Board Programming Retreat

During the month of August, the AIGA AZ Board of Directors for the 2013-2014 season gathered at the ASU Design School to heavily focus on the upcoming year. From AIGA 100 to our own chapter’s 25th anniversary, many sticky notes were used, creative minds were churning, and in result we are excited to have an awesome year.

This summer’s all-day retreat was unlike any other gathering in the past, as the day was packed with learning more about the AIGA100, brainstorming, improv icebreakers, brainstorming, and more brainstorming on how we can really bring this community together and make it our best year yet.

The involvement of the board has so much energy, and we are excited to put all of these talented people out in front of our community. A quick recap of the day’s events included:

• Getting to the heart of why we’re involved in the Arizona design community
• Working with Michael and Michelle Duah in creating and understanding the personas that make up our local design community
• Brainstorming programming and initiatives based on audience personas, AIGA Arizona member survey responses and group input
• Working with facilitator Tamara Christensen in narrowing down our programming, membership and communication goals
• Starting an action plan to build on in 2014
• Team building fun with improv exercises led by Nina Miller and Jose Gonzales of Torch Theatre

 

Monthly Board Meeting

Our planning activities continued during our regularly scheduled monthly board meeting on August 12. Following general announcements and a recap of upcoming events, we split up into groups to focus on the areas of Membership, Communication, Programming, Education, and Tucson. The following issues and goals were discussed among each team:

 

Education/Mentorship:

• How do we define the different between dedicated student groups and programming created for AIGA Arizona Student Members?
• What other chapters can we look to for successful Education and Mentorship programs?
• What steps can we take to kick off our Mentorship program in 2014?

 

Membership/Outreach:

• Finalizing a “Member Kit” that will contain relevant content to potential members and better tell the story of our design community
• Increase ways to better recognize members that are involved in the design community

 

Programs/Communications:

• Finalize 2013 AIGA Arizona and PHXDW programming
• Look into additional in-house event opportunities
• Finalize the communications and social media plan for August and September
• Figure out better ways to work with sponsorship in efforts to secure funding for future events

 

Tucson:

• Putting together a plan to recruit interested Tucson designers and create a stronger Tucson committee
• Local programming planning for upcoming events in Tucson

 

In addition to our planning meetings, we sponsored breakfast for Creative Mornings, and coordinated and hosted several successful events including the Adobe Creative Cloud Workshop, MK12, Tucson Thursdays, and the film Far Out Isn’t Far Enough at FilmBar.

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Thank you to all of the board members who devoted an entire Saturday and additional time throughout the month to follow through on all their planning and tasks. We would not be able to tackle these initiatives if it weren’t for the ones in the Phoenix design community that volunteer hours of their own time every single week.

Also, a special thank you to Michael and Michelle Duah, Tamara Christensen of Idea Farm and Nina Miller and Jose Gonzales for donating their services and insight.

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Want to get more involved in the Phoenix design community?

We are currently looking for:

• Programs Chair
• Sponsorship Chair
• Membership Chair
• Communications volunteers
• Membership volunteers
• Mentorship volunteers
• Day of event volunteers

 

If you would like to volunteer or serve as a Board Chair, we would be happy to hear from you!