Why was the Debbie Millman Lecture a Success?

By Bill Klingensmith

The history of our region mostly states when there are design-related lectures, attendance is usually light and the report back is that those in attendance have great reviews. This was taken into great consideration this past year when our chapter scheduled their events. The goal: market the daylights out of it. When we invited Debbie Millman to be on our schedule, I knew she was a dynamic, entertaining and informative speaker. I also knew no one in our creative community should miss this event. The topic of branding is a thread the pulls through nearly all of the creative disciplines of Upstate New York. This event was for every one of those disciplines; not just for AIGA members.

The venue of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery provided ample space and services that created the perfect solution for holding our event. Many times there is feedback from those outside of Rochester that critique the decision of physical location as the reason to miss such events. This time we broke that excuse with having people attend from as far away as Albany. There were an unprecedented 225+ people in attendance. The majority of these people were not AIGA members but were those in the Upstate New York creative community who value relevant content to their industry. The feedback we received afterwards was incredibly positive.

The question I have is “Why was this event such a success?”

As mentioned, the content was very important to everyone. The majority of those that I spoke to before the event did not know Debbie Millman. Many of these same people had only just begun to hear about AIGA Upstate New York. They came out for the evening of content and networking.

My thoughts on why are directly attached to the past 2 years our chapter has taken the initiative to be the leader of the Upstate New York design community. Not with the intent for ownership of this community, but with the intent to foster stronger relationships of individuals and businesses between cities of our region. I have seen the slow yet important growth of this new network across our regions channels of design, advertising, marketing and education.

The success of this event proved that there is a sea change occurring in the Upstate New York design industry. Much of this change is directly associated with two factors; better communication and more opportunities to network locally. This directly ties into Debbie Millman’s lecture on branding. The chapter’s member’s efforts of the last two years have encouraged a regeneration of a brand. This brand is our design community. As a human being, you have an innate desire to be part of a group of like-minded people.

I hope you continue to strengthen this brand by creating projects or events in your local community. Then reach out to others who share similar passions and include them in your efforts. When you do. Let the AIGA board members know about your activities. They will certainly champion your efforts in AIGA communications. Connecting you with all the other like-minded individuals that are your peers and colleagues in our region.

Please take a moment and share your thoughts on the Debbie Millman lecture and how we can keep this momentum continuing in future AIGA happenings.

Posted by newyorkupstate in News | May 10, 2010