Other than bills, this
is the second communication I have received from the AIA in 10 years.
If you can't communicate to your membership how can you expect to communicate
with the public?
—Jon Coddington, AIA
I wish the AIA would do more to increase pay among its members and a
lot less "save-the-world" idealism. I enjoy discussing various
ways to "save the world" with friends and peers, but I really
believe most clients are turned off by this. So, please focus on increasing
revenues and increasing membership credibility. Thank you.
—Andrew C. Hausler, AIA
I personally have not seen nor heard any of the advertising efforts the
AIA has supposedly produced. I can safely say that in my association and
discussions with persons most likely to use architects, they have not
either, and therefore, I question to what audience the AIA has reached
in its multi-million dollar spending spree. I believe that the advertising
campaign is not reaching our audience.
If the AIA wishes more architects to join and actively participate, then
dues towards its marketing efforts ought to be re-examined and improved
. . . with no additional cost to me since the current expenditures have
been wasted.
—Carl C. Lubawy, AIA
I think that the advertising campaign should concentrate on advertising
on HGTV, and sponsoring PBS shows dealing with building, etc. For the
PBS shows, the architect for the project could be included, rather than
just the builders (I have seen the architect mentioned). Having the AIA
sponsor the show, with a blurb in the beginning and end, would show our
support of those programs, and let homeowners know that architects do
home additions and alterations.
As for advertising on HGTV, I find that almost all of our residential
clients (65 percent of our practice) watch this show and are able to understand
the complexity of a project. The AIA advertisement (maybe more on a residential
theme) would be a great tie-in, along with the 1-800 number or Web-site
address.
—Don Passman, AIA
As many of the respondents to the prior poll suggest, this particular
poll—while easy to complete—probably doesn't begin to address
the real views of the membership. For each question you offer, I easily
could think of several appropriate responses that were not listed. In
many cases, there were further thoughts that would be important for me
to share in order for you to really understand how I feel about that particular
issue.
Clearly, what I suggest above complicates the process whereby AIA gathers
information and compiles results. But, just "getting answers"
doesn't necessarily provide useful information. It's good that AIA is
asking our opinion. However, I fear that you really aren't getting the
information AIA needs to improve the value of membership. Sometimes "ease
of use" does not necessarily translate into "valuable information."
—Robert P. Smith, AIA
I think that this is one place where the organization has really improved
immensely. Probably one reason I'm stronger in my opinions about the AIA
is because of that fact, which makes it a two-edged sword, I'm sure. If
anything, the membership gets more communication that it can process,
perhaps, but that's just a clear indication of its abundance and accessibility.
Nice!
—Chris Williams, AIA
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