Chevis, I think the tone of your post either shows perhaps some frustration on the IDSA side, or frankly how disconnected the organization is, or both. Your tone has a slightly derogatory undercurrent to my read. It could be the way I’m reading it, I grant that. Remember, you are speaking to talented, high contributor students. They may be young, but I have no doubt that in a decade these two will be design leadership at a corporation or design firm. These are the driven young folks you need to engage and bring into the fold.
The other day I was at the airport, nothing shocking in itself, I seem to be traveling 3-4 times a month these days. There was an issue with my United Exec Premiere status not taking in the system because I have a suffix on my name… now this name and number have been the same for almost a decade in their system, but new TSA rules have tightened things up a bit, and since my ID has the suffix, but my Exec Prem card does not, the issue has arisen. Now I understand this when it is explained to me… and all the other airlines were able to either correct it in their system on the spot, or immediately work around it, even when I used the United Card with other airlines… but, not United. They rather politely, but obviously curtly informed me it was my fault, and that I would need to write a formal letter with various forms of copies of my IDs. I informed them that might be great for Benjamin Franklin break out the quill pen and fire off a letter via pony express, but I think it will just be easier for me to fly another airline…
IDSA, people are shopping for another airline, and you need to reengage your base, not alienate them. If I can’t count on you to return an email, why would I call you?
Just to be clear, these topics with IDSA in the title, in the “Design Associations” discussion forum are most certainly for the benefit of the IDSA, for IDSA members who don’t feel like going through the traditional channels to vent and be heard, for past members to reengage, as well as for non members to learn about the organization through other means. We welcome your participation on a peer to peer level of discussion, and we would welcome even further transparency, ie, who IDSA posters are specifically.
Since there are not many Chevis’s out there, and I’d hazard even fewer Chevis W’s, I’d guess you are Chevis Watkinson, Principal Designer at MPE, and Vice Chair of IDSAwi. Welcome to the discussion. It will not have all the proper grammar you are looking for, but the content will be rather robust and frank.