Marco, sorry this thread is just hijacked all to heck. Now that I apologized, I’m going to continue to throw it off track… sorry…
I’d just like to say, that I want the IDSA to understand that my comments come from a place where I advocate a strong, relevant, national (and global) design organization that is an evangelist for the professional practice of product design.
With all due respect to the good people that volunteer their time, their intellect, their hard work, and their money; I think you are rowing very hard in a boat that has been going in the wrong direction for a long time.
We don’t need a better conference (or conference location), we don’t need a redesigned website, we need a better designed organization. Everything needs to be rethought, including where the organization is based out of (Washington DC).
I would love to be a part of the process, to assist in any way possible, and to champion this rebirth of relevance. Until then I will continue to speak at conferences when asked, but I won’t be a member, I won’t donate, and I won’t volunteer, and I won’t encourage others to either. You know how to contact me.
Someone might get smart and start their own design organization. The IDSA started as the result of the merging of several different design organizations. Maybe it’s time for a split? Maybe the best way to heal the bone is to re-break it?
In 1936, the American Furniture Mart in Chicago invited leading designers to form a new organization called the Designers’ Institute of the American Furniture Mart. Some members felt restricted by the sole patronage and sponsorship of the furniture industry, and in 1938 they founded a broader-based organization called the American Designers Institute (ADI), which allowed specialization in one of many design areas, including crafts, decorative arts, graphics, products, packaging, exhibit or automotive styling, to name a few. ADI’s first president was John Vassos (1898-1985).
In February 1944, fifteen prominent East Coast design practitioners established the Society of Industrial Designers (SID). Each of the founding members invited one additional designer to join the following year. Membership requirements were stringent, requiring the design of at least three mass-produced products in different industries. SID was formed in part to reinforce the legality of industrial design as a profession, and to restrict membership to experienced professionals. SID’s first president was Walter Dorwin Teague.
In 1951, ADI relocated its administrative center to New York City, absorbing the Chicago Society of Industrial Designers (CSID) in the process and changing its name to the Industrial Designers Institute (IDI). That year, IDI initiated annual national design awards, which continued through 1965. By 1962, IDI had about 350 members in 10 city chapters across the country.
In 1955, The Society of Industrial Designers (SID) changed its name to the American Society of Industrial Design (ASID). By 1962, ASID had about 100 members in four chapters nationally.
In 1957, The Industrial Design Education Association (IDEA) was founded because neither professional society (IDI or ASID) accepted educators as full members. Its first president was Joseph Carriero (1920-1978).
In 1965, after over ten years of careful negotiations, the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) was formed by the collaborative merger of IDI, ASID and IDEA. In doing so, the strengths, purposes and varied philosophies of its predecessors combined to become the single voice of industrial design in the US.
When IDSA was formed, it consisted of about 600 members in 10 chapters across the country. The first Chairman of its Board was John Vassos (1898-1985), the founder of ADI, and its first President was Henry Dreyfuss (1904-1972).
Written by Caroll Gantz for Wikipedia.