by Eugene C. Hopkins, FAIA
AIA President

One for the records
Anyone who was there will tell you ... the AIA 2004 National Convention in Chicago was one for the record books. The convention attracted 22,300 registered attendees, the most ever for an AIA convention. A total of 855 exhibitors participated—another record. The exposition itself covered more than 179,000 net square feet, exceeding by 21 percent the record set in San Diego just last year. By all measures, this was the best convention ever—or at least until next year.

And no one who was there will soon forget the AIA’s 2004 annual business meeting, which began Saturday morning and continued into the afternoon. It was one of the most prolific business sessions in years, resulting in the adoption of four amendments to the Institute’s Bylaws and a series of resolutions addressing (among other things) a dues increase to support the AIA’s advertising campaign, the strengthening of the demographic diversity of the design profession, and the evolution of the Intern Development Program.

Enter electronic voting
Those results are all the more remarkable when we consider the route that got us there. This was largely because—although we had used electronic keypads with great success for opinion polling at two Grassroots conferences and at the 2003 convention—this year’s annual meeting marked their first use to record delegate votes on proposed Bylaws amendments and resolutions.

Each delegate undergoing the accreditation process this year was assigned a keypad that would reflect the weight of his or her vote. Thus, for example, if a chapter had 35 votes and 7 of its Architect members were accredited as delegates, each would be assigned a keypad that would give him or her five votes (i.e., one-seventh of the chapter’s votes). All told, a little more than 500 delegates were accredited, with a total of more than 4,300 votes accredited to be cast at the meeting.

A discovery, a dilemma . . . and challenges
So far, so good. Come Saturday morning, however, we encountered a discovery, a dilemma, and a series of challenges that combined together for a memorable meeting.

First, the discovery. As the annual meeting began, we found that a number of delegates had not claimed their keypads. We ultimately learned that the missing delegates apparently accounted for close to 900 votes—a significant portion of the 4,300-plus votes accredited to be cast at the meeting.

Next, the dilemma. In contrast to other business at the meeting, a majority vote of the delegates on the floor is not sufficient to pass an amendment to the Institute’s Bylaws. Rather, there must be an affirmative vote of a two-thirds majority of all votes accredited to be cast at the meeting—a total of 2,922 votes at this meeting. With delegates representing only a little more than 3,400 votes present on the floor, and with the apparent absence of delegates holding approximately 900 votes, it was clear that the road ahead for the four Bylaws amendments could be a rough one.

This set the stage for the meeting’s most interesting challenges.

Action on Bylaws amendments

The first vote taken at the meeting (on the elimination of the limit on the number of AIA regional directors) drove this point home. An initial electronic ballot showed 2,803 delegate votes in favor of the amendment and 386 opposed. Although this reflected the support of 88 percent of the delegates present and voting, it was still short of the 2,922 votes needed for passage. Delegates greeted this result with dismay and, after adopting a motion for reconsideration, approved the amendment by a vote of 2,985 to 364.

The next vote addressed a second Bylaws amendment, this one designed to add a fourth vice president and change the one-year terms of vice presidents to staggered two-year terms. The vote on this amendment was 2,650 for adoption and 513 against. Again, despite the overwhelming support for this amendment among those delegates present and voting, the vote was shy of the 2,922 needed for passage.

It was at this point that several delegates invoked a Bylaws provision, summarized in the Official Delegate Information Booklet, stating that votes allocated to a chapter are to be cast in equal portions by those delegates of the chapter present during a roll call vote (including electronic voting). This would authorize the votes of missing delegates to be reapportioned to their fellow chapter members who were present.

Unfortunately, the electronic system was not up to the demands of this reapportionment on the spot. After considerable discussion from the floor, it was decided to continue the votes on remaining Bylaws amendments electronically among those delegates who were present at the meeting. The percentage data obtained through the electronic vote by delegates actually present on the floor could be extrapolated to the total votes accredited to be cast at the meeting to yield a rough, but reliable indication as to whether there were in fact enough votes for passage. The leadership committed to use those results as the basis to formally calculate the reapportioned delegate vote in accordance with the Bylaws’ requirements as soon after the meeting as possible. On that understanding, the delegates on the floor considered and then voted overwhelmingly in favor of each of the remaining Bylaws amendments.

I am pleased to report that the appropriate vote reapportionment has been calculated based on the data received through the electronic balloting. Here are the final results, in accordance with requirements stated in the Institute’s Bylaws:

• Bylaws Amendment 04-A Removing limit on number of regional directors on the Institute’s Board of Directors
  Votes in Favor: 3,338 (88%)
  Votes Opposing: 449 (12%)
• Bylaws Amendment 04-B Adding fourth vice president, and providing for staggered two-year terms for all vice presidents
  Votes in Favor: 3,232 (85%)
  Votes Opposing: 567 (15%)
• Bylaws Amendment 04-C Removing Institute limits on consecutive terms served by regional directors
  Votes in Favor: 3,107 (83%)
  Votes Opposing: 652 (17%)
• Bylaws Amendment 04-D Providing for voting rights for CACE representative on Executive Committee
  Votes in Favor: 3,145 (82%)
  Votes Opposing: 677 (18%)

Action on Resolutions

Unlike proposed Bylaws amendments, convention resolutions may be adopted by a simple majority vote of those present at the annual meeting. We have nonetheless recalculated the votes on each of the resolutions adopted at the Convention to reflect the reapportionment of votes discussed above. By either method of calculation—either with or without reapportionment of the votes of absent delegates—each of the resolutions passed handily.

Here are the final results:

• Resolution 04-1 Dues increase in support of the Institute’s annual advertising campaigns (as amended to eliminate the proposed dues increase as to Associate members, and to authorize a $50.00 annual dues increase for Architect members for a three-year period)
  Votes in Favor: 2,849 (78%)
  Votes Opposing: 792 (22%)
• Resolution 04-2 To strengthen the demographic diversity of the design profession
  Votes in Favor: 3,517 (97%)
  Votes Opposing: 117 (3%)
• Resolution 04-3 Evolving the Intern Development Program
  Votes in Favor: 3,300 (98%)
  Votes Opposing: 66 (2%)
• Resolution 04-4 Recognition of newly licensed Architect members
  Votes in Favor: 3,268 (97%)
  Votes Opposing: 96 (3%)
• Resolution 04-5 Appreciation to retiring members of the Council of Architectural Component Executives
  Votes in Favor: 3,330 (99%)
  Votes Opposing: 22 (1%)

(You’ll note that some accredited votes may not appear in these totals for various reasons—e.g., because of abstentions or the absence of some chapter delegations—and that vote totals dropped significantly as the meeting moved to its conclusion and delegates began to leave the hall.)

The delegates at the annual meeting adopted the remaining resolutions of appreciation by acclamation.

In the weeks and months ahead, we will be carefully examining the lessons learned from this year’s meeting and taking steps to smooth the road that will be traveled at next year’s meeting. We’ll see you in Las Vegas!

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