I am the current chair of the Committee on Design, that bastion of elitist consumers of AIA resources, not!
I have been in private practice in Anchorage, Alaska for over 30 years. I did not go to school in Boston, Philly or LA (in fact, I didn't even go to NC State). My practice collapsed in early 2008 and has recovered only a bit since. No way can you stick that elitist, big office, rich guy tag on me. Architects who attend COD events are demographically very similar to the over-all AIA demographic. The majority of our attendees come from small firms. Our volunteer leadership presently includes architects from Omaha, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Anchorage, Las Vegas, Seattle, Boston and Centerbrook, Connecticut.
I love architecture and I choose to spend my vacations working for the AIA. In the last year (remember, I am from Anchorage), in preparation for our two conferences, I have visited both Columbus, Indiana and Spain twice entirely at my own expense. I, like every other member of our leadership, always pay full price for all of our events. I can assure you that we do not spend your dues. And, if you go to
www.AIA.org/cod, you can access much that we have gathered and learned over time on these trips. Its free.
Finally, if you have ideas about making the discoveries of our trips more accessible to every member of the AIA, please send them to me. We have been trying hard to share with everyone but we know we could do better and are happy to receive and try valuable, new ideas.
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Mike Mense FAIA
2012 Chair AIA Committee on Design
Owner
mmenseArchitects
Anchorage AK
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