Repositioning the American Institute of Architects
Dear Associate Leaders,
Grassroots was a powerful event this year, and I wanted to send an e-mail to recount some of the most notable events.
First and foremost, AIA released a first look at their Repositioning Implementation Plan. Please see this web site for several videos on the Repositioning taken from Grassroots:
http://www.aia.org/about/repositioning/index.htm
The first video, “What it is to be an Architect,” is less than 2 minutes and it is a succinct message at the heart of the repositioning designed to educate the public about what architects do, as well as to help us talk more clearly about what we do to the public.
The next video is the presentation that LaPlaca Cohen and Pentagram gave at Grassroots. I would highly encourage you to watch this video as it outlines the entire Repositioning process to date, which is the largest collection of data LaPlaca Cohen and Pentagram have ever compiled. The message is to shift the conversation away from what the AIA does to why we practice architecture and why architecture matters. The message is really about empowerment and empowering individual members to fuse practice with passion, focus on connectivity and become a messenger for change. Please see the following page for an outline of the Repositioning statements:
http://www.aia.org/about/repositioning/aiab098128
After LaPlaca Cohen and Pentagram’s presentation the AIA responded with the video titled “Repositioning Forum.” I encourage you to listen to the AIA response to LaPlaca Cohen and Pentagram’s presentation as it demonstrates the leadership commitment toward action. After the Repositioning presentations we all broke-out into small groups to discuss what is most important to us. Many topics were explored such as:
· Leadership structure—are one year terms too short for consistency in leadership and institutional memory in the AIA?
- Lack of coordination between local, state, regional and national components
- Board size—are 60 members on the AIA National Board too many to get things done?
- Engage the Emerging Professional
- Inefficacy of Communications—the AIA sends out too many messages and lacks focus
- Passive Reactiveness—the AIA should lead, not follow on important issues
Please see the image at the top, for a list of priorities we discussed and how the participants responded. This response shown here was fairly typical across all the groups in that there was a bell curve of importance, with the three most important items being “engage the emerging professional,” “inefficacy of communications,” and “passive reactiveness.” From this response it is clear that the Emerging Professional is one of the most important priorities among the respondents and with AIA National. This puts us in a great place to ask for what we think is important and to exhibit leadership within the Institute. This commitment to the Emerging Professional should transmitted to your local component leadership.
For the Repositioning the AIA wants actionable goals that signal real change. A few of the take-aways include:
- AIA’s commitment to prioritize initiatives and focus on only those programs with the greatest value to the members and eliminate programs that have less value. This will require analyzing the benefits of different programs, seeking member input and making recommendations to the Board in the Spring of 2014. The AIA will also update/streamline their entire communication strategy and refresh their graphic identity
- The AIA also intends to take a stand on important issues that define and impact the architecture profession.
- Engage the emerging professional by hosting an Emerging Professionals Summit in November 2013. The purpose of this summit will be to develop an action plan for best serving emerging professionals
- Generate a comprehensive study on Gender and Inclusiveness in the profession to be completed by 2014
- Provide an Innovation Fund by 2014 for existing or new programs that can be replicated by other AIA Components
- Select Repositioning Ambassadors to provide guidance in setting AIA-wide priorities
I think that there is a sincere motivation for change within the highest leadership at AIA, so I am hopeful that the changes outlined here will take place and have a positive effect. From discussions at Grassroots I think that it will be valuable to have Emerging Professionals on AIA Boards, including local components. Emerging Professionals should also be treated the same as licensed architects, and we should not be sitting at a “kid’s table.” We are the future of the profession need to be at part of the discussion and at the same table if the AIA is serious about engagement. I’d encourage you to discuss this with your local components. Another important issue is for local firms to value involvement in the AIA and allow time away from work for emerging professionals to be involved. A big change in culture is needed within the profession and each of you will be a part of this change! Making sure that individual architecture firms understand the value of involvement is an issue we can all help solve.
The AIA has also now published an Annual Report that details all of the Institute’s activities and is helpful in understanding the full scope of our Institute. Please download a copy here:
http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab098122.pdf
Finally, AIA National Convention is coming-up soon and I would encourage all Associates to try and attend. There is a discount for early registration, but it ends on April 10th, so please do not delay if you are interested in attending. This is the first year that we will have an Emerging Professionals Lounge within the main convention floor, so it will be an exciting time and we will be literally in the center of all the activity there. Please see this link for more information:
http://convention.aia.org/event/registration/discounts-promotions.aspx
All the best,
Joe
