by Douglas L Steidl, FAIA
AIA President

This is not just another pitch for the pleasures of Las Vegas. If the continuing education programs; AIA Expo; Thom Mayne, FAIA; Santiago Calatrava, FAIA; and the Cirque du Soleil aren’t enough to give you the itch to start packing, my continuing in that vein isn’t going to make much of a difference.

The heart of the convention
But there’s another aspect of an AIA convention besides the special events and tours, an aspect that doesn’t always receive the attention it deserves. In fact, “aspect” is the wrong word. What I’m addressing here is not a sideshow; it goes to the very heart of why holding an annual “corporate meeting of the membership” is not an afterthought, but mandated by the AIA Bylaws.

The national convention is where policies are aired for discussion, debate, and action. This is where accountability must be reckoned and responsibility taken for the actions of the national Board and national component management. And this is where the leadership of our profession is identified, groomed, and launched on a national stage.

Which path to take?
Take a closer look at this year’s slate of candidates for national office. Regionally, philosophically, and by size and nature of practice—the candidates represent a diversity of approaches to the AIA’s and the profession’s future. Which path to take? There are strikingly different options here, and it’s our privilege as well as responsibility as members to make a choice.

“But only the delegates actually vote for the candidates,” you say.

However, it’s the members who can and should make their wishes known after they listen to and meet with the candidates at the convention’s regional caucuses. It’s during the give and take of those caucuses, as well as the business sessions themselves, that tomorrow’s leaders often emerge.

Taking measure of the profession
But there’s another, closely related reason for coming to Las Vegas.

Former interim AIA EVP and Kemper Award recipient James Scheeler, FAIA, is writing a history of the AIA in preparation for our sesquicentennial. His history is unusual (a better word might be “special”) in that the focus isn’t a day-by-day record of who, what, when, and why. Instead, the author concentrates on the business of the annual convention.

It’s a smart strategy for at least two reasons. Concentrating on what went on at the annual conventions (which began in New York in 1867) tightens the scope of his work. That’s only part of his rationale. The author also makes a point of noting that if a professional issue was deemed important enough, it inevitably came up for discussion and action at the convention. In other words, if you want to take the profession’s temperature at any point in time, read the proceedings of the business sessions.

That doesn’t mean convention delegates always made the right and best decisions. It doesn’t mean we’ll do so this time around. However, as he digs deeper into his research, Jim Scheeler’s history is beginning to show that unfinished business has a way of coming back to haunt and eventually move future business sessions to do the right thing.

Who owns the AIA?
In the preface to the Las Vegas convention booklet we are challenged to harness “the imagination that architects use to stretch the boundaries of the possible.” When this was written, I had in mind the projects we design for our clients. But as I’ve thought more about the overriding purpose of why we are mandated to hold a convention, I have come to believe the words stand for something more.

The annual convention is where we come together to exercise and demonstrate our ownership of this organization. It’s where we come to stretch the boundaries of the possible within our own professional community. Why shouldn’t we approach the business sessions as an opportunity to use our unique position as owners, clients, and design team to stretch the boundaries of what is possible? Why shouldn’t we each be challenged to get involved and make a difference in and through the AIA?

This year, we, the members, again have the opportunity to decide issues likely to have a significant long-term impact on the organization and the profession. Each of us has the choice whether or not to seize that opportunity. That’s a fact. It’s also a fact that none of us can evade the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

Come to Las Vegas to learn, yes; and come to have a good—no, make that a great time. But just as importantly, come to Las Vegas prepared to be challenged by the possibilities of our future; come to Las Vegas to be engaged in shaping it; come to Las Vegas to lead the way.

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