by Scott Hooker, S.E., DBIA, President
Buehler & Buehler Structural Engineers, Inc.
As the Allied (non-architect) member on the AIA Central Valley Board of Directors this year, I was asked to share an outsider’s perspective of the organization. It certainly seems reasonable to seek perspective from the outside looking inward; high functioning organizations should welcome feedback in the spirit of continuous improvement. With this in mind, only cold unpolished observations would support this request with the respect it deserves. Yes, this needed to be hard hitting and unapologetic. So, at great personal risk (since we work for architects), I set out to document observations and layout it all out in black and white.
Like many of us, I have been a member of industry organizations, charities and boards, which forms my basis of comparison. This may appear overly severe since it would seem that, in the aggregate, these organizations would have more strengths and accomplishments to their credit. Look, you asked for the truth, you are getting the truth. With perspective established, a set of key comparative criteria must be developed. These include Clarity of Agenda, Understanding Membership Needs, and Engagement of Membership.
We have all volunteered to serve on a committee to support the mission of the organization. You attend the first meeting and find the agenda is either unclear, has no alignment with the mission or both. As time passes, the committee loses energy and very little is accomplished. This trips up many organizations; surely there is constructive criticism to offer on this criterion. President Sehnert laid out the agenda for 2018 at the January installation. It includes Building Design Education & Performance, Building Design Advocacy, and Supporting Emerging Professionals & Affiliates. How does this align with the overall AIA mission? A quick visit to the website indicates “The mission of the AIA is to serve as a resource for its members, allied professionals, and the general public through advocacy, community, education, and outreach.” Wonderful – the 2018 agenda is clear and aligned with the mission of the organization. High marks in this category.
How well does this organization understand membership needs? Board meetings include significant conversation about the type of events AIA members want and why. There are metrics, data from experience, and multiple personal stories. Beyond historical perspective, there is a strong effort to support Emerging Professionals and better understand their needs. Each Board meeting includes an ‘EP’ update and student representatives regularly attend the meetings. Clearly there is a significant understanding of members needs.
Prior to attending my first Board Meeting, I was tasked with conducting a survey of allied members to more fully understand their needs and how the AIA could better serve them. There were seven questions with multiple parts inquiring about networking opportunities, educational events and recognition opportunities. As an outsider, it felt good knowing the organization cared this much. I will fight that feeling in the interest of remaining impartial. It appears allied and AIA members are not necessarily interested in the same educational and public outreach programs. It makes sense; allied members are in different industries or disciplines. However, developing personal relationships is important enough to allied membership to support and attend AIA events. It turns out allied members are interested in spending more time with AIA members. No surprise there.
This leads to the third criteria – does the membership engage? Engagement can certainly be measured by attendance at organization and industry events. Deep engagement can be seen when members actively participate by serving on the organization’s committees, and when (and how) the membership interacts with the Board and the Board with membership. One of the standing Board agenda items includes a review of both AIA and other industry events. Generally several of the Board members have attended each event and often report that several AIA members were also in attendance. As an allied member, I cannot speak to ongoing committee participation, but I have seen member interaction with the Board. At every Board meeting this year, there have been guests presenting information about items such as the Connect/Create event, PASS and the impact of City Design Standards on residential design. These discussions have each been respectful and fueled by curiosity. When concluded, Board action is taken based on the merit of the issue, the 2018 agenda, and the overall mission of AIA. From the outsider’s perspective, this looks like deep engagement.
Obviously, there was no actual journalism going on here. However, the observations above are real. The perspective from this outsider is that the AIACV is a vibrant, healthy organization with much to offer its membership and the community. Having celebrated a 75th anniversary in 2017, the challenge will be to continue to engage AIA and allied membership, remain relevant and continue to be effective into the future.