by Russell Boniface
Associate Editor

How do you . . . Use a social network to bring out-of-work AIA members together in mutual support?

Summary: In early March, AIA Minnesota held a support meeting at its Minneapolis office for its out-of-work members. AIA Minnesota member Ray Dehn, Assoc. AIA, organized the meeting through the social networking Web site Facebook. (Dehn experienced his own life’s disruption when he was laid off last November.) Dehn used Facebook to organize the support meeting and encourage out-of-work members to get in touch with each other. The meeting attracted about 25 AIA Minnesota members representing various ages. AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA, spoke at the meeting and presented his economic overview. AIA Minnesota Executive Vice President Beverly Hauschild-Baron, Hon. AIA, says the meeting was a success and will be held monthly. Hauschild-Baron encourages AIA components to hold similar support meetings for their out-of-work members.

Hauschild-Baron relates that last fall at the Minnesota state convention she talked about members losing their jobs and that the AIA needed to—and wanted to—support its members through this difficult time. “We started looking at things we can do for them,” she recalls. “What we did initially was to encourage people who had lost their jobs to come to our offices to access the Internet and e-mail or create a résumé. We wanted them to think about it as a place where they can continue to network. We also talked about ways to work with them to pay dues, and to have scholarships available for people who wanted to attend continuing education. So that was the start of it.

We thought we needed to do more to bring out-of-work members together

“About that time the AIA launched the Navigating the Economy Web site, which we also referred people to, and we tried to provide them with resources. I was hearing more about layoffs and thought we needed to do more to bring out-of-work members together.

Not alone
The recent meeting was led and organized by AIA Minnesota component member Dehn, a former American Institute of Architecture Students president. Dehn spread the word about the meeting via his Facebook network, asking people to pass the word to any AIA Minnesota members they knew who were out of work. Hauschild-Baron recalls: “One of the first questions when we met with Ray was: How are we going to connect with people? Once they are not in a firm they don’t necessarily call us instantly and give us a new e-mail address. And Ray got innovative to connect with quite a few people.”

The age range was a surprise—only a handful were in their 20s and 30s

She says the age range of the nearly 25 people in attendance was a surprise. “I expected more young people, but we only had a handful in their 20s and 30s, and the rest were middle-aged and beyond.”

The meeting coincided with a program on the economy in which Baker was presenting. The group asked Baker to stay to participate in the discussion at the support meeting. Baker talked about the current state of the economy, giving it historical context and provided some hope by citing forecasts that the economic downturn may start turning around within the year. Baker thought the support meeting was a great idea. “Overall it was ‘we are not alone’—more of a networking support group,” Baker says. “These are the members we need to help. There weren’t job offerings, but a lot of positive discussion.”

The message was one of optimism; not to feel like being laid off is personal

A human resources person from an AIA Minnesota firm talked about some of the issues that people need to think about, such as résumé preparation and procedure, as well as resources available through unemployment and the displaced workers program in Minnesota, which offers funds for continuing education or membership in organizations. Two AIA Minnesota firms offered use of their computers for Revit access at locations in both Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Getting the message out
Says Hauschild-Baron: “When Ray was laid off, he didn’t like it, but he realized in the context of his whole life it wasn’t the worst thing that can happen to him and he’ll figure out how to get through it. His message was one of optimism and not to feel like being laid off is personal. Some have taken it personally, and I think Kermit’s presentation and discussion was helpful because it does make it less personal and puts it in the context of the bigger picture of the economy; that people are being laid off all over. Layoffs are just a matter of firms having to make tough decisions and not because people’s work is inferior or they are not liked. I do think that is an important message for people to be given.”

Hauschild-Baron says the group will meet at the AIA Minnesota office monthly: “We want to provide a place and also be available to help figure out their needs and what we as AIA Minnesota can do to help.”