Dear Rhodec Student Members of ASID:
Last month one of our members and volunteer to the Board, Marjorie Allen, attended the ASID Conference - Interiors 07 and has shared with us some of her experiences.
Below find her play by play of the conference and some great photos!
Last month one of our members and volunteer to the Board, Marjorie Allen, attended the ASID Conference - Interiors 07 and has shared with us some of her experiences.
Below find her play by play of the conference and some great photos!
Blog Submitted by Marjorie Allen,
Public Relations/Student Relations
RASC, Chapter #132
INTERIORS O7
The 2007 ASID conference on design held March 15 – 18 in San Francisco this year was well attended by professionals in interior design and students from chapters nationwide, architects educators and industry partners.
The topics throughout the conference addressed both residential and commercial design and were focused on:
Sustainable Design Business – business skills and how to manage and grow a successful design practice
Practice Universal Design/Aging in Place – designing spaces that will still be relevant as our clients age
Design Specialties – new developments in commercial office, hospitality, residential, health care and retail design.
Career Basics – for students and new graduates\ Industry
This year there were two new features which appeared to be well received:
a. Special educational sessions for industry representatives who work with interior designers.
b. Experiential educational offerings – “Learn by doing” - in which participants toured one of several locations to meet experts and experience each location first hand.
With my interest in hospitality design I joined the group on Hospitality Design hosted by Matt Harvey from Joie de Vivre Hospitality. They are the largest boutique hotel company in California. We visited 5 of their hotels, and got an appreciation of how they developed the concept for each: (5 words and a magazine).
[ photo: H Vitale]
An example – The Phoenix Hotel is over 50 years old, their guest profile – Rock Bands performing in the city. The concept: funky, hip, young at heart, adventurous, offbeat.There was also a good range of topics on the ASID organization
- How to exploit ASID for fun and profit – pointers on how to get involved in the organization,
- ASID Legislative workshop – advocating for your right to practice
- The Link Between Professional Chapters and Student Chapters – Ensuring Future Leadership
[photo: Miyako Inn]
Thursday
There were a number of pre-conference sessions mainly on LEED-CI (technical review workshop on green building costs, requirements, certification) STEP workshops to help candidates preparing for the NCIDQ examination, Solar Electric Architecture, Mutual Fund Investment Strategies to name a few. During lunch the Chapter Awards presentations were made and the welcome Reception was held that evening.
Friday
The ASID President addressed the group on Friday morning and her key point was that we should understand the power of design, and therefore our responsibility as designers. She encouraged us to learn all we can about sustainability, and asked that we start introducing it to our clients even if they don’t ask, asked that we partner with ASID, and that we take action today to becoming sustainability advocates.
One of two keynote speakers addressed the group In his keynote Fred Dust, leader at IDEO a consulting firm in San Francisco provided an insider’s view of the IDEO innovation process, sharing how good design is more than simply bringing well-crafted objects and experiences to the marketplace. He challenged the audience with a question – How do we know the future when we see it? And from here his presentation illustrated that good design must also consider the world in which these experiences will live, and the ways that design will impact and build the future.
Thursday
There were a number of pre-conference sessions mainly on LEED-CI (technical review workshop on green building costs, requirements, certification) STEP workshops to help candidates preparing for the NCIDQ examination, Solar Electric Architecture, Mutual Fund Investment Strategies to name a few. During lunch the Chapter Awards presentations were made and the welcome Reception was held that evening.
Friday
The ASID President addressed the group on Friday morning and her key point was that we should understand the power of design, and therefore our responsibility as designers. She encouraged us to learn all we can about sustainability, and asked that we start introducing it to our clients even if they don’t ask, asked that we partner with ASID, and that we take action today to becoming sustainability advocates.
One of two keynote speakers addressed the group In his keynote Fred Dust, leader at IDEO a consulting firm in San Francisco provided an insider’s view of the IDEO innovation process, sharing how good design is more than simply bringing well-crafted objects and experiences to the marketplace. He challenged the audience with a question – How do we know the future when we see it? And from here his presentation illustrated that good design must also consider the world in which these experiences will live, and the ways that design will impact and build the future.
Friday’s agenda spanned a range of topics and the majority of attendees spent the afternoon on the experiential tours. There were also a number of sessions for industry partners.
That evening we were bussed to the San Francisco design centre for Jubilation, the ASID Foundation Fundraiser. A range of beautiful items, vacations, and trips were auctioned, and at the close the foundation raised over $65,000.00. [photo: Auction]
Saturday
The winner of the design award was announced and she was invited to present her design entry to the audience.
The keynote speaker is of Hollywood fame – as concept designer for Pixar Animation studios he designed the characters and environments for the movie Cars. His presentation was a case study of the creative process at Pixar studios, and it brought home to me the heights individuals can reach when they work in an environment which encourages and nurtures creativity.
Various topics and round table discussions were the feature of the day. I had the opportunity to meet Bruce Goff and discuss hospitality design while he chaired that round table discussion. He is looking forward to the Rhodec Symposium next month, when he will be presenting on that topic.
I did not attend, however the ASID Design Awards event was on this night.
Sunday
I attended the session on Million Dollar Marketing on a Shoestring Budget which was very useful for me. Mark Phillips – facilitator presented some simple tactics building his presentation on these – think big and aim high, market smart, sell yourself, get out of the marketing myths.
At the conference closer ASID introduced the new advertising campaign and presented posters of the three print ads, as well as introduced the ‘model’ in each of the ads. They are all ID professionals.
Highlights
On Saturday morning Suzan Globus, President of ASID joined myself and another designer at breakfast and it was after I told her my Rhodec story (how I joined the program) that I learnt who she was. She was surprised that I had traveled all the way from Jamaica and we spoke of some others who had traveled from the Netherlands, London and Mexico to attend. Later she had the MC specially welcome these persons and she personally welcomed and acknowledged all students attending.
Industry Partners
Those in attendance also had their products on display – including the most current, state of the art , green products available to the industry. [photo: Exhibit]
Summary
I thought the conference was well organized, the subject and items presented topical, and it was a good opportunity for me to see what ASID membership offers for students and practitioners alike. I even observed the support available for graduates / new designers through their chapter. I felt that students were made to feel especially welcome throughout the conference and that was very encouraging.
[photo 1: Networking and making friends, Marjorie on the far right
photo 2: Marjorie/in red, meets recent Rhodec Graduate, Fiona Worboys/in yellow]
Rhodec Students.....have you recently attended an ASID sponsored or Design event? Would you like to share your experiences with others? Get involved in your chapter by sharing with your fellow students and also experience the fun of Interior Design Journalism.
Let us know of your interest at: RASCBloggers@gmail.com
