Newsletter | March 2016

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Colleagues,

Springing forward reminds me how fast this year is moving. Did you know that the practice of daylight savings time came about in the early 1900’s to make better use of daylight by adding one hour of standard time to the day and therefore conserve energy? This reduces the need for artificial lighting during evening hours and positively affects our built environment.

Our appreciation goes out to Coronado Stone & Tile for their generosity in sponsoring our February Chapter meeting. It’s my understanding that many chapter members were present and the presentation was very informative.

Rene Melendez and I unfortunately missed the Chapter meeting due to our attendance at AIA Grassroots. Despite the 30 degree weather, snow, and 2 hour difference of Detroit to El Paso, we both agreed that having the event in such an interesting city was a good move from the usual Washington scene. Detroit is a city that has been faced with many challenges. Recently, architects were inspired by the rich history, they met meeting urban challenges and made positive changes that have transformed the City.

Although there was so much to this event, of particular interest were the keynote speakers that enlightened us with talks of what 21st century cities need from architects, how to design waterfront cities (something atypical for us!), how to invent and innovate, and how to work with communities to create positive change with our built environment.

During the event, we received a list of the 2016 Declared Candidates for National office. Many were present during the wrap-up session to state their viewpoints. A person for each position will be elected at the 2016 AIA National Convention, we will have the opportunity to vote at the Convention.

    2017-2018 Secretary

    Julia A. Donoho, Esq., AIA, LEED AP (AIA Redwood Empire)

    Burton L. Roslyn, FAIA Emeritus (AIA New York)

    Bruce W. Sekanick, AIA (AIA Eastern Ohio)

    2017-2019 At Large Directors (one will be elected)

    Peter J. Exley, FAIA (AIA Chicago)

    2017 First Vice President/ 2018 President-Elect

    Brian P. Dougherty, FAIA (AIA Orange County)

    Carl Elefante, FAIA (AIA Potomac Valley)

    Ellis L. “Lanny” McIntosh, AIA (AIA Eastern Oklahoma)

The AIA National Convention will be held in Philadelphia on May 19-21. Also mark your calendars for the TxA Convention which will be held in San Antonio on November 3-5.

I hope you make great use of your ‘extra hour’, conserve energy and continue to March forward. I Look forward to seeing you at the March Chapter meeting. Please continue to promote our profession by forwarding #ilookup to all your contacts and let them know that architects are creating a better world.

Best Regards,

Mary J Stills, AIA, CNU-A

2016 AIA El Paso Chapter President

Newsletter | February 2016

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PRESIDENT'S LETTER

It was a pleasure seeing you at the January Chapter Meeting. What a terrific turnout! Thank you to John Ziegler for a great presentation and to Mitsubishi Electric for sponsoring our meeting. It is always challenging to find a Sponsor for the January meeting, and John really came through when we called on him just a week prior to the meeting. Our first CEU of the year, more to come.

The Executive Committee is also very grateful to all of you who signed up to be a part of the Chapter Committees. Please see page 3 of the newsletter for a list of the Committees. It is early in the year and there is still opportunity for you to sign up.  Please contact me or the committee chair. A few Chair positons are still vacant, we welcome your leadership for these roles. I’m excited about the launching of these committees and look forward to the benefits that will arise from your efforts.

Please remember that a Chapter is only as strong as the individual commitment that we contribute to. We currently seek two individuals to fill the important positions of Executive Director and Associates Director. The descriptions for these positions are included on pages 6 and 7 of the newsletter. If you know somebody that would be ideal for either of these positions, please inform them of how indispensable their role will be to our Chapter and encourage them to apply.

Special recognition to BPSI, DWS Building Supply, Facilities Connection, and New Era Foam Spray for becoming the first Professional Affiliates of the year! We reach out to all our product representatives, experts that we call on daily, we hope that you too will join our Chapter as Professional Affiliates.

Next week Rene Melendez and I will travel to Detroit to attend Grassroots 2016, the AIA’s 42nd annual leadership event. Unfortunately we’ll miss the February Chapter meeting but we’ll report on the Grassroots event upon our return. We look forward to collaborating with fellow architects from around the Nation and share with them details about the Chapter we have the privilege to lead.

Best Regards,

Mary J Stills, AIA, CNU-A

2016 AIA El Paso Chapter President

Newsletter | January 2016

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PRESIDENT'S LETTER

Dear Colleagues,

With a new year comes new hope, new challenges and new promises.

We're off to a great start with a terrific Executive Committee.  Our Chapter leadership will continue to work hard to make our AIA El Paso Chapter even stronger.  With their assistance, the planning process has begun for this coming year.  This year we hope to; increase membership, collaborate with the student chapter and the Associates, assist the El Paso Architectural Foundation in scholarship fundraising, plan educational events, increase the number of CEU's offered, and update the strategic plan which was last updated in 2008.

The first step undertaken as your Chapter President is the application for the Accreditation of our Chapter.  AIA National has requested that all state and local components focus on seven core member services; membership communications, education, advocacy, elevate public awareness, governance, finance and general operations, and membership.  After AIA National reviews our application, they will offer assistance in areas that require improvement.  While in the process of preparing the required documentation for the application, I am reminded of what a strong Chapter we are and how much work has been done by so many architects to make it what it is today.  My appreciation goes out to all of you who have made that commitment to our profession and our community.

With that said, let's take aim to support our fellow architects, to take advantage of our Chapter resources and to become better advocates for our profession.  My request to each of you is to engage; volunteer, attend programs and support events, your participation will become its own reward!

Wishing you a successful year in your personal and professional lives.  Onward and upward!

Mary J Stills, AIA, CNU-A

2016 AIA El Paso Chapter President

Newsletter | November 2015

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PRESIDENT'S LETTER

Wow, we made it through another Archtober, and what a fabulous month it was for the El Paso Chapter AIA!  We celebrated throughoutthis time with all things Architecture, from the wildly successful “Chalk the Block” eventthrough the 2015 AIA Design Awards. Kudos to the several of youwho gave of their time and effort for providing for these events, especially Bruno Vasquez (Chalk the Block) and Rene Melendez (Design Awards).  We are working toward continuing this momentum by having our Design Award recipients featured on an upcoming“State of the Arts” radio segment; Stay tuned for that!

Although I regret to inform you that personal issues prevented my attendance, our Chapter continued to be well represented at the recent TxA Convention & Design Expo.  I’m looking forwarding to hearing about ongoings during this time from those who attended, who need to share their new found knowledge (and maybe some CEUs?) with our members.

Please be advised that, during our next slated meeting, on November 19th, we will be voting for a new TxA Director, to succeed Mr. Carl Daniel, who has performed superbly in that important capacity.  The following architects to be considered for this crucial position representing AIAEl Paso are:  Mr. Tommy Razloznik and Mr. Nestor Infanzon.

Have you checked the website, www. aiaelpaso.org lately?  We continue to develop this important portal with new content and migrating critical information relevant to our profession, and it’s looking good!

As always, I’m humbled by the great support afforded to me through the great leadership in your AIA Executive Committee; they are truly committed in making our organization shine.  Thanks.

It’s a great time to be an architect!

Jim Booher, AIA