Register with Pam here and she will send you a phone number and code. Then make the call! All it costs you is the phone call.

LEARN MORE HERE>>>

CREATIVE EATS: Getting it Together

February was very productive for the CREATIVE EATS meetings. Groups are starting to pull together and make plans for their cities.  There will be gatherings in BUFFALO, ROCHESTER, SYRACUSE, ALBANY and ALFRED UNIVERSITY. Please check the web site for times and location.

THURSDAY, March 19th. 2009

Registration is now easier!
EVENTBRITE: Creative Eats Buffalo
EVENTBRITE: Creative Eats Rochester
EVENTBRITE: Creative Eats Syracuse
EVENTBRITE: Creative Eats Albany

Milton Glaser | Poster Show in SYR

We are happy to announce a poster show in Syracuse of 27 original posters, including the iconic 1967 Dylan poster and the poster designed specifically for the Onondaga show.

February 25-March 25, 2009

The Gallery at the Ann Felton Multicultural Center
Onondaga Community College
4585 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY 13215

Gallery Hours: Monday-Friday: 9am-4pm, or by appointment. Call 315-498-2401.

Opening Reception: Thursday, March 12th
College reception: 11:00am-12:00pm | Community reception: 5:00pm-7:30pm

FACEBOOK and OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA

Our chapter has created a FACEBOOK GROUP and you are invited to join. It is a great way to meet others from across the UPSTATE and create meaningful dialogue. One great use of this group is the Discussion Boards. Keep up with what other cities are talking about at their Creative Eats meet-ups.

If you have other ideas about using social media to help connect the UPSTNY Design community, please, let us know!

Posted by newyorkupstate in News | March 9, 2009