ASID@NeoCon 2011 kicked off in mid-June with a full roster of activities including a packed weekend of pre-conference workshops, chapter leadership trainings and member meetings including the annual State of Society event where ASID Board members highlighted the Society’s accomplishments and upcoming activities, part of an overall strategic plan intended to reflect the evolution of ASID and its role in the industry.
A key component of ASID’s vision for the future is the role of students and emerging professionals. ASID has listened to the design community and has made supporting and promoting emerging professionals a top priority along with the established resources for students . This was a main theme throughout NeoCon, with an ASID:2025 Center adjacent to the ASID booth, inspiring a conversation about the future of design and life as we know it. All designers were able to write on a dry erase wall provided by program sponsor The Vinyl Institute with comments about where they planned to design in 2025, what products they thought would be relevant then, and also a mind map which grew exponentially throughout the three days. In this space ASID also premiered the new student recruitment video – “Are You Ready?” to a positive response from members and non-members alike.
The ASID:2025 Emerging Professional Town Hall was hosted Tuesday evening at the Atelier Lapchi Showroom in the Merchandise Mart to a crowd of established designers, students and emerging professionals. Moderated by the editor of Interiors & Sources, Robert Nieminen, the event opened the floor to address global trends and projections for the year 2025 and discuss how design will influence or be affected by this outlook.
Wednesday was the much anticipated Student Day at NeoCon, when schools from all over the country are represented by driven and talented future designers. The ASID Career Exchange is an annual event giving a record-setting 600 attendees the opportunity to have their resume and portfolios reviewed. A job fair with higher education programs, design firms and vendors welcomed all participants with information about the industry and hiring information. This continues to be a strong event for ASID and can benefit every person who attends by simply connecting people within the design community. A special thank you to the ASID Illinois Chapter representatives who were there to welcome emerging professionals into their chapter and promote the benefits of ASID membership.
The Society also honored and celebrated design excellence at the annual Celebration awards ceremony where we presented the 2011 ASID Design Awards and formally inducted the 2011 Class of Fellows. This year’s Celebration event also included a special tribute to ASID executive director Michael Alin, Honorary FASID, for his outstanding contributions to ASID during his 20-year tenure as Executive Director.
To view photos, video and commentary from the event, visit the ASID@NeoCon blog.
