Today and tomorrow AIGA board members from around the country will converge on Portland for annual Leadership Retreat. Each of the 64 chapters has sent a delegation to the retreat, and this year I’ll be joining Paul Carew, Jennie Myers, Jane Naillon and Jodie Thiel as representatives for AIGA Idaho, mustaches and potatoes in tow! It will be a great opportunity for all the chapters to come together and collaborate, communicate and plan for the future of our chapters and the organization as a whole. As for PDX locals, they better stay indoors and away from the windows!

Sea Change

The 2009 Leadership Retreat is called “Sea Change”, and for good reason. This year’s retreat is crucially important to the future of AIGA as an organization. Local chapter leaders as well as national board members will come together to discuss the goals and objectives for AIGA to remain relevant in changing times, and will ultimately define the course for the future of the organization. In preparation for this year’s retreat, each chapter has conducted roundtable discussions and member surveys to determine the appropriate course of action, and come Saturday each chapter will finally have the opportunity to relay the opinions of their members and vote on the issues that will guide AIGA into the future.

A Rising Tide

The creative community is changing, and with it so must AIGA as an organization. With the evolution and expansion of the internet, even in the last 5 years, the way design is perceived and practiced has fundamentally changed. The next generation of designers are more connected and socially aware than ever, and they are searching for more ways to contribute to the discussion. One of the core issues to be discussed during the retreat is how to reach out to these younger members. Many of the proposed initiatives and platforms deal with adapting to meet the needs of this new generation of designers, as well as how to be a better resource to them and each of our members.

2014 And Beyond

In 2014 AIGA will turn 100 years old. In celebration of this we will also be shifting the course of AIGA to one that will be better suited to supporting and leading the design community into the next hundred years. How will this affect you as designers, our chapter, and the organization as a whole? Only time will tell! But in the meantime you can voice your opinions and make suggestions for things you’d like to see and especially ways our chapter can better serve its members. Leave comments on this blog, write to us on Facebook or Twitter, or email us with your thoughts and ideas!

Following Along

For more information about this years Leadership Retreat, visit the website at leadershipretreat2009.aiga.org . We’ll be posting here and on Twitter occasionally to share what we’ve learned and what’s been discussed, so be sure to keep an eye on both. If you’d like to follow the entire retreat on Twitter, search the hashtag #AIGA_09LR. And don’t forget to be a part of the event – feel free to email or tweet questions during the retreat, we’ll be sure to bring them up in our discussion groups!

Get ready, Portland, ’cause here we come!