Message from the AIA Oregon 2020 President

Amy Vohs, AIA
AIA Oregon 2020 President

Some of you may know me but for those who don’t, here is a brief introduction.  I am a senior associate with DLR Group in Portland, Oregon.  Originally, I’m from just outside of St. Louis, Missouri and am a graduate of the University of Kansas under their five-year BARCH program.  My husband and I moved to Portland in 2002 because we wanted to get closer to the mountains and the ocean, and we have loved every minute of it since. Architecturally, my background is in commercial architecture and, most recently, in the K-12 market after I moved to DLR Group in 2014.

I have been actively involved with the AIA for approximately 10 years. While I’ve been a member for longer, the last seven years have been the most beneficial.  I started truly getting involved by restarting the ForWARD (Forum for Women in Architecture and Related Design) committee with a few amazing women. My involvement as Chair and then Co-Chair with Jennifer Wright lasted for three years. We created a mentorship program with the local Fellows Committee and other firm leaders, highlighting work that is being done by amazing women architects, landscape architects, artists and engineers in the Portland area. It was very rewarding to be able to create a network of talented individuals. I then moved on to the AIA Oregon Council as the treasurer for three years. There, I was able to participate in the reorganization of AIA Oregon into one state chapter.  I’m currently the AIA Oregon President-Elect and excited to serve as the 2020-21 President!

I get the most out of being an AIA member by being involved.  We can support each other through training, mentorship, camaraderie, and competition. We learn to be innovative by working with others and learning how far others have taken a similar design opportunity. 

Often, I get this question: “How can I get involved? It is not as easy to find information anymore.” Don’t worry, we’re working on that! But in the meantime, here are a few ideas:

1.    Start by being social. Check out the calendar of events and see if there is something you can drop in on. We grow as individuals by learning about what others around us are working on. 

2.    Become a mentor by working with the Emerging Professionals Committee or volunteering on an educational program idea.

3.    Help to create or participate in an educational program.

4.    Pay it forward by sponsoring an emerging professional to attend a conference.

This last year has been a good learning year for the board, gathering facts about what was great about each Section and how we might adopt and expand it to a state-wide Chapter. We’ve been through a lot of listening sessions and plan on more this year.  We have gotten a lot of feedback on the newsletter and website and we hope to see a lot of new features being added or returning this year.

The Programs Committee is working on organizing state-wide programs with the different strategic initiative groups.  There are a lot of events going on and a lot of new ideas coming out through our four strategic initiatives set for 2020.   You have seen mentions about this from Curt Wilson in previous posts. If you missed it, follow this link to read more. Please check out the Calendar of Events here.

One of the best ways for firms and people to get the most out of membership is to be strategic about sponsoring programs or being on discussion panels for programs or issues that you are passionate about. Not only do peers see your interest and expertise but future employees or clients see your dedication to a shared interest. Get out there and get your firm’s name on some powerful programming efforts. If you don’t see a program you are passionate about, call us, help us create it! This Chapter is only as good as we make it.

I look forward to 2020!

Thank you!

Amy Vohs, AIA

Message from the AIA Eugene Emerging Professionals Committee Chair

John Webster, AIA
Eugene EPC Representative

I am a recently licensed architect practicing at Robertson Sherwood Architects in Eugene. I currently serve the AIA Eugene Section as representative of the Emerging Professional Committee (EPC).  AIA uses the term "emerging professional" to refer to the diverse group of individuals who are entering the profession, recently licensed, or moving along various points on the path to licensure. This includes recent graduates, candidates on the path to licensure, and architects licensed 10 years or less. The mission of the AIA Oregon EPC is to connect and assist members along the path to licensure and advocate for career development and mentorship.

Representing the AIA Eugene EPC, I work with representatives of the other local section EPC representatives, including Sara Bergby, AIA of Bend, Lewis Williams, AIA of Portland, and Patrick McKechnie, AIA of Southern Oregon. On behalf of my EP colleagues, I would like to inform AIA Oregon members about the EP development grant we received and some of the first steps of how we intend to implement the EPC mission.

To provide equitable benefits for all Emerging Professionals within the Oregon chapter of AIA, an application for a grant offered by the College of Fellows (COF) was submitted. The $5,000 grant was awarded to AIA Oregon in July of 2019. Along with the COF grant, AIA Oregon committed an equal amount to further assist the Emerging Professionals in our state.

The grant is broken into multiple phases, the first of which includes providing equitable study materials for Architect Registration Exams (ARE).  Each section will have a dedicated Lending Library, where candidates for licensure can borrow study materials to help prepare for the ARE. The intent is to provide each section with some of the NCARB recommended study materials. Included in the libraries will be the ARE 5.0 Study Guides as well as publications like the Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice, Architect’s Studio Companion and Building Codes Illustrated.

The Lending Libraries will be housed in a local firm, preferably centrally located within the population center of each section. Items will be available for check out for 3 weeks at a time, with no cost to AIA/AIA Associate members. For non-members, a minimal fee will be assessed for each checked out item.

Each section will have a Lending Librarian, who will manage the library, acting as a point of contact for interested borrowers and also keep track of the materials that have been checked out. Each section is currently identifying their Lending Library location and Librarian. Once these are determined across the state, locations and contact information will be made available on the AIA Oregon website (www.aiaoregon.org).

Another key portion of the grant implementation is to provide communication tools for EP members throughout the state. Soon we will be developing website content that will help connect EP members to available AIA benefits. Recently, we started using the free platform ‘Slack’ for our Emerging Professionals communications.

What is Slack? Slack is a free online tool that allows for easy conversation sharing, file and document sharing and more.  With a free Slack account, it is possible to join the workspace specifically for Oregon Emerging Professionals (aiaoregon-ep).

AIA Oregon set up a Slack workspace earlier in the year for communication between the board, staff and committees, and many consider it a very effective communication tool.  We set up the EP Slack workspace to expand this communication to a larger group.  There are various channels set up within the aiaoregon-ep workspace, allowing for internal communication among EPs within your own section, and the opportunity to connect with others throughout the state. Share your thoughts on local issues, coordinate groups for ARE study, learn what other sections are doing, and the opportunity to do much more.

The Slack app is available for free on your computer from www.slack.com and also available for download from your phone's app store. The AIA Oregon Emerging Professionals workspace is located at aiaoregon-ep.slack.com. Once you enter the workspace, join the channel for your section and join the conversation. Also, please invite other AIA Associates, or others who identify as architectural emerging professionals.

Communication tools and ARE study materials are the first steps to the implementation of the grant. We will also be working on providing scholarships for online ARE study resources, continuing work on developing a culture of mentorship, and developing career-based educational opportunities for emerging professionals. These other focuses will be possible as a result of direct communication with and participation of the emerging professional community.

We look forward to hearing from our emerging professional community!

Message from the AIA Oregon Executive Vice President

Curt Wilson, AIA
Executive Vice President

AIA Members in Oregon,

My name is Curt Wilson and I’m an architect, a member, and the Executive Vice President/CEO for AIA Oregon.  I’m in this role because of the opening created when our former EVP, Robert Hoffman, acted on a great opportunity to re-enter Architecture practice.  Robert did a lot for AIA Oregon and AIA Portland during his tenure and I encourage you to let him know how much you appreciate his service and leadership.

Thursday at 3, or T@3 as we call it, started in the Southwestern Oregon Chapter, now the AIA Eugene Section, a few years ago.  The intention is to reach out to all members on a consistent basis to identify the various events and programs we are scheduling, as well as other events of interest to our members.  AIA Oregon took over the T@3 in the Spring and the feedback we’ve received is generally positive.  While we are grateful for that, we (staff and board leadership) recognize the need to communicate more directly about what we are doing and why.  Therefore, this is the first of a new weekly message from those of us involved in board or committee leadership.

As you may already know, we reorganized our structure starting this year from four local chapters and the state council, to a single state chapter (AIA Oregon) with five local sections (AIA Bend, AIA Eugene, AIA Portland, AIA Salem, and AIA Southern Oregon).  This transformative process began in 2013 with a directive from National to prioritize a higher level of member service available to all members.   I credit Robert and the chapter leaders from the past few years for embracing the challenge of re-organization.  However, change is neither quick nor easy, and I believe we are not yet living up to the promise of a better member experience for all of us. 

The Board and our leaders, President Seth Anderson, AIA, and President-Elect, Amy Vohs, AIA are committed to making the promise a reality.

We’ve engaged in a series of planning events over the past few years to get to this point, including a day-long planning session at the Portland Center for Architecture on October 18, 2019 focused on what we are going to do better and/or different in 2020.  See the recap here.  Our planning is organized in four strategic initiatives, and we formed groups dedicated to moving each of the initiatives forward.  The initiatives are:

• Strategic Initiative 1 – Elevate the Member Experience

• Strategic Initiative 2 – Enhance Professional Development

• Strategic Initiative 3 – Improve Our Communities

• Strategic Initiative 4 – Adapt to the Changing Profession

Look for periodic updates in the T@3 about our strategic initiative planning efforts.

One of my observations since taking this role is that across the state there are a lot of events and programs going on, but because we operated as independent chapters, we didn’t really know what the others were doing.  As this year started, we didn’t recognize the value in communicating all that we do, therefore most people are not aware of what is going on.  Through this weekly e-newsletter, what will be a more robust website, and more activity on some social media platforms, we plan to communicate better about what is happening.  For example, on 10.23, the Eugene Section celebrated the annual People’s Choice Awards program, and on 10.25, the Portland Section celebrated the annual Architecture Awards program.  I think John Reynolds, FAIA and I are the only two people who participated in both events.  Both are high quality programs that show the diversity of work and the diversity of firms in Oregon. 

I’m honored and excited to be your EVP and take very seriously the responsibility to help create a better AIA in Oregon.  This phrase sums up my approach to this role, “growing the collective impact of each of us”, because this statement both highlights the potential of what we can do together and emphasizes that each member, each person is important.

In my short time in this role, it is clear to me that many of you take pride in being part of this profession, care about AIA, and want to see a stronger organization.  The foundation of a strong organization is an active and engaged membership, and that’s what our initiatives are intended to grow.  I encourage you to find the AIA Oregon committees, groups, and programs that you are interested in and get involved.  Let’s make AIA better together!

As a Eugene resident leading this organization headquartered in Portland, I split my time between Portland and Eugene, and I intend to participate in as many events in Bend, Medford and Ashland, and Salem as possible.  I’ve reached out to many members, firm leaders, and representatives of related organization to meet and discuss how we together can create a better profession for all of us.  Please reach out to me if you would to meet and lets schedule a time.  You can call or text to 541-912-0878, email me at cwilson@aiaoregon.org, and/or check in with me on Instagram at @curtwilsonaia.

Respectfully,

Curt Wilson, AIA