The AIAS Governance Committee has put together this two-part blog post for chapters to use as a guide in various chapter-related activities that have been affected by COVID-19. This part of the guide addresses: Formal Communications with Membership; Informal Socializing and Communication; Professional Development; and Methods and Motivation for Learning Outside of Studio.
Stay tuned for the second part!
01_Communicating with your members:
General updates and resource-sharing:
1. Be sure to regularly update your available social media platforms to let your members know that you are still here and want to help them! This crisis time is an important moment to show that we at the AIAS are dedicated to advancing leadership, design, and service – no matter the circumstances.
2. Leverage resources and social media platforms you already have! These might include a Chapter Facebook Groups, an Instagram page(s), a Snapchat account, a TikTok profile, etc.
3. Build a Google Drive if you don’t have one already! Populate it with any upcoming events and other information you might want your members to know about, and don’t forget to utilize it as a knowledge-sharing platform for available remote work resources and digital tools!
4. Try not to send too many emails! Your members are definitely already getting a million emails from all of the companies and services they accidentally subscribed to over the years, so be strategic about WHEN you need to send an email.
5. Try new means of getting your members’ attention that are more personal and thoughtful! For instance, try mailing letters and/or postcards to your members. Pro-tip: Spice up your now-distant mentorship programs by transitioning to a pen-pal format!
Elections Communications:
When operating elections virtually, be sure to go ABOVE AND BEYOND at reaching out to members and getting them to participate in your Virtual General Body meeting and Voting procedures.
If you haven’t hosted elections yet, and you are trying to recruit new E-Board Members, don’t forget about the power of the “shoulder tap”. Typically, this involves going around your studio and talking to emerging leaders about the potential positions you see them thriving in. Instead of walking around the studio, find your fellow AIAS members on social media and tap their virtual “shoulders” (AKA slide into their DMs) and tell them how much potential you see in them.
If you are about to host your elections, don’t forget: Quorum is still required even though it’s virtual! *Check out this blog post for all the tips and tricks you might need to conduct Virtual Elections*
02_Formal Communication Methods
During this period of remote schooling and learning, in order to continue serving your members, it is particularly important for your Chapter Executive Board to put in the effort required to communicate and work as a distributed team. Simultaneously, there are new challenges and opportunities for E-Boards when it comes to maintaining communication with your Chapter and with AIAS National, so take a peek at the tips and tricks below to see how you might be able to maintain ~formal~ communication within your Chapter and within our National organization while working virtually!
Maintaining communication within your Chapter Executive Board:
– Virtual web-conferencing platforms: Zoom, GoToMeeting, UberConference, Google Hangouts Meet
– Team channel-based communication apps/services: Slack, Facebook, Discord
Reach out to your Quad Director if your Chapter wants to create a Slack Workspace and you feel overwhelmed!
02_Informal Communication Methods
Now that we’re all separated and it’s harder than usual to *see* the visible value of the AIAS, we’ve compiled a list of strategies for you to connect with your fellow Chapter members in an *informal* manner!
1. Have you heard of Discord? Perhaps just a second ago? Similar to Slack, this is another platform for conversations that might be a bit more simple and quick to learn. It has crystal-clear voice channels, AND you can play video games with your fellow classmates in the app! You can even set it up to play the same music for everyone while you work on homework together. If that wasn’t enough, you can drag and drop images and files, which makes it a super helpful tool for informal studio pinups.
2. Did you know that you can send mail to your fellow members? YES, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THE KIND OF MAIL THAT COMES TO YOUR DOOR! This is a fun way to support your local postal workers, AND send your friends written letters and postcards that are personalized and remind them that you care about them! *Pro-tip: don’t lick the envelopes*
3. Just in case you didn’t know that social media is there for MORE than just formal communication…embrace this already powerful force in our lives, especially since it is now more relevant than ever. Use it to check in on your friends!
4. Throw a Netflix Party! Get your friends together for one night a week (or a bunch of nights!) and watch a show or movie together. This is a Chrome plug-in that requires an existing Netflix account, but acts as an attachment to normal Netflix that synchronizes your videos and even establishes a live chat line.
5. Start a digital book club! This could be a great way to remind your Chapter that studio is NOT the only thing to care about right now. Taking time to read *for pleasure* and learn something on the side can help you all take a mental break from your studies and bond over shared interests. This is an easy informal event idea that only requires a weekly meet-up over a video call to discuss a book or blog that you all read that week.
6. Another great way to keep your chapter active is to invite them to MMO (Massive Online Multiplayer). This could be a great replacement for other game/movie night similarities, as you can play all the childhood games you grew up with… AND MORE!! Here are some examples of games you can play as a group:
Skribbl and Gartic are pictionary-esque games that are loads of fun. Skribblr is great if you want to draw anything. It also arguably has the better and more user-friendly UI of the two. If you want to select a specific category, however, go with Gartic!
Who remembers Minecraft?? Whether you do or don’t, this public Minecraft Server is a great way to build buildings for each other instead of models! This can be loads of fun, especially if you partner it with Zoom, Skype, or (preferably) Discord. It is also a great way to work on your community building!
7. And don’t forget about informal team-bonding! Try out Workstyle with your fellow Chapter members. It’s a fun website where you can create unique personality tests and working style profiles for your team members to figure out how to work more effectively together – which is especially important given that we are no longer in the same place!
03_Professional Development
As you know, we have all found ourselves with more free time recently. More free time means more time to dedicate to professional development! Joking aside, this is not the end of your career. While we know that many internships will be and have been impacted by the ongoing situation, there is plenty you can still be doing to stay on course and reach your goals. Before we get into specifics, be aware that many professional groups, including the collateral organizations, have been compiling helpful resources as well. We aren’t going through this alone in the architectural community, and you can always sit in on virtual AIA meetings or attend virtual NCARB seminars, etc. Since distance is no longer an obstruction, you could even go to digital lectures across the globe. A lot of interesting people are saying a lot of interesting things these days and there’s no reason you can’t listen and learn just because you can’t leave your house. You can find other resources here.
While internships may be affected by the pandemic raging beyond your isolation, now is more than ever the time to stay in touch with firms. Don’t hesitate to email; we all know they’re on their computers these days! Check in on people you know who are working from home, ask firm leaders how this situation will affect their practice, or just let people know you are thinking about them during these times. Have conversations with architects and designers about what kinds of lasting impacts and changes they anticipate. Not only will it help you seem passionate, interested, and engaged, it may help alleviate their concerns in having younger voices to talk things through. Being a part of these conversations will help firms remember you when things level out again. On the topic of talking to firms, make some progress on your portfolio in your downtime! Hosting a virtual portfolio review with your chapter can be a great way to stay engaged and still get some work done, and luckily enough, sharing files has never been easier than it is right now! With the push of a button, you can send your portfolio off to a bunch of people to critique, and you can send it anywhere in the world. Wow!
Have you been threatening to learn Revit for years but haven’t ever found the time to actually do it? Boy have we got news for you! You can use this time to teach yourself new programs and softwares from the comfort of your own couch, where no one can see you making mistakes as you learn. These skills you learn in your free time will be very beneficial later on. Speaking of free time, has there ever been a better time to work on time management skills? Since our work/life balances have been radically altered, this is the perfect opportunity to develop better time management skills and figure out how you work best. Soft skills like time management or communication are highly valuable in a professional setting, so finessing those sorts of skills is excellent professional development progress. Digital communication may be more visible during a pandemic, but it isn’t going after it’s over. Use this time to improve your communications in a digital age while you stay in touch with professionals and reap the benefits.
Lastly, don’t forget that you’re still in school! The ‘S’ is the most important letter in the AIAS, but don’t neglect your chapters and quads while you adjust to digital learning. You can use this time to edit bylaws, review chapter websites, and share inspiring things on AIAS social media pages. The AIAS is a tremendous professional development in itself, so make sure you don’t fall behind on your regularly scheduled chapter happenings.
04_Learning/Designing Outside Studio (What can designers do?)
As designers we should try and help out in this time as much as possible. One way in which as designers we can help is through the creation of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) such as masks. Since masks are in very low supply, and the government is encouraging people to wear them, many people are making their own! If your school’s digital fabrication facilities you might be able to ban together and put that equipment to good use by crafting your own masks for your community. If the facilities are still closed, you might be able to turn that around by emailing appropriate members of the faculty/administration. Some of AIAS’s Resources for tutorials have been made available so that every chapter can learn how to turn their skills as designers into a positive aspect for the community. In addition if you find another way you can use your design skills to benefit the community feel free to make AIAS nationals aware and even make your own tutorials so other chapters can duplicate.
Some other great ways to get involved in the community is helping non-profits organizations at this time. Catchfire is a great website that works with non-profit orgs and matches you with projects based on your skillset. Ask if you can help their transition to digital platforms by updating their website or strengthening their brand identity!
Other ways to utilize your talents and keep chapter members engaged is through design competitions/open-source design both are great ways to keep chapter member’s brains working and ensure they keep active. Also make sure to keep designing, even without a competition creating virtual design festivals like the one mentioned by The Guardian. If a full festival seems too much to handle, try hosting a design week, this can be done with daily design challenges, designated time for students to show off their work, and workshops on how to adjust design to a more digital process. And if all that still seems too much to handle try hosting a Zoom charrette allowing students to create crazy and wacky sculptures from everyday household items. This event can last an hour, a day, or even a week depending on how in depth you or your chapter wants to get.
