Curt Wilson, AIA
AIAO Executive Director
As we approach the end of the second week of December, we enter the time that organizations such as ours discuss what was, what could have been, and what the next year will look like. The Message From today looks back over 2020, and the message next week by AIA Oregon President Amy Vohs will look forward to 2021, the second year of her term as president.
At this time last year, the AIAO Board developed a series of strategic initiatives to guide the planning for 2020. The strategic initiatives were the high priority initiatives developed over the last few years as we planned our transition from local chapters to a single state chapter. The core elements of the strategic initiatives were:
Discussion-based activities and events that bring all members together through planned topics. I refer to this as “learning through sharing”.
Build a state-based culture through strengthening local communities and connecting them together. This is based on an idea of “connected centers”.
Enhance our communication infrastructure through expanded use of our website, weekly newsletter, social media platforms, and committee activities and engagement.
Develop and provide timely and necessary information to our members.
The result was a plan with a variety of new and existing programs and events throughout the year in both in-person and virtual formats. The programs were shorter, but there were many, with the goal of identifying one event per month that most members would be interested in joining. From a budget perspective, this plan created many opportunities to earn a small amount of revenue.
We got off to a good start with a code seminar on the second Friday of January lead by Samir Mokashi of Code Unlimited. Through the connected center model, more than 200 people participated through 7 centers located in our five sections. We learned there is merit in the concept, although we need better equipment and a command of remote technology, and so continued our planning accordingly.
The impacts of the pandemic became very real for most of us by the second week of March, and we cancelled all in-person events indefinitely the same day that Disneyland closed and the NCAA basketball tournaments were cancelled, prematurely ending the college career of Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu. After a few weeks hiatus, we returned with virtual activities in April, including:
All committee meetings open to all through Zoom meetings.
Luncheon learn presentations available to all on the traditional days for the AIA Eugene and AIA Southern Oregon schedule.
Weekly presentations through the Digital Design Series
Weekly discussions through the Virtual Happy Hour series
Early in the pandemic, we focused the DDS and VHH formats to provide information as we pivoted to a new way of working, and surviving. This included firms sharing their use of digital tools in the design process, and how to apply for PPL loans. We’ve continued to refine these activities throughout the year, and plan to continue all of them into 2021.
We introduced a Resources page to the website by the end of 2019 and utilized it to provide COVID-related resources, including links to public health sites, unemployment assistance opportunities, other financial assistance, etc.
George Floyd was killed at the hands of the police on May 25, Memorial Day, and all of our focus soon shifted to the injustices of systemic racism, highlighting the need for our profession to alter our place in society. We scheduled a Social Justice Listening Session on June 5, which was attended by more than 130 people, and led to the formation of the AIA Oregon Social Justice Action Plan. The SJAP has shaped some of our actions this year, including a stronger focus on representation in our events and programs, and board and committee leadership equity training, but AIA Oregon leadership acknowledges that we need to do more, and do it quicker.
Devasting fires rocked western Oregon in early September. The smoke from the Holiday Farm Fire in the McKenzie River Valley overwhelmed the skies at my home in Eugene on Sept 7, Labor Day, as unusually hot and strong winds made dry conditions more dangerous. The Alameda Fire destroyed large areas of Talent and Phoenix on September 10. By September 11, 10% of the state’s population were impacted by evacuation planning zones due to approximately 26 significant fires. Our members are doing their part to help and we have active groups in the AIA Eugene and AIA Southern Oregon sections engaging with community leaders to assist in the rebuilding effort.
The planning we started at the beginning of the year allowed us to remain viable through this unprecedented and unpredictable year. We have active communication channels, a lot of resources and program recordings available on the website, Zoom has allowed us all to communicate seamlessly across the chapter, and our programs and activities are short and discussion oriented.
We’ve all grown in our capacity to use digital tools this year and we were able to provide virtual versions of regular programs such as the Green Champion Summit, Future Vision, and the Oregon Architecture Awards, in addition to expanded People’s Choice Awards in Eugene, Salem, and Southern Oregon.
In 2020, through a collective effort of dedicated volunteer members and the staff team, we’ve been able to the adapt to the circumstances imposed on us by the pandemic, and the circumstances that shape our society including the climate crisis, racial reckoning, and the current stress-test on our democracy. As your Executive Vice President, I’m proud of what we’ve all accomplished under the circumstances, but we need to recognize we can’t use difficult circumstances as an excuse. We’ll need to dip into our reserves by the end of the year to balance our budget. If the economic impacts of COVID were restricted to 2020, this would be a non-event, but we expect more challenging financial times in 2021 and we need to address needed repairs at the Center for Architecture in Portland.
Moving forward, we need to understand that we will not be returning to normal. Normal is what you are used to, and that doesn’t exist anymore. As the pandemic recedes, restrictions will be lifted and we will no longer be mandated to socially distance. In other words, we will be expected to make our own decisions about what we do and how we do it. We need to be intentional in the decisions we make to be the organize we want to be. Choices. How will you impact the choices that we make?