John Flynn, AIA
AIA Oregon Board President
Hello, Colleagues –
Happy Summer Solstice! Yes, today marks the first day of Summer and I hope you are all looking forward to some fun outdoor time in the coming months.
I’m writing today to update you on the latest on ELEVATE, our ongoing set of strategic actions designed to strengthen and serve our membership and the Oregon architecture community at large. You may recall that ELEVATE was born from the work of our AIA Oregon Headquarters Task Force. This group was tasked to listen and determine what membership wanted from its state chapter – whether those wants included a bricks-and-mortar HQ or not. Final recommendations from the Task Force, adopted by the Board of Directors at the start of this year, began with a decision not to pursue owned or leased physical space. Ensuant to this decision were eight additional recommendations – 3 identified as “foundational” and 5 more, characterized as “expansive.”
Now, nearing the mid-point of the year, we are deep into those foundational action steps. For the latest, please visit www.aiaoregon.org/aia-oregon-elevate. This is a new page on our website, so give it a look! We are rolling out our new logo for ELEVATE and re-welcoming Paul Davis, the newest AIAO staffer, who has come on board as a direct result of ELEVATE Recommendation #2: Create new AIA Oregon staff positions to support membership engagement and provide support to local sections.
In the coming weeks, AIA Oregon staff and our communications consulting team, working through AIAO’s Communications Committee, will be developing some important resources as part of ELEVATE Recommendation #3: Develop a set of toolkits that support programming logistics in each section. This is a key initiative that will provide clarity and resources for anyone involved in planning events. We recognize that our sections vary in size, committee focus, and volunteer participation. Consequently, we envision toolkits specific to the needs of individual sections, as well as a state-wide master toolkit. Elements of the toolkits will be living documents and resource lists, updated on a yearly basis to hone their effectiveness and reflect changing circumstances. These tools will go a long way towards making program development fluid and membership specific.
As we continue to work on the strategic initiatives outlined in ELEVATE, I invite you to participate in whatever way you can. ELEVATE acknowledges the sturdy foundation of AIA Oregon and looks toward a promising future for the organization. There’s no better time than now to engage!
Thanks and Happy Summer to everyone!