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AIA President Gordon H. Chong, FAIA, began Friday's
session on a high note: he reported that the group raised more than $29,000
for ArchiPAC yesterday! He called order to the session by telling all
that it was "Component Leadership Day," an opportunity for participants
to acquire knowledge about the issues and sharpen leadership skills. Under
that banner, he said, "It is more than fitting that we recognize
a local component whose actions since September 11 have been nothing short
of inspirational and nothing less than profoundly compassionate."
Chong
described the AIA New York Chapter's response to the terrorist attack
by galvanizing their members, local architecture firms, and their partners
in New York's design and construction industry to reach out to everyone
who was afflicted by this tragedy. He mentioned in particular the chapter's
co-sponsoring with the New York Building Congress the "World Trade
Memorial Fund," which became the recommended recipient of financial
assistance from architects everywhere. Chong presented the citation to
President-elect George Miller, FAIA; Past President Margaret Helfand,
FAIA; President Leevi Kiil, AIA; and Executive Director Frederic Bell,
FAIA. It reads in part, "Out of the ashes of a great tragedy, they
have given voice to the hopes and concerns of all of us and brought together
the energy and vision of the design professions and community leaders
to honor the memory of those struck down by fostering bold and still unfolding
acts of creativity."
State of the Institute
Executive Director Norman L. Koonce, FAIA, reported that the Institute
is stronger in many ways than it was a year ago. We currently have more
than 72,000 members, the great level of membership in our history. "Plus,
we are not struggling with data base and dues collection system, and AEC
Direct is now history," Koonce said. "We created good relationships
with all the partners, and the loss was far, far less than anticipated."
Treasurer Douglas L Steidl, FAIA, added that although
finances have been a concern, especially last year with the dissolution
of AEC Direct, "I have the privilege of presenting a positive financial
report."
Steidl explained that according to the three-year
plan developed last year, the Institute was supposed to raise projected
net assets from -$5.6 million to -$3.0 million. At the end of 2001, however,
projected net assets stood at +$1.4 million, due to: an AEC closeout with
total cost of $2.1 million (much less than expected), extension of the
Architectural Record magazine contract that gave the Institute $1 million
more than expected, and an operating budget that spent $60,000 less than
expected.
"The 2002 budget will bring assets up to $2.5
million, a year ahead of budget," Steidl explained. "We're on
the right track financially. It's been a tough track for the last two
years, and will be in 2002. We're now optimistic about the future."
Koonce said that he felt like the Institute for
the past two years has been "playing not to lose. I think we can
play the Year 2002 to win." He cited significant collaboration between
the CACE Executive Committee and the AIA Management Council as a key ingredient
in the turnaround.
Some of the positives to chalk up include:
1. Creation of a job board (visit
the Career Center) Job bank.
2. A renewed partnership with the McGraw-Hill
Construction Information Group
3. New benchmark research being
conducted through the national ad campaign, which will tell us about the
current public perception of architects
4. The Associates Committee is charting
a new course for participation by associate members, the fastest growing
component of AIA
5. A new research agenda, spearheaded
by John Eberhard, FAIA, will focus on how the mind responds to physical
form; as well as redesigning the workplace.
6. Response to the 9/11 crisis included
development of an internal security working group to help other architects
and clients.
Points the Institute needs to work on, Koonce said,
include:
Scholarships: Although the
investment market has reduced our ability to give scholarships, the program
is back on target, thanks largely to an outpouring of support from state
and local components. They offer $300,000 in scholarships through 29 programs.
There is a telephone meeting slated for next week to coordinate these
efforts, Koonce said.
AIA contract docs: Increased
market competition and an electronic documents program are two factors
that have the Documents Committee leading discussions on a new product
might be researched, developed, marketed, and teamed with a docs education
plan. A new task force on use will be formed in the near future.
Inclusiveness: We need to
pursue inclusiveness with other members of the building industry, Koonce
said, "beyond the issue of membership or membership categories."
Extensive sharing of Best Practices:
"We need to develop attitudes of sharing," Koonce said. He concluded
with a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt: "The future belongs to those
who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
(Click
here for the current financial report)
A national conversation
"I would like to introduce the vision of a National Conversation;
a conversation about the issues and the opportunities; a conversation
whose goal is the attainment of a preferred future for our profession,
our clients, and the public we serve," Chong. He introduced a half-hour
video presentation, which will be shared with all components. The video
features AIA President-elect Thom Penney, FAIA; Koonce, and Chong discussing
the preferred future for the architecture profession. Some of the topics
they covered include:
How do we accommodate the rapid pace of change?
How do architects satisfy the client's request for expanding services;
how do we develop timely and concise information to help our members do
their jobs?
Do we need a new business model for project delivery? Our challenge
is to find common language and define our objectives.
How do we promote collaboration across the building industryincluding
ownersso necessary
Do our documents address these issues adequately?
How do we develop a culture of sharing?
Do we as a profession need to pursue certification of specialties?
How does that affect the small practice?
How do we begin to frame our role in creating livable communities?
Does use of the generic use of the word "architect" diminish
the role of licensed architect? How do we define our profession? Do we
need to hold onto our standards of what a registered architect is?
Where does the architecture academy need to be going? How do we
as a profession attract, reward, and maintain the best and the brightest?
A national conversation:
Coming soon to an AIA chapter near you
AIA President-elect Thom Penney, FAIA, and CACE board representative Janet
Pike, Hon. AIA, then asked the component leaders to facilitate a "national
conversation" at their local chapters before May 10, with the promise
that the national component staff will review and synthesize the information
and send it back to every component by the end of June. The information
will become a resource for informed debate about our future at every level
of the Institute, Penney said.
Pike told the group that she believes that the "national
conversation is about collaboration, sharing, and synergy. It's about
figuring out what we should be doing, who should be doing it, and then
targeting resources where they're most likely to prove fruitful,"
she said. She explained that the national component has assembled a resource
kit to help chapters run their own meetings, including a Web-based response
form.
Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects.
All rights reserved.
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