What a crazy fall, wait a minute there was no fall, we went right into winter. We had no Indian summer; snow came early and decided to stay. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and you were able to share time with family and found everything you were looking for on Black Friday. This is generally my day to decorate the outside of our home. I do not venture out on this day. But times they are a changing; I actually visited one store at 6:00 AM and found what I was looking for. It was the Tractor Supply Store in Standish and I had to race the elderly to the door. No, I did not push anyone down.
I had the opportunity to attend Southwest’s Chapters design awards this month. It was a wonderful venue. Congratulations to the award winners and to all those who submitted projects. Southwest has some great things going on.
Even though the year is coming to a close and we are getting closer to the holidays, churches have already closed out the year and have begun the advent season. Its time for new beginnings, a new season, and a new year.
Speaking of new beginnings, next year Norm Hamann, AIA, your 2019 Vice President will be heading up our 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. He and his committee will be reviewing where AIA MI is at and where we need to go. I am working at this time to gather representation both young and seasoned Associates/Architects from the majority of chapters/sections to help develop our plan that will lead us into the future. There is a term used,” to think outside of the box”. Personally, this is not one of my favorites, as there is a reason to review what is inside the box/history, so some items are not repeated, and others can be maintained. We must preserve our values of fellowship, knowledge and advocacy and look forward to those who will lead us in the exciting years ahead. This will require vision, to recognize how our organization can and should be different from what we are now and how we should serve our membership in the future while still meeting our core requirements. I hope to share their names with you next month, so you can thank them for their service and maybe provide support/ideas on how AIA MI can better serve our membership in the years to come.
Our hopes are that this planning will be completed in 3 meetings. The current plan is to role out a draft at the August 2019 board meeting and the final will be presented at our annual October 2019 leadership session. Wish us luck.
I invite the Strategic Committee to get “Wild”, the world needs a lot more “Wild” in our lives. I borrowed this idea from an article written in the October MSBO newsletter written by Mary Beth Rogers, ED.S.
Look up the definition of Wild and you get;
Passionately eager or enthusiastic
Going beyond normal or conventional bounds
Indicative of a strong passion, desire or emotion
Without regulation or control
Off an intended or expected course
Here are some antonyms for the word “Wild”; apathetic, indifferent, uneager and unenthusiastic. So why not get wild in our professions, offices and lives. I encourage you to be Wildly Present, Wildly Original and Wildly Welcome.
Mark your calendars and check them twice for the AIA MI annual open house on December 13
th
at 4:00 PM. We can celebrate with friends and bring in the New Year.
Yours in AIA,
Dan La Pan, AIA
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Executive Director's Message
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We hope you can join us this year for the
Holiday Open House
on Thursday, December 13th at 4PM!
Book your hotel today for the
2019 Conference on Architecture
Convention Info
There are many hotels to choose from the official AIA Hotel is the Wynn. Due to the variety, we will not be providing a room block. Please book early.
Remember to add
aiami@aiami.com
to your press release list. We want to share your news with the members.
Please click
here
to renew your membership online!
Cathy Mosley, Hon. Aff. AIAMI
Executive Director
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Emerging Professionals Corner
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Greetings from the Emerging Professionals Desk!
Welcome to the “brightest” dark days of the year. This is a special time for celebrating both secular and many religious holidays- we put down our work and enjoy family, friends, and the traditions which we hold dear. Now, I might be a heathen as I didn’t have turkey on Thanksgiving, and no, it wasn’t a tofu dinner either. Despite my protein choice, the holiday grows more important as I age. Reflecting on my blessings of family and the privilege this country offers us, I truly feel thankful. This EP has had quite a year and I am sure it is no different for most of us. As 2019 approaches quickly, my past columns this time of year have spoken to taking stock of our careers and maybe even making changes and how we can have great impact.
This year, “
let’s talk about US
”.
Why does the American Institute of Architects matter? More importantly, why does
your
membership to AIA matter?
In my mind, I joined and continue to sustain my membership in AIA as it creates an “us”, a “we”, a collective of persons and knowledge which can only make “our” voice stronger, knowledge shared, and fellowship lived.
The institute allows a profession that in some states is being challenged for its relevancy, meaning each of “our” own relevancy to fight and challenge on the collective individuals’ behalf. We cannot ever rest on our laurels, as the next great challenge for us legislatively might only be a lobbyist and a bill away. The access, resources, and voice garnered by a larger group, rather than a single constituent is real. It is the difference between getting a meeting, a phone call, or a written response. Ultimately, it is having the ability to effect policy.
We as members assist young college graduates to the well-seasoned with learning opportunities in a neutral environment. Whether preparing for licensing exams, sharing best practices in building technology, AIA has focused educational resource content at all organizational levels. No other provider can come close to in range, depth, and relevancy AIA presents.
Our organization gathers around like-minded ideas and symposiums. Locally, most chapters produce events with world-renown experts sharing via panel discussions, lectures, or approachable building tours. Coming this winter, AIA Michigan has its annual Health Facilities Conference, a nationally one-of a kind event bringing together State Officials, Architects, and facility professionals. Without the “us”, we must resort to asking questions on our own- sure, make an appointment with LARA. With the AIA, we can listen to the breadth of questions being fielded from dozens of experienced practitioners, that is invaluable and a much richer knowledge share.
Us, the AIA celebrates and brings about collegial understanding- which very few industries have. We have awards to recognize, assisting in industry validation for volunteerism, exceptional work, and contributions to our own institute. It matters that we recognize our competitors, our colleagues, and ourselves for jobs well done. Few industries can gather 25 different service providers, firms, or bidders and have them actually talk to each other in a civilized fashion. We
can
be a noble breed.
Lastly, our AIA holds us all to a higher standard. We have a code of ethics and integrity which are essential to making us closer to academics than sales representatives. We don’t eat our young and do pay our interns. We nurture, mentor, and support in
and
out of the office. When there is a national disaster, AIA Disaster Assistance is there with Architect volunteers to help. We treat our clients as more than our own pay-checks, rather as patrons. Our AIA Canons, Ethical Standards, and Rules of conduct make us all better and place value on us as individual member.
Simply put, each of us make AIA matter. No one of us is smarter than ALL of US. Our volunteerism, activation, and even dues dollars make us all stronger Architects. Regardless the role, each of us play a critical part in our local, region, and national chapter’s relevancy and future.
Now go have some holiday cheer!
Best of season’s greetings to each of you and a fantastic new AIA year ahead in 2019!
Matt Guinta, AIA
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Available - Brightwood's 5.0 Study Guides! Please call 313-965-4100 or email
Evelyn Dougherty
to borrow the study materials!
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- Amanda Harrell-Seyburn, Associate AIA and her Art Spaces for All collaboration with the Lansing Art Gallery is now published in ARHITECT Magazine's website and the November issue of the magazine.
- Stephanie Challender, Associate AIA is now Stephanie Challender, AIA - Congratulations, Stephanie!
- Michael Galovan, Assocaite AIA is now Michael Galovan, AIA - Congratulations, Michael!
- Yao Ma, Associate AIA is now Yao Ma, AIA - Congratulations, Yao!
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Members who joined, rejoined or transferred to AIA Michigan!
October 2018
Jessica Dovletian, AIA
Jason L. Ficklen Sr., Assoc. AIA
Katie A. Potts, Assoc. AIA
Michael J. Brehmer, AIA
Darius A. Horton, Assoc. AIA
Xinyun Wang, Assoc. AIA
Glenn R. Karpf, Assoc. AIA
Nicole R. Semmler, Assoc. AIA
Welcome to AIA Michigan and we look forward to meeting you at future events!
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Upcoming Events:
Holiday Open House
December 13
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Strategic Plan 2014 -2020
As the architectural profession moves through the first decade of the twenty-first century, it becomes increasingly obvious that the pace of change continues to accelerate . . .
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Contact the Staff
Executive Director of AIA Michigan: Events and Programming, Finances, Communications, Membership, Government Affairs, Sponsorship
Operations Director: Event Planning, Documents, Continuing Education, Membership
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