by Curtis Frank, AIA
AIACV Emerging Professional Director
As the incoming Emerging Professional Director at the AIA Central Valley Chapter, I was given the opportunity to attend AIA’s 2021 Grassroots Leadership Conference. In a normal, non-COVID-19 year, I would have flown back to our nation’s capital with our incoming Chapter President and Executive Director for this meeting. The week of February 16-19th would have consisted of discussions between other AIA members across the country around the theme of “Bring It Home” with a focus on Covid-19, racial injustice and climate change. However, due to the current circumstances of the Covid-19 restrictions, a virtual grassroots conference had to be held instead of in-person – making for a completely different experience than any other conference I have ever attended before.
In addition to keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and workshops, each local AIA Chapter’s representatives were given an opportunity to speak with their local elected representative and staff on Capitol Hill. We met virtually via Zoom with Congressman Ami Bera and Congresswoman Doris Matsui’s staff to discussed the country’s infrastructure connection to the existing and future building stock. We were able to provide an architectural perspective of how the aging building and future buildings will integrate into our country’s infrastructures. During the meetings, I could not help but observe that every person had slightly different perspective on how we should focus, police, and spend resources towards these issues. It is important to keep a dialogue open about the utility life lines we all depend on to function. From the dialogue of all the AIA members with their local congressional representatives, we stand to make an impact on the local and national infrastructure we depend on every day.
In contrast to the small break-out session with great conversations, there were also a number of large panel discussions. Like many of us have experienced over the last year of Covid-19, the video conference world has great limitations in allowing in-depth discussion between different individuals before and after the scheduled meeting time, which is of great value. In my opinion, the topics being discussed during the conference would have benefited from this informal discussion between people having varied ideas and perspectives. That said, the virtual conference experience had its rewarding moments, and I have great appreciation for the opportunity to connect with other AIA members across the nation.