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Chapter Profile
NEW YORK
2008 CO-LARGE CHAPTER OF THE YEAR
By Rebecca Dorris, IIDA, LEED AP, New York Chapter Vice President of Communications
WHO WE ARE
The IIDA New York Chapter is proud to have been recognized
as the Co-Large Chapter of the Year for 2008 at
IIDA’s Chapter Leadership Council meeting held in
Chicago in June. Our first-place awards for Excellence in
Programs and Excellence in Graphics Overall are an
honor and testament to our hard work in building a relevant
organization for the New York design community.
Our Chapter is fortunate to be based in New York City,
one of the strongest design markets in the country, with
a huge number of firms and professionals producing
high-quality design. This affords great project and work
opportunities for our Members. We also have strong
Industry Member involvement and a large number of participating
design schools. As a result, the opportunities for
our organization to do great things are nearly endless.
WHAT WE’VE DONE
Fundraising. In February 2008, we launched our Partnership
Opportunities Campaign, through which partners are approached
once a year for financial support, allowing them to plan for their
yearly budgets and contributions. In our first campaign, we raised
more than $300,000, and we have high hopes for our 2009
Partnership Opportunities Campaign, which launched at our fall
event, Color Invasion, on Oct. 22. Thanks to successful fundraising,
Forum events are fully subsidized by partners, keeping registration
fees affordable for students and designers. More importantly, we
can provide funds for such items as our Annual Student
Scholarship (awarding five $5,000 scholarships) and legislative
efforts with Interior Designers for Legislation in New York.
Adapting to Change. In 2008–2009, all Forum events and programs
will be built around the theme “Adapting to Change.” One of the
Chapter’s goals is to be more relevant to its constituents. By setting a
theme for the year, we can provide programs that are more than just
informative; they are geared to what is on our Members’ minds.
New Events. Our new Sustainable Quilt Auction event this fall
included a preview of sustainable materials presented by Material
ConneXion. Nine quilts, handcrafted by members of the New York
A&D community from discarded textile samples, were auctioned
off for a total of $5,000 to benefit Furnish-a-Future, a program of
the NYC Partnership for the Homeless.
Our Small Commercial Lighting event this fall kicked off the IIDA
New York Chapter 101 Series, a track of seminars to educate new
and junior designers in A&D firms and instruct them on how to specify
products. The track is open to both Members and non-members.
Future seminar topics include: Furniture Systems, Casegoods, Lighting, Textiles, Flooring, Carpeting and Window Treatments.
Each 11/2-hour seminar provides 0.1 CEU.
New Branding. This fall, we also launched our new brand identity, developed by Gensler, including a new logo, tagline,
Forum branding and Web site. It will allow us to reach a broader audience and reinforce the brand set by Headquarters. Our
new image speaks to the New York market and unifies all material, so there is a strong brand that demonstrates we are about
design, energy and professionalism.
WHERE WE’RE HEADED
We will continue to focus on increasing membership. The irony of being in the New York market is that we have found it difficult
to recruit new Members. Design professionals in the region have so many opportunities for continuing education and networking,
and are exposed to so many new products, that it takes a lot for them to be motivated to join any organization. Our
goal is to make the IIDA New York Chapter so central to everyone’s lives that it is the natural path to join the Association.
We will also continue to lead the community by providing relevant programs that appeal to the specific areas of practice
represented by our membership. Through the high quality of our Forum events (all of which provide CEUs), as well as our more
general programs, the IIDA New York Chapter will continue to be a focus of energy for the community.
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