Hello AIGA San Antonio community!
Our chapter turns four on September 20th, 2014. Four! I don’t know how you guys feel but that is a very exciting milestone for us.
This past year has been the most active year in our chapter’s history. Membership is higher than ever at over 130. We’ve brought in some really big names: Aaron Draplin, Randy Hunt, Debbie Millman, Mike Rohde, and Eric Tan and John Quinn from Disney. We also had our most attended, and now requested, event ever: Shutterstock’s Pixels of Fury. (Which we are hosting again this year on Nov 14!)
Since I became President over two years ago, our Board has really focused on building a community here. And hey, we’ve successfully built and maintained the foundation of that community and we are growing every day. Gold star for us. But, I have the privilege to work with a board 10 incredibly smart and creative individuals who aren’t scared to really dig deep and turn things on their head.
As motivated individuals, we are always looking to better ourselves.There’s an energy happening in this city that is incredibly exciting and we still feel like we could be doing more to tap into it. Out of town speakers and inspirational talks are great, but those events only provide a certain level of engagement.
Our board takes a full-day retreat each June to refocus and evaluate our goals for the upcoming year. The general consensus from this years’ retreat: Let’s shake things up.
You guys are asking us for more–and we hear you! More hands-on engagement, more person-to-person interaction, more high-energy events, more variety and more tie into the rest of the San Antonio’s creative community and local artists.
We want to know you better! We want you to get to know each other. We want to know other creative/art organizations in our city better. To do that we are focusing more on creating intimate events to really allow people to share knowledge and form relationships with each other. And most importantly, discover the breadth of inspiration out there in our awesome city.
In addition to a peppering of exciting speakers, here are some new things to look forward to in the upcoming months:
Book Club Meet-ups An opportunity to discover new design/creative related books and connect one-on-one with other like-minded individuals in local coffee shops.
Small Gatherings at Local Events A way to find outside inspiration and connect with other creative organizations in the city. Discovery!
Showcase of “The Other Side of Design” Exploration of local companies outside of traditional “Graphic Design” (food design, fashion design, architecture, interior design, etc.)
More High Energy Events Also known as parties, to really unwind and connect over live-action competitions and other interactive activities.
Just Because it Would Be Cool Camping Trip – need I say more?
I hope this sounds exciting, because we’re ready!
We look forward to serving you, our members and friends. If you are interested in getting involved or have any event ideas, don’t hesitate to email me personally at ali@aiga-sa.org.
Here’s to another successful year! See you at the next event.
Your President, Ali Palmerson
