Colin Dean, AIA
AIA Eugene Section DIrector
An Update From AIA Eugene
With Spring in full bloom, a sense of optimism is in the air and with that, the prospect of returning to a more recognizable AIA cautiously appears within reach. With that, we turn our gaze towards the potential of dialing back the Zoom events and slowly ramping up opportunities to meet in-person. At the local level, the planning has already begun and once it’s safe, the Eugene Section looks forward to seeing everyone’s smiling faces again without our computer screens filtering the view.
Before I touch on some of the upcoming programs and initiatives currently being planned for later in the year, I’d like to quickly take a moment to look back at where we were prior to locking down. Back in January 2020, which seems like a lifetime ago, I took the helm of the Eugene Section. Working with our local steering committee, one of our first tasks was to develop an agenda for the upcoming year. In addition to our annual summer picnic and winter celebration, we were very excited to offer in-person construction tours of high-profile projects in our section area. These included Hayward Field, the Knight Campus, and the recently completed, at that time, Benton County Historical Society Museum. Rounding out the year, we were planning for the 30th Annual People’s Choice Awards along with an awards celebration. As March rolled around, we quickly had to reevaluate how we provided services to our members. Thankfully, 2019 saw Oregon’s numerous AIA Chapters combine under one umbrella to form a single-state chapter. Doing this offered the possibility of streamlining our member services while also harnessing the power of a professional staff to help with running our organization and programs. Under a single-state chapter, we investigated ways to incorporate technology to help unite members from around the state. As social distancing took hold, we accelerated our technology roll-out and in a relatively short period of time were able to begin offering lunch and learns, lectures, building tours and so forth digitally. While we would all prefer, under normal circumstances, to meet in person, having the groundwork already laid for offering digital services helped to mitigate the disruption to member services until the time arrived when we could safely meet in person. We’re cautiously optimistic that such a time is nearly upon us!
Right off the bat, there’s big news coming out of the Eugene CoLA. For those of you unfamiliar, the Eugene Committee on Local Affairs serves as a platform where members discuss the latest municipal projects, city council activity, and hear from local leaders about items affecting the built environment not just in Eugene but throughout our section area. Currently, Eugene CoLA is in the planning stages to offer a panel discussion with community and civic leaders to discuss a number of upcoming municipally led developments in Springfield, Glenwood, and Eugene. Under a hybrid model of in person member engagement we envision having a small group of members attend in person while the majority of attendees dial in virtually. If all goes to plan, this panel discussion will occur sometime between June but before August. Likewise, rumblings are beginning to emerge out of the Small Firms Exchange as they start to look ahead and resume actively meeting. In addition to committee activity, we have a number of section events on the horizon.
Coming up in August, after missing out last year, we’re planning to resume our annual summer picnic. Here members and their families can join together in a casual atmosphere, to celebrate and reconnect with one another after our long hiatus. Rounding out the year, in the fall we hope to resume our tradition of inviting the public to vote on their favorite member contributed projects at the annual People’s Choice Awards – to be held at a local venue along with an online voting component. 2021 marks the 31st anniversary of the inaugural AIA Eugene People’s Choice Awards and we’re excited to keep this tradition alive. We’ll follow up with a celebration of the winners at an awards ceremony shortly after. Near the end of the year, we plan to resume our annual holiday party. Sprinkled into the mix, we aim to offer in-person construction tours. Finally, while not an in-person event, we’ll be publishing the latest edition of the AIAO Design Annual in early 2022. Stay tuned!
In closing, we have a ton to look forward to in 2021. At the local level, CoLA is actively meeting and is planning to hold a panel discussion to explore the many municipally led projects coming up around the corner. Small Firms Exchange is investigating the best way to relaunch, and we have a number of local events on the horizon. With all of this activity beginning to stir, please remember that AIAO Oregon is a member-driven organization and as such, we rely on our members to step up and help guide the conversation, plan our events, and create the vision for our future. As a member, your engagement is highly valued as it keeps our chapter and section energized and relevant to all of us. If you’ve never sat on a committee, participated in a planning session, or it has been a while since you last have, I strongly encourage you to join in and help as we relaunch in-person events. We depend greatly on our professional, associate, and allied members to raise their voice, create dialog, and help shape our future so we can continue to provide meaningful services to our members. Volunteer opportunities abound. Please reach out to me, or Kathy for more information. I’m excited to see what 2021 has in store.